School of Biomedical Engineering

Dr Behnam Akhavan received his PhD in Advanced Manufacturing from the School of Engineering at the University of South Australia in 2015. In recognition of the excellence of his PhD research, Dr Akhavan was selected as one of UniSA’s Enterprising Faces. Prior to his current appointment at the University of Sydney, Dr Akhavan worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and Fraunhofer Institute of Microtechnology in Germany. Dr Akhavan has introduced innovative new plasma processes to engineer the properties of surfaces that underpin the performance of products for modern biomedical applications such as bio-mimicking implantable devices. His current interdisciplinary research projects investigate the engineering of surfaces for an array of modern applications, ranging from bone-implantable devices to artificial blood vessels and nerve conduits. In surface and interface science, his research focuses on a variety of problems in the areas of thin film deposition, plasma polymerization, ion implantation, surface biofunctionalization, and interface engineering. In recognition of his contributions to materials science and engineering, in 2020 Dr Akhavan received the Most Innovative Engineers Award from Engineers Australia and Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from the Australian Research Council.

Dr Monzurul Alam is a Research Fellow in Rehabilitation Engineering at the School of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Sydney. His research focuses on developing innovative technologies that enhance independence, mobility, communication, and quality of life for people with disabilities and neurological conditions. His work spans rehabilitation engineering, assistive technology, neurotechnology, neural engineering, rehabilitation robotics, neuroprosthetics, brain-computer interfaces, and AI-enabled healthcare systems.

His research combines engineering, neuroscience, rehabilitation, and clinical translation to create accessible and scalable solutions for individuals with neurological and physical impairments. He actively collaborates with multidisciplinary teams across Australia and internationally, contributing to the development of next-generation assistive and rehabilitation technologies through industry, clinical, and academic partnerships.

Dr Tonima Ali joined the University of Sydney in September 2020 as a postdoctoral research associate in the School of Biomedical Engineering. She is currently conducting research work at the Brain and Mind Centre and involved in teaching with the School of Biomedical Engineering. She has previously worked at the University of Queensland as the National Imaging Facility (NIF) Fellow for 7T MRI.

After finishing her BSc in Electrical Engineering at the University of Alberta, Canada, she went to the University of Calgary to complete her MSc in Biomedical Engineering and later joined as a lecturer at the American International University of Bangladesh. She moved to Australia in 2013 and completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics from Queensland University of Technology. She developed MRI-based methods for assessment of biological tissues during her PhD, which were successfully implemented forunderstanding the knee joint architecture in kangaroo, identifying the developmental pathway of Osteoarthritis and assessment of tissue density for breast cancer prediction. She started her research career on MRI methods and optimisation at the University of Queensland and is an affiliated research fellow at that institution.

Daria Anderson, PhD, is a Lecturer at the University of Sydney in the School of Biomedical Engineering with research focused on identifying biomarkers and strategies to improve neuromodulation for refractory epilepsy. She completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah, USA, on computational modelling of neurostimulation and her postdoctoral training in the School of Medicine at the University of Utah, USA, on neuromodulation for surgical therapies for epilepsy in human and pre-clinical mouse models. She studies patterns of epilepsy, uses machine learning to discover novel biomarkers and automate seizure detection, and conducts prospective preclinical investigations on using neuromodulation in a disease-modifying approach to restore brain networks back to a seizure-free state.

Dr Georgios (Yorgos) Angelis is a biomedical engineer and imaging scientist specialising in Total Body Positron Emission Tomography (PET), quantitative kinetic modelling, and PET/CT protocol optimisation. He is a National Imaging Facility (NIF) Total Body PET Facility Fellow at the University of Sydney, where he leads methodological research in PET image reconstruction, dynamic imaging, and advanced quantitative analyses across multi-organ systems. His work spans clinical trials, translational imaging research, and the development of harmonised acquisition and reconstruction protocols for both clinical and research PET environments. Dr Angelis provides strategic guidance on PET experimental design, supports multidisciplinary clinical research teams, and contributes to national imaging capability through training, protocol development, and infrastructure planning.

