Professor, Bioengineering, Volgenau Professor, Bioengineering
Giorgio A. Ascoli has dedicated his career to advancements in biochemistry and neuroscience since he received a PhD from the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, Italy, and continued his research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Ascoli investigates protein structure and binding in the nervous system. In the long term, he seeks to create large-scale, anatomically plausible neural networks to model entire portions of a mammalian brain, such as the hippocampus. Ascoli’s interests also involve human memory and consciousness.
Department Chair, Eminent Scholar, Volgenau
Professor and Chair, BioengineeringMichael Buschmann came to Mason with over 20 years of experience at École Polytechnique in Montreal. He is a world-class researcher who has made fundamental and translational contributions to the fields of biomechanics, biomaterials, and nanomedicine.
Professor, Bioengineering, Volgenau
Professor, BioengineeringEngineering solutions for deadly conditions.
Associate Professor, Bioengineering, Volgenau Associate Professor, Bioengineering
Parag Chitnis joined the Department of Bioengineering at George Mason University in Fall of 2014. He also is a Principal Investigator at the Krasnow Institute of Advanced Study. The institute, which functions as an independent research facility at Mason, upholds a mission to expand scientific understanding of the mind, the brain, and intelligence by exploring the intersection of cognitive science, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and complex adaptive systems.
Professor, Bioengineering, Volgenau Professor, Bioengineering
Caroline Hoemann (BA, UCSD; PhD, MIT) is a full professor of Bioengineering at George Mason University. Prior to this, she was a professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, where she spent 15 years directing a federally-funded research program on the role of inflammation in articular cartilage repair.
Associate Professor, Bioengineering, Volgenau Associate Professor, Bioengineering
Many neurological diseases are marked by a process of white matter neurodegeneration; that is, a breakdown of specific brain tissue involved in higher-order cognitive function. The global rise of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is of urgent focus, but better medical diagnostic systems also offer epilepsy and multiple sclerosis patients hope. Since August 2009 Vasiliki Ikonomidou’s research conducted at Mason’s Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies has been focused on improving MRI technologies to detect this unique and difficult to measure symptom.
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Volgenau
University Affiliate Faculty, Bioengineering
Nathalia was a technician in electronics and robotics before she decided to go to college. After attending universities in Brazil (Unicamp and USP) and Germany (Stuttgart and Bonn), she was a researcher at Stanford. She still likes to travel and her group collaborates with universities in Israel, Ireland, Peru, and Korea.
Assistant Professor, Bioengineering, Volgenau Associate Chair, Volgenau Assistant Professor and Associate Chair, Bioengineering
Shani Ross received her bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Howard University in Washington, DC in 2004 and her master's and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering with a bioelectrical concentration from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, in 2006 and 2013, respectively. Her current research involves studying bladder neurophysiology and working on a closed-loop neuroprosthesis for bladder control. In general, Ross’ research interests are in the areas of neural engineering and neuromodulation.
Assistant Professor, Bioengineering, Volgenau
Assistant Professor, BioengineeringRémi Veneziano joined the Department of Bioengineering in the fall of 2018. Veneziano is currently focusing his research on designing and synthesizing new composite nanomaterials, combining structured 3D DNA nanoparticles with proteins, and lipids. His lab is using these constructs to investigate fundamental questions about the role of biomacromolecules nanoscale organization in cell membrane interaction events.
Associate Professor, Bioengineering, Volgenau Associate Professor, Bioengineering
Qi Wei leads the Biomechanics lab at the Volgenau School of Engineering at George Mason University. The lab’s research focuses on developing and applying computational models to study disorders of the oculomotor system and the musculoskeletal system. Using an advanced biomechanical model of the ocular motor plant, the lab examines the coordination of extra-ocular muscles as well as the biomechanics of strabismus.