Vanderbilt School of Engineering
VISE affiliate James Weimer receives NSF CAREER Award to improve safety and efficacy of machine learning, AI systems
Feb. 2, 2024—James Weimer, assistant professor of computer science and noted medical-device entrepreneur, has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to improve the safety and efficacy of systems that use advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques.
Nanostructured flat lens uses machine learning to ‘see’ more clearly, while using less power
Jan. 10, 2024—A front-end lens, or meta-imager (see below), created at Vanderbilt University can potentially replace traditional imaging optics in machine-vision applications, producing images at higher speed and using less power.
VISE expands programming for summer research fellows
Nov. 2, 2023—This past summer, 13 Vanderbilt undergraduates were selected to work on projects focused on epilepsy, miniature soft climbing robots, stroke treatment, kidney disease research, cancer resection and surgical skill assessment as part of the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering’s Summer Fellows Program (VSF).
Audrey Bowden talks about how mentoring makes a vital impact on scientific progress
Oct. 26, 2023—There was a time when Audrey Bowden, Dorothy J. Wingfield Phillips Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow and associate professor of biomedical and electrical engineering, questioned whether to pursue a doctorate. The desire was there, she just needed some guidance. “Nobody in my family had a Ph.D., and I didn’t have any role models of how to do that,”...
Vanderbilt University’s Robert Webster and Charleson Bell, receive $12M REACH grant focusing on biomedical innovations
Oct. 9, 2023—Vanderbilt University’s Robert Webster and Charleson Bell, BE’07, MS’09, PhD’15, will receive $12 million to establish and manage the Mid-South Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub. REACH will focus on accelerating real-world impact of biomedical innovations through education, mentorship and financial support for entrepreneurs.
VISE Affiliate Robert Webster’s company makes successful first-in-human clinical study using novel device for endoscopic surgery
Jul. 27, 2023—A medical device company co-founded by a Vanderbilt engineering professor recently announced the completion of a successful first-in-human clinical study using its innovative technology that radically improves minimally invasive endoscopic surgery. Robert J. Webster III, Richard A. Schroeder Professor of Mechanical Engineering and associate professor of medicine and urology at Vanderbilt University, is co-founder and...
Two VISE affiliates among nineteen engineering students awarded prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
May. 2, 2022—Sixteen engineering graduate students have been awarded a highly competitive government-funded National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Three engineering undergraduate students also received NSF fellowships.
VISE Spring Seminar Natasha Sheybani, PhD
Feb. 8, 2022—VISE Spring Seminar to be led by Natasha Sheybani, PhD Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia Date: Thursday, February 17, 2022 Time: 12:15 p.m. Room Opens, 12:20 p.m. start Location: Stevenson 5326 Talk title: Immunoengineering Next-Generation Cancer Therapies with Focused Ultrasound Abstract: Despite the remarkable promise of cancer immunotherapy, a significant fraction of patients with...
10th annual VISE symposium features keynote on heart ‘digital twins’
Dec. 6, 2021—The Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering hosts its 10th annual Surgery, Intervention and Engineering Symposium Wednesday, Dec. 15, at 4 p.m. CT. The event will feature a keynote lecture by Natalia Trayanova, Murray B. Sachs Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
VISE affiliate Graham Johnson awarded prestigious individual predoctoral fellowship
Oct. 4, 2021—Graham Johnson, a biomedical engineering MD-PhD student and VISE affiliate, has received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) from The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Johnson works with his mentor Dario Englot, MD, in the Brain Imaging and Electrophysiology (BIEN) Lab. Englot, Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery,...
New departments answer growing demand in computer science, computational science, electrical engineering
Aug. 19, 2021—The School of Engineering has created two new departments from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science to encourage innovation, accommodate enrollment growth, and focus on areas of strategic excellence.
MASI Lab in the news! Q&A with Leon Y. Cai, Kurt G. Schilling, and Bennett A. Landman
Aug. 5, 2021—This MRM Highlights Pick interview is with Leon Y. Cai, Kurt G. Schilling, and Bennett A. Landman, researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Their paper is entitled “PreQual: An automated pipeline for integrated preprocessing and quality assurance of diffusion weighted MRI images”. It was chosen not only because the authors share their pipeline code with their paper,...
Engineering Professor Michael Miga is 2021 SPIE Fellow
Feb. 23, 2021—Michael Miga, Harvie Branscomb Professor at Vanderbilt and professor of biomedical engineering, has been named a Fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, for achievements in technology guided surgery and computational modeling for therapeutic and imaging applications.
New $2 million NIH grant advances less invasive procedure for TLE
Feb. 18, 2021—A Vanderbilt research team has received a $2 million National Institutes of Health grant to further develop a needle-size robotic surgery system with real-time MRI guidance for drug resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).