Professor Bilek is an ARC Laureate Fellow. She is Professor of Applied Physics and Surface Engineering at the University of Sydney and heads the Applied Physics and Surface Engineering Research Group within the School of Physics and the School of Biomedical Engineering. She also serves as associate editor for the Journal of Applied Physics. She is internationally recognised for her work on environmentally-friendly plasma-based processes that create new materials and surface modifications. Professor Marcela Bilek holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, a BSc from the University of Sydney and an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology, USA. Prior appointments include visiting Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, USA, visiting Professor at the Technische Universitat Hamburg-Harburg in Germany and Research Fellow at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, UK.

PhD

Professor Fernando Calamante is the Director of Sydney Imaging, the biomedical imaging Core Research Facility at the University of Sydney. He is Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering. He is also Director of the University of Sydney node of the NCRIS-funded National Imaging Facility.

After he finished his BSc degree in Physics (with Honours) in Argentina, he went to study Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in the UK as a Chevening Scholar (The British Council), where he later carried out his PhD at University College London, and was subsequently appointed Lecturer in Biophysics (2000). He relocated to Australia in 2005, where he spent 12 years at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and the University of Melbourne. Fernando joined the University of Sydney in 2018.

His main areas of research are the development of novel methods for Diffusion MRI, Perfusion MRI and brain connectivity, and their applications to neurology and neuroscience. He has gained international recognition for this work and his MRI methods have been adopted by many labs. For example, his MRtrix software for Diffusion MRI analysis is widely used worldwide and is one of the most popular tools in the field.

His research funding totals ~$50M, including multiple ARC and NHMRC Project Grants and Fellowships, 2 NHMRC Program Grants, 2 MRFF grants, and industrial funding.

Fernando has been elected to several leadership positions within the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, including as its 2021-2022 President.

Prof. Wei Chen is Head of School of Biomedical Engineering and full Professor at the University of Sydney. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in 2007 from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She received B. Eng. degree and M. Eng. degree from Xian Jiaotong University, China. She worked at Bell Laboratories Germany, Alcatel-Lucent, Stuttgart, Germany as an intern in 2005. From 2007 to 2015, she was an Assistant Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. From 2015 to 2023, she worked as a full Professor and Director of Center of Intelligent Medical Electronics at School of Information Science and Technology and Director of the Physiological Signal and Sleep platform in the Human Phenome Institute at Fudan University. She serves/served as Chair of IEEE Sensor and Systems Council China Chapter (2020-2022), Managing Editor of IEEE Reviews in Biomedical Engineering (RBME) (2020-2022), Associate Editor of IEEE transactions on Biomedical Engineering (TBME), IEEE Journal on Biomedical Health Informatics (JBHI), IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering (TNSRE), IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine (JTEHM), Editorial Board member of Phenomics and the IEEE EMBS AdCom Asia/Pacific representative.

Wenlong Cheng FRSC is a professor and Direcotor of Research Strategy in the School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sydney. He was a director of research in the Department of Chemical&Biological Engineering at Monash University, Australia. He is currently NHMRC Investigator Leadership Fellow and a fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and was an Ambassador Tech Fellow in Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication. He earned his PhD from Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005 and his BS from Jilin University, China in 1999. He was Alexander von Humboldt fellow in the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics and a research associate in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering of Cornell University. He founded Monash NanoBionics lab at the Monash University in 2010. His research interest lies at the Nano-Bio Interface, particularly self-assembly of 2D plasmonic nanomaterials, DNA nanotechnology, electronic skins and stretchable energy devices. He has published >220 papers. He is currently the scientific editor for Nanoscale Horizon (Royal Society of Chemistry) and the editorial board members for a few journals including Nanoscale, Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale Advances, Advanced Sensor Research, Advanced Electronic Materials, ChemNanomat, Advanced Sensors and Energy Materials, iScience, Chemosensors, and Austin Journal of Biomedical Engineering, FlexTech and Wearable Electronics.

Dr Ann-Na Cho is a Senior Lecturer (Sydney Horizon Fellow, NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow) in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at The University of Sydney. She holds a prestigious Horizon Fellowship to develop a near-complete human brain model - human brain organoids.

Trained as a stem cell engineer, bio-manufacturer and neuroscientist, her expertise encompasses stem cell biology, tissue engineering, microfluidics device, biomaterial chemistry, nanomedicine, drug development, and bioinformatics.

