Awards & Recognition

Our faculty members are recognized nationally and internationally for their professional excellence

Latest Awards

Honor Roll

    • Pranam Chatterjee won a 2022 Hartwell Biomedical Research Award
    • Jessilyn Dunn and her lab were selected to participate in the 2023 Google Season of Docs
    • Charles Gersbach made the 2022 Clarivate “Highly Cited Researchers” list and was elected to the National Academy of Inventors
    • Warren Grill won the first annual North American Neuromodulation Society Clinical and Basic Science/Engineering Innovator Award and was elected to the National Academy of Inventors
    • Warren Grill was named the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neural Engineering, and he and his collaborators advanced to Phase II of the Neuromod Prize competition
    • Roarke Horstmeyer received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation
    • Joe Izatt was selected for a fellowship to build skills in equity-centered academic leadership as an Ivy+ Provost Leadership Fellow
    • Cameron Kim received the Best Work-in-Progress presentation from the American Society for Engineering Education in the Biomedical Engineering Division
    • Samira Musah received a New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program
    • Nimmi Ramanujam received the Biomedical Engineering Award from IEEE.
    • Amanda Randles won a high-impact computational science award through the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program
    • Amanda Randles won the Association for Computing Machinery SIGHPC Emerging Woman Leader In Technical Computing
    • Daniel Reker received the Trailblazer Award from the National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
    • Michael Rubinstein was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society
    • Tatiana Segura was named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors
    • Tuan Vo-Dinh and his startup Minutia, which is pursuing a functional cure for Type 1 diabetes, won the first American Diabetes Association Innovation Challenge
  • Professional Society Recognition

    • Fellow, American Chemical Society—Matthew Becker
    • Fellow, Optical Society of America—Sina Farsiu
    • Editor-in-chief, Biomedical Engineering Education (Biomedical Engineering Society)—Ann Saterbak

    Media Recognition

  • National Recognition and Professional Leadership

    • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science—Ravi Bellamkonda, Ashutosh Chilkoti and Tony Huang
    • Fellow, National Academy of Inventors—Kathryn Nightingale and Blake Wilson
    • Senior Member, National Academy of Inventors—Amanda Randles
    • Chair, US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, National Academy of Engineering—Jennifer West
    • Top 100 Finalist100&Change Competition, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation—Nimmi Ramanujam

    Professional Society Recognition

    Early Career Awards

    Fellowships and Research Awards

    • Faculty Fellow in Israel, Jewish National Fund—Xiling Shen
    • Top 100 Finalist100&Change Competition, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation—Nimmi Ramanujam

    University Awards and Honors

    • Aleksander S. Vesic Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University—Michael Rubinstein
    • Bass Fellow, Duke University—Brenton Hoffmann
    • Klein Family Distinguished Teaching Award, Pratt School of Engineering—Eric S. Richardson
    • Lois & John L. Imhoff Distinguished Teaching Award, Pratt School—Joel Collier
    • WOMc Impact Award, Duke Women’s Center—Nimmi Ramanujam

    Media Recognition

  • National Research and Professional Leadership Awards

    • Fulbright Global Scholar Award, U.S. Department of State—Nimmi Ramanujam
    • Trailblazer Award, National Institutes of Health—Stefan Zauscher

    Professional Society Recognition

    • Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)—Lingchong You
    • Van C. Mow Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers—Tony Jun Huang

    Early Career Awards

    • Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, National Science Foundation—Yiyang Gong
    • Young Investigator Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)—Junjie Yao

    University and School Honors

    • Bass Connection Professor (Duke University)—Amanda Randles
    • Graduate Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring (Duke University)—Jennifer West
    • Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Award (Duke University)—Kevin Caves
    • Klein Family Distinguished Teaching Award (Duke University Pratt School of Engineering)—Wanda Krassowska Neu
    • Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award (Duke University Pratt School of Engineering)—Charles Gersbach
    • Lois and John L. Imhoff Distinguished Teaching Award (Duke University Pratt School of Engineering)—Ann Saterbak
    • Capers and Marion McDonald Mentoring and Advising Award (Duke University Pratt School of Engineering)—Gregg Trahey
    • Capers and Marion McDonald Teaching and Research Award (Duke University Pratt School of Engineering)—Sina Farsiu
  • National Research and Professional Leadership Awards

    • Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (United States of America) – Joseph Izatt, Nimmi Ramanujam, Tuan Vo-Dinh
    • Drs. Anvar and Pari Velji Emerging Leader in Global Health Innovation Faculty Award, Consortium of Universities for Global Health (Multinational) – Nimmi Ramanujam

    Professional Society Recognition

    • Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society — Fan Yuan
    • Outstanding Member of the Editorial Board Award, IEEE Signal Processing Society – Sina Farsiu
    • Bingham Medalist, Society of Rheology – Michael Rubinstein

    Early Career Awards

    • IEEE-CS Technical Consortium on High Performance Computing Award for Excellence for Early Career Researchers in High Performance Computing – Amanda Randles
    • Grace Murray Hopper Award, Association for Computing Machinery – Amanda Randles