VISE affiliates developing a novel integrative approach for early detection of lung cancer
Jan. 20, 2021—Vanderbilt researchers have received a National Cancer Institute grant to develop a novel, integrative approach to detect early signs of lung cancer. The four-year project builds on a related, recent study that established the value of using three separate measures—structural imaging, a protein marker and information available from electronic health records—to predict lung cancer in...
New engineering graduate program in surgery and intervention launches in fall 2021
Jan. 15, 2021—In fall 2021, Vanderbilt University will offer a graduate program that will equip engineers to improve translation of technology for medical procedures and surgery.
Nabil Simaan recognized as thought leader in health care robotics
Nov. 20, 2020—Vanderbilt University Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Otolaryngology Nabil Simaan has been named a top voice in health care robotics by technology discovery platform InsightMonk and market intelligence firm BIS Research.
Perfecting MRI images with deep learning, Vanderbilt researchers change the way we see the brain
Nov. 10, 2020—Vanderbilt and VUMC researchers have created a technique that corrects distortions in MRI images, which helps researchers and radiologists to better interpret brain scans.
VISE Seminar Fall Series – Amber Simpson, PhD
Sep. 21, 2020—VISE Fall Seminar to be led by Amber Simpson, PhD Associate Professor in Biomedical Computing and Informatics Queen’s University, ON, Canada Date: Thursday, September 24, 2020 Time: 12:15 p.m. Room Admittance, 12:25 p.m. start Zoom: Details will be sent morning of… Title: Surgical Data Science in Colorectal Liver Metastases Abstract: Colorectal cancer is the second...
Vanderbilt Researchers Receive $3.1M Grant for Customizable Cochlear Implant Programming
Jun. 30, 2020—A team of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers has received a $3.1 million NIH grant to develop advanced patient-specific cochlear implant stimulation models for customized implant programming, according to an article published on the Vanderbilt School of Engineering website.
VISE researchers receive $3.1M grant for customizable cochlear implant programming
Jun. 24, 2020—A team of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers has received a $3.1 million NIH grant to develop advanced patient-specific cochlear implant stimulation models for customized implant programming. Traditional cochlear implant programming is done by expert audiologists using a guess-and-check approach based on subjective patient feedback regarding sound quality as well as changes...
Simaan honored as IEEE Fellow for robotics advancements
Dec. 3, 2019—Nabil Simaan, professor of mechanical engineering, has been elevated to IEEE Fellow by the Board of Directors of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Sandler, Landman Awarded Martineau Innovation Fund Grant
Dec. 2, 2019—Vanderbilt University Medical Center Assistant Professor of Radiology Kim Sandler, MD, and Vanderbilt University Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Computer Science Bennett Landman, PhD, were recently awarded the Martineau Innovation Fund Grant by the Vanderbilt Thoracic Working Group for their project, “Utilization of Machine Learning to Predict Incidence Lung Cancer in a Screening Population.”
VISE Fall Seminar – Kathryn Nightingale
Oct. 11, 2019—VISE Fall Seminar to be led by Kathryn R Nightingale Theo Pilkington Professor of Biomedical Engineering Duke University Date: Thursday, October 31 Time: 12:15 p.m. lunch, 12:25 p.m. start Location: Stevenson Center 5326 Title: Ultrasonic Elasticity Imaging with Acoustic Radiation Force Abstract: Elasticity imaging involves introducing a mechanical tissue perturbation, imaging the resulting tissue...
$2.3 million NIH grant allows collaborators to focus on advancing liver cancer surgical care
Oct. 10, 2019—A multi-year collective effort between engineers, surgeons and scientists has resulted in a $2.3 million, four-year grant awarded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health to improve laparoscopic liver surgery and liver cancer ablation therapy. The grant, “Deformation Corrected Image Guided Laparoscopic Liver Surgery,” supports a next-generation...
VISE Summer Fellowship provides hands-on lab experience to seven outstanding undergrads
Oct. 2, 2019—Seven talented undergraduates spent 10 weeks over the summer working on research projects in areas that included endoscopic devices for gastroenterology uses, cochlear implant surgery, and brain, ultrasound and retinal imaging. The 2019 Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE) Summer Fellowship Program provided students with hands-on experience in laboratory settings, and they worked alongside...
A Concentric Tube Robot System for Rigid Bronchoscopy
Aug. 14, 2019—A Feasibility Study on Central Airway Obstruction Removal
VISE affiliate receives Early Career Award
Jul. 25, 2019—Catie Chang, PhD, has received the 2019 Early Career Achievement Award from a society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Chang, an assistant professor of computer science, electrical engineering and computer engineering, was honored this week at the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBS) conference. Specifically, the award cites her “innovative contributions...
Researchers collaborate on $3.9 million NIH study of child-specific cochlear implant programming
Apr. 10, 2019—Researchers from the School of Engineering and Vanderbilt University Medical Center are working to improve outcomes for children with significant hearing loss by providing individualized, prescription-like programming for their cochlear implants.