Dr Cho's primary focus is on addressing health challenges through creating human brain organoids that integrate innovative biomedical engineering tools. Organoids are laboratory-grown organ models that mimic human physiology. They can be used to understand brain mechanism and disease, and test the effects of new therapeutics including drugs without the need for animal models.

She established the world's first Tissue engineered human brain-on-a-chip combining human pluripotent stem cells, 3D brain-mimetic biomaterial and organ-on-a-chip. She has been named as inventor for seven international patents to date and her pioneering human brain organoids are being used in research into neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental diseases (Nature Communications 2021, Nature Biomedical Engineering 2018, Science Advances 2023). These next-generation model platforms enable clinical intervention by collaborating industrial partners, such as pharmaceutical companies, for personalised and point-of-care therapy.

Dr Cho is a Principal Investigator of the new human Brain Microphysiological System (hBMS) Laboratory in the School of Biomedical Engineering. She received her PhD from the Department of Biotechnology at Yonsei University in 2020 and has previously worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Charles Perkins Centre and Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow at Macquarie University.

Personal webpage:https://www.hbmslab.org/

Dr. Sandhya Clement is a Senior Lecturer (Education-Focused) at the School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Sydney, and Director of Student Life and Academic Integrity. She earned her PhD in NanoBiophotonics from the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Macquarie University, Sydney (2017), following a Master’s in Optoelectronics and Laser Technology (2008) and a Bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication Engineering (1999). She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Sandhya’s work spans biomedical signal and image analysis, nanodrug development, and AI applications in healthcare, alongside education research focused on innovating and implementing best teaching practices to improve student experience and sense of belonging. She is currently leading initiatives to enhance engagement and project-based learning. Her contributions have been recognized with the Outstanding Teaching Award (2023) and Top-Performing Educator recognition (2024) from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney.

Professor Philip de Chazal is the ResMed Chair in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sydney. Professor de Chazal leads the University's research and educational activities in biomedical engineering, working across the Charles Perkins Centre and the Faculty of Engineering.

A biomedical engineering and ARC Research Fellow, Professor de Chazal worked in Europe where he was the co-founder, director and Chief Technical Officer of BiancaMed, a company arising from the University College Dublin (UCD) with research focus into the detection of sleep apnoea using minimally invasive sensors. He was also a research fellow at University College Dublin and an experimental scientist with Ultrasonic Institute, CSIRO, Sydney.

He has a PhD in biomedical digital signal processing with a specialisation in applying pattern recognition techniques to biomedical signals recorded from human body. His research is focused on understanding breathing and sleeping physiology and also on developing automated diagnostic devices for monitoring of sleep and the cardiorespiratory system.

He has extensive experience in transforming university research into commercial reality. He has authored 128 articles including 26 journal publications and 102 conference papers, and is an inventor on 9 patents.

Dr. Shaikh Nayeem Faisal is currently working as a Sr. Research Fellow on the area of advanced nanomaterials, clean energy, sensors, electrode and device fabrication for neural implants and Brain-robot interface. His area of expertise is developing nano-structured materials for composites, energy, lithography, additive manufcaturing, sensors and implantable devices. He has completed his PhD from the school of Chemical & Biomolecular Engingeering at The University of Sydney. He worked as Research Engineer at Hazer Group Ltd. on the area of clean energy from 2016 to 2018. He joined ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at the University of Wollongong on March, 2018 and worked there as a Postdoctoral research Associate for 03 years. He also served as an associate theme leader (Electromaterials) and Associate Investigators from january 2020 to July 2022. Before joining USyd, He worked as a Research Fellow at UTS with Australian Defence Innovation Hub (January 2021 to November 2022).

Dr Hamish Fernando is a Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sydney. His work spans biomedical science, engineering education, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence in health and higher education. He teaches across human biology, AI in healthcare, and biomedical product development, with a strong focus on helping engineering students develop deep conceptual understanding and apply it to real biomedical and clinical contexts.

In parallel with his teaching role, Dr Fernando holds a variety of leadership roles across the School, Faculty and University. In this capacity, he works closely with academics, education specialists, and partners across the Faculty, University and nationally to support evidence-based, ethical, and pedagogically sound integration of generative AI into engineering education.

