Dr. Arash Kheradvar, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, has been elected a Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA). Kheradvar was elected to fellowship by the AHA Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention in recognition of his major contributions to cardiac imaging and image-based modeling of cardiovascular diseases.  

“I am deeply humbled to have been elected for this honor,” says Kheradvar. “It could never have happened without the hard work and dedication of my research group over the past years. I look forward to furthering my efforts toward the AHA’s mission, which is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.”

Read more

Elliot Botvinick,  assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, was awarded more than $200,000 by the Iacocca Foundation to tissue engineer an implant for people with type 1 diabetes.

The current primary treatment of type 1 diabetes is the delivery of artificial insulin via injection or pump combined with careful monitoring of blood glucose levels. Botvinick and Jonathan Lakey, associate professor of surgery in UCI’s School of Medicine, are researching methods of improving the encapsulation of islet tissue. Encapsulation of islet tissue prevents direct contact between implanted cells and the host’s immune system and holds great promise as an alternative to pancreatic transplantation that does not require pharmaceutical immune suppression.

read more