    Distinguished and Plenary Lectures

    • Plenary lecturer, Second World Congress on Electroporation and Pulsed Electric Fields in Biology, Medicine and Food & Environmental Technologies — Fan Yuan
  • National Academy of Engineering Membership

    • Elected in 2017 – Blake Wilson

    National Research and Professional Leadership Awards

    • Member, National Academy of Inventors – Jennifer West
    • Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal, Acoustical Society of America – Blake Wilson
    • ARVO Foundation/Pfizer Ophthalmics Carl Camras Translational Research Award – Sina Farsiu
    • Allen Distinguished Investigator, Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group – Charles Gersbach

    Professional Society Recognition

    • Fellow, Acoustical Society of America – Blake Wilson
    • Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering – Joel Collier and Charles Gersbach
    • Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) – Xin Li
    • Editor-in-Chief, Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering – George Truskey

    Early Career Awards

    • Analytic Chemistry 2017 Young Innovator Award – Tony Jun Huang
    • Beckman Young Investigator, Beckman Foundation – Yiyang Gong
    • Sloan Research Fellowship, Sloan Foundation – Yiyang Gong
    • Stanley Fahn Junior Faculty Award, Parkinson’s Disease Foundation – Michael Tadross
    • Vallee Young Investigator, Vallee Foundation – Yiyang Gong

    University and School Honors

    • Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award (Duke University) – Libby Bucholz
    • Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring (Duke University Graduate School) – Joseph Izatt
    • Distinguished Service Award (Pratt School) – Roger Coke Barr
    • Capers & Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Teaching & Research (Pratt School) – Fan Yuan
    • Capers & Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring & Advising (Pratt School) – Marc Sommer
    • Lois & John L. Imhoff Distinguished Teaching Award (Pratt School) – Mark Palmeri
    • Diamond Award for Distinguished Achievement in Academia (University of Washington) – Ashutosh Chilkoti
    • Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (University of Edinburgh) – Dan Sorin
    • Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Scottish Informatics & Computer Science Alliance (University of Edinburgh) – Dan Sorin

    Distinguished and Plenary Lectures

    • Director’s Lecture, National Institutes of Health – Jennifer West

    Media Recognition

    • Top 100 Discoveries of 2016,” Discover Magazine – Xiling Shen
    • Innovators Under 35,MIT Technology Review – Amanda Randles
    • Most Cited Researchers in Materials Science and Engineering (Elsevier Scopus data compiled by MSE Supplies) – Ashutosh Chilkoti
  • National Academy of Engineering Membership

    • Elected in 2016 – Jennifer West

    National Research and Professional Leadership Awards

    • 2016 Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke — Warren Grill
    • NVIDIA Global Impact Award — Joseph Izatt
    • GSK & Save the Children Healthcare Innovation Award — Robert Malkin/Fundación VIHDA, Ecuador
    • 2016 Technology Award, Eduard Rhein Foundation — Blake Wilson

    Professional Society Recognition

    • Finalist, 2015 Gordon Bell Prize – Amanda Randles
    • Senior area editor, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing – Sina Farsiu
    • Pascal Rol Award for Best Paper in Ophthalmic Technologies at the SPIE Photonics West 2015 – Sina Farsiu
    • President-Elect, International Society for Bioelectromagnetism – Craig Henriquez
    • Charter Member, NIH BMIT-B Study Section – Kathryn Nightingale
    • Vice chair & chair-elect, Gordon Research Conference on Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering – Jennifer West
    • Vice chair & chair-elect, Gordon Research Conference on Eye Movements – Marc Sommer

    Early Career Awards

    • Young Investigator Award, Office of Naval Research — Michael Lynch
    • Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (CMBE) Young Innovator, 2015 — Brent Hoffman

    University and School Honors

    • 2016 Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award (Duke University) — Elizabeth Bucholz
    • Teamwork Award (Duke University) — Guillermo Sapiro & colleagues
    • 2016 Dean’s Award for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education, The Duke University Graduate School — MRSEC (Stefan Zauscher, Director)
    • Klein Family Distinguished Teaching Award (Pratt School) — Brenton Hoffman
    • Lois and John L. Imhoff Distinguished Teaching Award (Pratt School) — Roger Nightingale
    • Capers and Marion McDonald Teaching and Research Award (Pratt School) — Jennifer West
    • 2015 Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi — Ashutosh Chilkoti
    • Honorary doctorate in medicine, University of Salamanca (Spain) — Blake Wilson

    Distinguished Lectureships

    • Plenary lecture, SPIE Biophotonics South America Symposium — Tuan Vo-Dinh

    Media Recognition

    • 2015 Global Thinkers, Foreign Policy — Miguel Nicolelis
  • Society Member/Fellow Recognition

    • Fellow, National Academy of Inventors – Ashutosh Chilkoti
    • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science – George Truskey
    • Fellow, IEEE – Guillermo Sapiro and Blake S. Wilson
    • Alternate Member, IEEE – Roger Barr
    • Fellow, AIMBE College of Fellows – Lawrence Boyd, Nenad Bursac, Kathy Nightingale and Adam Wax
    • Chair, AIMBE College of Fellows – Jennifer West