Dr Yaser Hadi Gholami received his BSc major in Physics (and minor in Philosophy) from the University of New South Wales. He completed his Master and PhD degrees in applied physics in medicine at the University of Sydney. He also was a visiting research associate at the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Biophysics at Harvard University (2019). He is currently leading the nanomedicine research group leader at the Bill Walsh Laboratory at the Kolling Cancer Institute. He is also a honorary research associate position at the School of Physics, Institute of Medical Physics, at the University of Sydney. As an early career researcher he is working on an interdisciplinary research program at the interface between nano-nuclear physics and chemistry, nuclear imaging and therapy and radiation biology. Dr Gholami in collaboration with Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital has developed a chelate-free Nanoparticle radiolabelling technique for simultaneous PET/MR imaging and radionuclide therapy. He has also invented a novel method for positron annihilation localisation using nanoscale magnetisation. Furthermore, he is working on establishing a novel quantum-medicine platform for studying the quantum properties of cancer cells using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy which could represents a paradigm shift for cancer medicine in the 21^st century in near future. He has also been collaborating with OncoSil Medical Company in developing personalised ³²P microparticle therapy and contributed to achieving IDE approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and International Clinical Study. In addition, he is currently collaborating with the Varian company to establish a radiobiological modelling platform for radionuclide treatment planning.

Associate Professor Arnold Ju received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, USA. In 2014, he joined the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University, Melbourne as a junior postdoc; and relocated in 2015 to Sydney, to join the Heart Research Institute.In early 2020, Dr Ju joined the University of Sydney (USYD)’s new BME school as a senior lecturer and started up the Mechanobiology and Biomechanics Laboratory (MBL).

A/Prof Ju currently holds an Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship, working at the interface between mechanical engineering and mechanobiology. His team has pioneered multiple biomechanical nanotools, including blood clot-on-chip microfluidic devices (Nature Materials 2019), single-cell biomembrane force probes (Nature Communications 2018), and 4-D haemodynamic modelling (Nature 2021). Recently, he was awarded the prestigious mid-career Snow Fellowship.

His vision is to build novel platforms that integrate advanced biomanufacturing, high-throughput biomechanical manipulation, and artificial intelligence for biobank data processing. His track record spans developing, characterising, and evaluating innovations of 3D organoids and organ-on-chips, mechanobiology, imaging probes and biosensors, bio-nanotechnology, and image-based deep learning. These large facilities should provide significant benefits to interdisciplinary research in biofabrication, biomechanics and point-of-care microtechnologies.

Professor Omid Kavehei is a Professor of Intelligent Microsystems in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney, where he also serves as Deputy Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering. Prior to this role, he was a Research Fellow in Microelectronics at the Centre for Neural Engineering at the University of Melbourne and a continuing Lecturer at RMIT University. From 2011 to 2014, he was involved in the Bionic Eye project, a major national engineering initiative. His work in epilepsy, particularly in seizure detection and prediction, drew the interest of companies such as Microsoft, which were exploring ways to improve accessibility and support for people with disabilities. His research focuses on biomedical microsystems, advanced sensors based on nanotechnology, micro and nanoelectronics, and data analytics. He has received several honours, including being named the South Australian Young Nanotechnology Ambassador in 2011 and serving as a Visiting Project Scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014. He was also awarded an Endeavour Research Fellowship by the Australian Government, became a SOAR Fellow at the University of Sydney in 2019, and received the Ramaciotti Award for Biomedical Research in 2021. At the University of Sydney, he received both the Dean of Engineering and the Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Research and Teaching in 2021 and 2022. He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a Fellow of Royal Society NSW.

Dr Andre Kyme has been researching enabling technologies for novel applications and improved performance in biomedical imaging for over 20 years.

He is a member of the Medical Imaging Physics team affiliated with the Sydney School of Health Sciences and the Brain and Mind Centre.

