Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator
Professor of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh
Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Pittsburgh
Faculty member of UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute
Faculty member of University of Pittsburgh Vascular Medicine Institute
Faculty member of McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine
Adjunct faculty member of Biomedical Engineering Department, Carnegie Mellon University
Founding Director of Small Animal Ultrasonography Core
Research Areas: Ultrasound Thermal Strain Imaging, Photoacoustic Molecular Imaging, Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging, Shear Wave Imaging, Super-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging
Research Faculty
Dr. John Cormack
Research Instructor (2022-present)
Postdoctoral Scholar (2019-2022)
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, TX
BS in Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester, NY
Research Areas: Ultrasound myocardium characterization, photoacoustic imaging
Fellowship: NIH T32 Post-doctoral training program in imaging sciences in translational cardiovascular research; NIH NRSA F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2021-2022, "Effect of right-ventricular structural remodeling during pressure overload on the mechanical behavior of myofibers in excised human myocardium"
Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Zhiyu Sheng
Postdoctoral Associate (2021-present)
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, university of Pittsburgh, PA
MS in Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University in the City of New York, NY
BS in Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Research Areas: Closed-loop hybrid exoskeleton utilizing wearable ultrasound imaging sensors, Ultrasound Thermal Strain Imaging
Dr. Qiyang Chen
Postdoctoral Associate (2021-present)
Ph.D. in Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA
MS in Mechanical Engineering, George Washington University, DC
BS in Physics, Nanjing university, China
Research Areas: 3-D maneuverable feedback-controlled micro-swimmers for biomedical applications, Ultrasound Super-resolution Imaging, Ultrasound Thermal Strain Imaging
Phd Students
Reyhaneh Gholami
Ph.D. Student (2022-present)
M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
Research Areas: Atherosclerotic plaque rupture simulation, Cardiovascular graft modeling, Cardiovascular ultrasound imaging
Fellowship: Berenfield Fellowship (2023-2024)
Ran Wei
Ph.D. Student (2023-present)
M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, PA
B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Research Areas: Ultrasound Thermal Strain Imaging
Zahra Hosseini
Ph.D. Student (2023-present)
M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Iran
B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, Qazvin Islamic Azad University, Iran
Research Areas: Strain Ultrasound Elastography, Speckle Noise Reduction of Ultrasound B-mode Images.
Yu-hsuan Chao
Ph.D. Student (2023-present)
B.Sc. in Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA
Research Areas: Ultrasound elastography
Maryam Satarpour
Ph.D. Student (2023-present)
M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, University of Isfahan, Iran
Research Areas: Ultrasound Image Processing, Elastography, Signal Processing
Undergraduate Students
Jiaxuan Kong
Undergraduate Student (2021-2025) majoring in bioengineering on the bioimaging and signals track
Research Areas: Ultrasound Elastography, 3D design and printing
Former Members
Katherine R LeClaire
Undergraduate (2020-2024) majoring in bioengineering on the biomechanics track and minoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
Research Areas: Image Analysis of Ultrasound myocardium characterization
Dr. Qiang Zhang
Graduate Student (2017-2019);
Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA, 2021
M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, The University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 2019
M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, 2017
B.S. in Mechtronics Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, 2014
Research Areas: Neuromuscular modeling and functional electrical stimulation (FES) control; Human motion intent detection; Surface electromyography (sEMG) and ultrasound imaging signal processing; Machine learning-based control of robotic devices; Human-robot interaction
Post-doc Research Associate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Sindhana Anbalagan
B.S. in Biological Sciences 2022, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Minors in French and Chemistry
Research focus: Histological image analysis of ventricular myocardium for quantification of microstructure architecture and connection to ultrasound imaging performance.
Dr. Danial Sharifi Kia
Graduate Student (2018-2021)
M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY
B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Research Areas: Right Ventricular Failure in Pulmonary Hypertension; Right Ventricular Remodeling; Multi-Scale Cardiovascular Tissue Mechanics
Research and Development Engineer at Align Technology, San Jose, CA.
Dr. Waqas Khalid
Graduate Student (2016 - 2021)
MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, MN
BS in Computer Software Engineering, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Pakistan
Research Areas: Ultrasound thermal strain imaging, acoustic radiation force, shear wave elasticity imaging and Medical image and signal processing
Graduate Student (2013 - 2018)
BS, MS in Electronic Engineering, Sogang University, Korea
Research Areas: Photoacoustic Molecular Imaging, Ultrasound Thermal Strain Imaging, Super-resolution Imaging
Currently Assistant Professor in Department of Robotics Engineering, DGIST, Daegu, South Korea
Harry James Volek
Undergraduate Student (2016 - 2018)
Graduate Student (2016 - present)
Electrical Engineering major and Bioengineering minor, University of Pittsburgh, PA
Research Areas:Ultrasound cardiac imaging and analysis of zebrafish model
Dr. Xuan Ding
Graduate Student (2012 - 2016)
BS in Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, NC
Research Areas: Multimodal Imaging combining Ultrasound Thermal Strain Imaging, Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging and Photoacoustic Molecular Imaging
Currently Resident in Vanderbilt Medical School
Dr. Man Nguyen
Postdoctoral Associate (2013 - 2016)
Ph.D in Biomedical Enginering, University of Southern California, CA
Research Areas: Ultrasound Thermal Strain Imaging, Ultrasound Elasticsity Imaging, Beamforming, Transducer Design
Currently with Philips Research North America, Cambridge, MA
Xiangwei Lin
Visiting Scholar (2014 - 2016)
MS in Control Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Research Areas: Photoacoustic molecular imaging, Ultrasound imaging, Compressed sensing
Currently Postdoctoral Fellows in City University of Hong Kong
Dr. Daewoo Park
Postdoctoral Associate (2012 -2015)
PhD in Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, MI
Research Areas: Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging
Postdoctoral Associate (2011 - 2013)
PhD in Mechanical Engineering, West Virginia University, WV
Currently Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt
Dr. Choon Hwai Yap
Postdoctoral Associate (2012 - 2013)
PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA
Currently Senior Lecturer in Dept of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
Dr. Debaditya Dutta
Postdoctoral Associate (2010 - 2013)
PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, PA
Currently Associate Systems Consultant at Union Pacific Railroad
Dr. Zhaohui Wang
Postdoctoral Associate (2011 - 2013)
PhD in Electrical Engineering, University of Arizona, AZ
Currently Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Dr. Seunghan Ha
Postdoctoral Associate (2009 - 2012)
PhD in Biomedical engineering, Korea University, Korea
Currently Assistant Professor at Chungbuk Health and Science University, Korea
Dr. Jiao Yu
Postdoctoral Associate (2011 - 2012)
PhD in Physics, University of Mississippi, MS
Currently Assistant Professor at Liaoning Petroleum and Chemical Technology University, China
Dr. K. Prahlad Rao
Postdoctoral Associate (2008 - 2009)
PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
Currently Associate Professor at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia
Dr. Sakya Tripathy
Postdoctoral Associate (2009 - 2010)
PhD in Mechanical engineering, University of Virginia, VA
Currently with Simulia, Cleveland, OH
Dr. Jongsick Kim
Postdoctoral Associate (2010 - 2011)
PhD in Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA
Currently postdoctoral fellow at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL
Dr. Jingping Xu
Postdoctoral Associate (2009 - 2011)
PhD in Biomedical engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
Currently with Philips Medical, Shanghai, China