Eight faculty from The Grainger College of Engineering have joined Carle Illinois College of Medicine with Health Innovation Professor appointments. The new faculty deliver on Carle Illinois’ strategy to leverage the University of Illinois’ exceptional faculty to serve as agents of change in medical education, innovation, and research at the world’s first engineering-based college of medicine.
“As champions of interdisciplinary health research, the new professors will advance the discovery and translation of breakthrough health innovations that have the potential to improve patient care and outcomes,” said King Li, Dean of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. “They will help to pioneer new approaches to medical education and integrate health innovation concepts into graduate and undergraduate courses across the UIUC campus.”
The new Health Innovation faculty represent a range of engineering disciplines and are positioned to be drivers of innovation in medicine and healthcare, which will fuel health-related funding from government agencies, industry, foundations, and individuals, and inspire a range of new cause-based philanthropic giving campaigns.
“Carle Illinois Health Innovation Professors recognize the value of translating new ideas to innovations and to impact, and several are founders of new biotech, medical device, and digital health companies. They will help Carle Illinois to fill the Research Park and the envisioned Health Innovation Translator facility, fulfill the vision of the Discovery Partners Institute, and promote economic prosperity throughout Illinois,” said Stephen Boppart, Carle Illinois’ Executive Associate Dean and Chief Diversity Officer.
Carle Illinois Health Innovation Professors from The Grainger College of Engineering include:
Joe Bradley, Clinical Assistant Professor, Bioengineering
Bradley is a clinical assistant professor of bioengineering, teaching assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical and Translation Sciences, and a lecturer in business administration. His research focuses on innovation management, entrepreneurship, technology transfer strategy, socio-technical systems design, entrepreneur formation in historically minoritized communities, and examining how information is used and managed within new STEM ventures.
Wawrzyniec Dobrucki, Associate Professor, Bioengineering
Dobrucki is an associate professor of bioengineering and directs the Experimental Molecular Imaging Laboratory. His expertise is in molecular multimodality imaging, and his fields of professional interests include development of novel targeted microSPECT/PET-CT imaging strategies to assess myocardial and peripheral angiogenesis in animal models of disease, including diabetes.
Kiruba Haran, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
A professor of electrical and computer engineering, Haran’s research focuses on electric transportations, electrical machines and drive systems, and power and energy systems. His research group is focused on electro-mechanical energy conversion technologies, with new interests in how these can be applied to medical devices and medical technologies.
Iwona Jasiuk, Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering
A professor of mechanical science and engineering, Jasiuk develops research-based models to explain the structure and behavior of human-made and biological materials. Her work with human-made materials aims at understanding why the properties of composites made with nano-sized particles differ from those made with micro-sized particles.
Mariana Kersh, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering
Kersh is an assistant professor of mechanical science and engineering and is director of the Tissue Biomechanics Laboratory. Her research focuses on the use of experimental methods to evaluate macro-level mechanical and structural properties of bone, cartilage, and connective tissues, such as ligaments, in order to include them into finite element simulations of these tissues under physiological loads.
Michael Oelze, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
A professor of electrical and computer engineering, Oelze’s research focuses on several aspects of ultrasound/tissue interaction including: cancer detection using quantitative ultrasound, ultrasound microscopy, bioeffects of ultrasound, ultrasound-based therapies and coded excitation.
Harlee Sorkin Clinical Assistant Professor, Technology Entrepreneur Center
Sorkin is co-founder and managing director of Common Place Holdings, LLC, a health tech venture studio that provides management and seed funding for new companies. Prior to that, he consulted with companies on business formation, capitalization, product and customer development.
Jimeng Sun, Professor, Computer Science
A professor of computer science, Sun’s research interest is on artificial intelligence for healthcare, deep learning for drug discovery, clinical trial optimization, computational phenotyping, clinical predictive modeling, treatment recommendation, and health monitoring.
“These incredibly talented Health Innovation Professors are thought leaders and visionaries, and are a shining example of the University’s and Carle Illinois’ commitment to leverage the tremendous power of diversity and interdisciplinarity to promote innovation and excellence,” said Boppart.
Carle Illinois’ next round of applications for Health Innovation Professor appointments will open soon. The next application cycle includes faculty from the College of Applied Health Sciences, College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, and Gies College of Business, and future rounds will include other colleges across campus. More information is available by contacting Stephen Boppart (boppart@illinois.edu).