Dr. Jia Liu is a young and dynamic researcher in neuro-engineering, specializing in detecting and enhancing human cognition through the analysis of physiological signals, particularly brain activity. With a diverse research background spanning telecommunications engineering and computer science, Dr. Liu's expertise extends to the development of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and the advancement of brain information processing since commencing her PhD in 2018. Dr. Liu has significantly contributed to the fields of cognitive neuroscience and neuro-engineering. She has extensive experience in designing and setting up experiments for human subjects, employing a range of non-invasive physiological monitoring and signal collection methods. Her work includes utilizing mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI) systems, virtual reality, and real-world scenarios. Dr. Liu's research focuses on signal processing, detecting biomarkers from various physiological signals, such as brain dynamics and eye activities related to human behavior and cognition. She explores innovative approaches to enhance or aid human cognition and activity. Her discoveries and work have been published in prestigious journals, including those of the Nature Group and IEEE community. Dr. Liu continues to provide valuable insights into human biomarker detection, contributing to the measurement and management of human activity and cognition.

Associate Professor/Principal Research Fellow

PhD (2009) VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands

A/Prof Zufu Lu joined the group of Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Research Unit, School of AMME at the University of Sydney, as a postdoctoral research fellow in 2009. In 2011 he was awarded an Early Career Fellow (ECR) by NHMRC, Australia. In 2019, he joined the new School of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Sydney.

A/Prof ZuFu Lu’s research focuses on stem cell technologies, ageing biology, cell therapy and tissue engineering, with a particular emphasis on the regulation of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) fate. His work seeks to systematically decipher how complex biological, chemical and physical cues within native and engineered tissue microenvironments collectively govern MSC behaviour, including self-renewal, proliferation, migration, immunomodulatory function and lineage commitment. By integrating advanced biomaterials, micro- and nano-engineered platforms, high-content and multi-omics profiling, and computational and data-driven modelling approaches, his research aims to uncover the key molecular, epigenetic and signalling pathways that drive stem cell fate decisions.

Dr David Martinez-Martin is a physicist and innovator who has created multiple patented technologies that are already in commercialisation. David is Deputy Director of Sydney Microscopy & Microanalysis, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sydney, and former co-chair of the sensors and diagnostics cluster of the Nanohealth Network. He has established and leads the Strategic Research Partnership with Bruker (world leading company in instrumentation and diagnostic solutions), creating a nanomedicine facility that is the first of its kind in Australia. David was also co-founder and co-convenor of the Sydney Innovation Program, which brought together students from across the University to identify, understand and explore innovative solutions at the nexus between law, science, and technology. His research spans from surface and materials science to finding new biomarkers for health and disease, and cell physiology, which in many cases requires him to develop his own instrumentation. He is an expert in nanotechnology, single molecule and cellular biophysics, and scanning probe microscopies.

David is the principal inventor of a patented technology known as inertial picobalance, which is used to study the mass regulation of a single or multiple cells in real time. Understanding how cells regulate their mass has enormous potential to transform the way we diagnose, monitor and treat conditions such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and ageing. David is also principal inventor of other significant patented technologies which have been internationally licensed to leading nanotech companies.

In 2012 David was awarded the very competitive and prestigious international long-term EMBO fellowship (European Molecular Biology Organization) and moved to ETH Zürich (Switzerland) where he pioneered studies about the real-time dynamics of cell mass in mammalian and yeast cells, and the effect of viral infections in a cell’s mass dynamics. There he also developed a single-cell viral infection method and invented the inertial picobalance among other technologies. He remained until he commenced his position at the University of Sydney in 2019.

David completed a BSc/MSc in Physics from the University of Valladolid, where he was awarded the University Medal (Extraordinary Award of Degree) for an outstanding sustained academic record over the five-year degree. He also holds a PhD in physics (Summa Cum Laude) from the Autonomous University of Madrid, which was awarded in 2011. His PhD research was distinguished with the prestigious national research award in experimental and technological sciences from the Spanish Royal Academy of Doctors.

David’s research achievements and efforts to promote the development of effective innovation ecosystems have been honoured by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO, 2022), the Spanish Professional Association of Physicists’ Excellence Award (2016), the Alberto Elzaburu Foundation’s Innovation Award (2018), and the University of Sydney’s Research Accelerator (SOAR) prize (2020), among other honours.

“Alistair McEwan works on Gadigal country and is passionate about growing and strengthening capacity in cerebral palsy and neurodevelopmental disability research. Alistair is a non-Indigenous researcher committed to supporting Indigenous-led projects and partnering with people with lived experience in all our research.