Graduate Research Opportunities

The priority registration deadline for graduate applications is December 5, 2025. For applicants from accredited domestic institutions, we do not require a GRE score. Additionally, the application fee is wailved for PhD applicants from U.S. institutions. 

• Jason Heikenfeld - recruiting for 1-2 PhD students
  • Ph.D. students will design, fabrication, in-vitro test, animal test (rodents, pigs) and human test new sensors such as cortisol for wellness (stress) or disease (adrenal disorders), insulin for diabetes, or NT-proBNP for heart failure, among other applications. This research project involves industrial collaborators. We are seeking entrepreneurially minded students who want to challenge conventional wisdom of what continuous molecular diagnostics can do for the future of healthcare.            

• Greg Dion - recruiting for one PhD student
  • Voice disorders affect over 20 million Americans annually, often stemming from vocal fold (VF) scarring caused by chronic voice misuse, prolonged intubation, or trauma. Current surgical or injection-based treatments manage symptoms but fail to reverse the underlying fibrosis and biomechanical dysfunction of the vocal folds. This project offers an opportunity to engineer and characterize a next-generation, non-invasive regenerative therapy that targets the biological mechanisms of fibrosis while leveraging advanced biomedical delivery systems.
  • Our multidisciplinary team—spanning Otolaryngology, Biomedical Engineering, and Translational Therapeutics—has identified a proprietary Vocal Fold Lamina Propria extract (VFLPx) that demonstrates potent anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects in vitro and in vivo. This project aims to optimize its molecular composition and develop delivery platforms that combine biomolecular precision with engineering innovation to restore normal vocal fold mechanics.
    
  • Key Research Directions:
  • Proteomic discovery: Identify and functionally characterize bioactive components within VFLPx responsible for anti-fibrotic and anti-microbial activity using mass spectrometry and in vitro functional assays.
    
  • Therapeutic optimization: Design and test injectable and aerosolized formulations of VFLPx using preclinical models of VF injury to assess mechanical recovery, histologic remodeling, and vibratory function.
  • Delivery engineering: Develop and evaluate nebulized and combination therapy delivery systems to achieve targeted, non-invasive administration of biomolecule-based therapies.
    
  • Safety and translational readiness: Conduct pulmonary safety and biodistribution studies of nebulized formulations to support regulatory and clinical translation.
  • Why this project is ideal for a biomedical engineering PhD candidate:
    
  • This project integrates molecular bioengineering, biomaterials design, and translational biomechanics in a highly collaborative environment bridging engineering and medicine. Students will gain hands-on experience in proteomics, biomaterial formulation, in vivo modeling, tissue mechanics, and translational device development. The work is directly aligned with NIH-funded projects on vocal fold regeneration and has strong clinical translation potential, aiming to advance toward first-in-human trials.

• Daria Narmoneva - recruiting for two MS students
  • Chronic diabetic ulcers are the leading cause of non-traumatic limb amputations in the US and are a significant health care burden. To improve healing of chronic diabetic wounds, we created a unique microenvironment using a novel hydrogel (based on self-assembling peptide nanofibers) that mimics the native matrix in the wound and promotes healing. To activate unresponsive, diseased cells within the chronic wound, we have developed an electric field-based technology that uses high-frequency wireless electric fields stimulation to activate capillary cells and enhance blood vessel formation in the wound, which results in much faster healing. This technology has been successfully tested in the mouse and pig models, and is under active translational development.

• Jon Nickels - recruiting for one PhD student
  • The project is an ongoing Department of Energy project on biofuels. This student would be focusing on the interactions of amphiphilic solvents and cell membranes. Techniques may include neutron and/or x-ray scattering, NMR, fluorescence, and analysis via associated physical models.
  • Projects focusing on molecular transport in complex media and the tools to do so, as well as engineering solvent tolerance in cell membranes. 

• Alex Mejia - recruiting for one PhD student
  • Dr. Mejia’s research interests span a wide spectrum of topics, including Latino/a/x/é engineers, engineering identity formation, engineering culture and discourse, the development of critical consciousness among engineers, and engineering for social justice.
  • Dr. Mejia’s research has significantly contributed to the field’s understanding of bilingualism and broadening participation in engineering spaces. He was awarded the Rising Star Award in 2024 by The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity, the National/William Elgin Wickenden Award in 2022 and in 2017 for the “highest standards of scholarly research” in the Journal of Engineering Education by the American Society for Engineering Education, and a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award in 2020 by the National Science Foundation for his work in engineering education. 

• Yoonjee Park - recruiting for one PhD student

• John Martin - recruiting for one PhD student
  • 3D printing has emerged as a powerful method for fabricating patient-specific tissue engineering materials for the regeneration of large-scale bone injuries. However, current 3D-printable polymers feature poor mechanical properties, uncontrolled biodegradation, and an inability to controllably deliver therapeutic small molecule drugs. To address these limitations, the research goal of this project is to create new resins that can be 3D printed into porous, mechanically-resilient implants that selectively biodegrade and/or release drug payloads when activated by cell-produced reactive oxygen species (ROS).

• Kevin Haworth, hawortkn@ucmail.uc.edu
  • Project Focus: develop image-guided focused ultrasound therapies for the treatment of chronic deep vein thrombosis. 
• Tom Talavage, talavatm@ucmail.uc.edu
  • Project Focus: develop machine learning and/or explainable AI (ML/XAI) approaches to predict patient satisfaction for various orthopaedic procedures.                                                   

• Leyla Esfandiari, esfandla@ucmail.uc.edu
  • Project Focus 1: developing a rapid, label-free Lab-on-a-Chip device for the purification and characterization of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from biofluids for liquid biopsy. 
  • Project Focus 2: understanding the complex interactions between biomechanical and bioelectrical cues within the cancer tumor microenvironment.   
• Jason Heikenfeld, heikenjc@ucmail.uc.edu
  • Project Focus: create real time continuous monitoring devices for tracking metabolites associated with chronic diseases 

• Lashan Hendrix, hendric5@ucmail.uc.edu
  • Project Focus: examine the role of phosphate in vascular smooth muscle cell calcification and the potential of protein therapy to reduce calcification.
• Olga Liaudanskaya, liaudava@ucmail.uc.edu
  • Project Focus 1: understanding three critical pathological alterations that occur immediately after TBI mitochondrial dysfunction, axonal structure and functional deficits, and inflammatory changes. 
  • Project Focus 2: evaluating the changes in brain metabolism and epigenetics that occur on repetitive injury. 
  • Project Focus 3: analyze injury-induced cell-specific dysregulation in mitochondria bioenergetic and metabolic functions and their role in the onset of acute neuroinflammation and neuronal damage. 
• John Martin, marti7j3@ucmail.uc.edu
  • Project Focus 1: develop new 3D-printable biomaterials that are specifically activated by cell-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS). 
  • Project Focus 2: develop drug coatings that can prevent overactive cells from destroying autologous bone grafts. 
• Liran Oren, orenl@ucmail.uc.edu
  • Project Focus: develop a system that circumvents the need for a tight-fitting interface, offering more flexibility and comfort for pressurizing the upper airways. 
• Stacey Schutte, schuttsy@ucmail.uc.edu
  • Project Focus: understanding the role of mechanical loading on the development and maturation of uterine fibroids and leiomyosarcomas.