    University and School

    • Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award (Duke University) – Warren Grill
    • Inaugural Dastgheib Pioneer Award in Ocular Innovation (Duke University Eye Center) – Joseph Izatt
    • Lois and John L. Imhoff Distinguished Teaching Award (Pratt School) – Charles Wallace
    • Capers and Marion McDonald Teaching and Research Award (Pratt School) – Kathy Nightingale
    • Robert W. Carr, Jr., Distinguished Professorship of Biomedical Engineering – Nimmi Ramanujam

    National/International

    • National Academy of Engineering Russ Prize – Blake S. Wilson
    • Clemson Award for Basic Research, Society of Biomaterials – Jennifer West
    • Highly Cited Researcher, Thomson-Reuters – Jennifer West
    • C.E.K. Mees Medal, Optical Society of America – Warren Warren
    • Honorary Doctorate, Uppsala University (Sweden) – Blake S. Wilson

    Early Career

    • Young Investigator Award, Creative and Novel Ideas for HIV Research – Benjamin Yellen
    • National Science Foundation CAREER Award – Brenton Hoffman

    Media Recognition

    • MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35, Popular Science Brilliant 10 – Jon Viventi
  • Society Member/Fellow Recognition

    • Elected 2014 Fellow, National Academy of Inventors – Kam Leong

    University and School

    • Lois and John L. Imhoff Distinguished Teaching Award (Pratt School) – Elizabeth Bucholz
    • Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award (Pratt School) – Nenad Bursac
    • Outstanding Postdoc Mentor (Duke University) – & Secret Provost honor in Fall
      Warren Grill
    • Chandran Award in Neuro-Oncology (Pratt School) – Paolo Maccarini
    • Capers & Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Teaching and Research (Pratt School) – Lori Setton
    • 2013 Chandran Lecture in Neuro-Oncology  (Pratt School) – Jennifer West

    National/International

    • Inaugural recipient of the BMES Innovator Award for Cell & Molecular Bioengineering and the 2014 Arthritis Foundation Investigator Award – Farsh Guilak
    • 2014-15 Fulbright Scholar Grant – Monty Reichert

    Early Career

    • Outstanding New Investigator, ASGCT and Capers & Marion McDonald Teaching and Research Award (Pratt School) – Charlie Gersbach

Internal Awards

A comprehensive listing of awards given to faculty and staff from Duke Engineering

Departmental Awards for Undergraduates

  • Presented to the Biomedical Engineering senior with the most outstanding academic record as determined by a faculty committee

    The award commemorates the contributions of Leonardo da Vinci in laying the foundation of the mechanistic study of human life.

    Recent Winners

    • 2024 – Alexandra Hoffman
    • 2024 – Benjamin Johns
    • 2024 – Jonathan Piland
    • 2023 – Andy Qiao
    • 2023 – Reed Chen
    • 2022 – John Douglas Boom
    • 2021 – Boyu Tony Guo
    • 2021 – Jason Kent Stranne
    • 2020 – Claire Jie Dong
    • 2020 – Angus Li
    • 2020 – William Ming Tian
    • 2020 – Chris Jiayang Zhou
    • 2019 – Neel Krishna Prabhu
    • 2018 – Harvey Yizhuang Shi
    • 2018 – Rachel S. Yan
    • 2017 – Aubrey Lynn Presnell
    • 2016 – Jinsu Kim
    • 2015 – Kevin Francis Keppel
    • 2015 – Kevin J. Liang

     

  • Given to a graduating senior who presents the best research project, as judged by department faculty

    This award commemorates the work of Hermann von Helmholtz in laying the foundation of biomedical engineering.

    Recent Winners

    • 2024 – Joanna Peng
    • 2023 – Sophia Vincoff
    • 2022 – Michael Qianjun Tian
    • 2021 – Stephanie Ann Crate
    • 2020 – Chris Jiayang Zhou
    • 2019 – Neel Krishna Prabhu
    • 2018 – Sydney Elisabeth Jeffs
    • 2018 – Vincent Nevan Mia
    • 2017 – Anchi Wu
    • 2017 – Grace Yin
    • 2016 – Christopher Paul Eckersley
    • 2016 – Henian Zhu
    • 2015 – Samantha Melinda Perez
  • Given to a Pratt Research Fellow in biomedical engineering with the best engineering design project, as judged by a faculty committee

    Established in 2012 in memory of Ned Light, who worked for at Duke 22 years—pioneering research in real-time 3D ultrasound imaging and mentoring a host of undergraduate students both in the lab and in life skills.

    Recent Winners

    • 2024 – Jacklyn Herzberg
    • 2023 – Reed Chen
    • 2022 – Caroline Grace Salzman
    • 2022 – Arushi Biswas
    • 2021 – Emily Cloud Barre
    • 2020 – Aditi Madan Pilan
    • 2019 – Stephanie Zhifan Xu
    • 2018 – Harvey Yizhuang Shi
    • 2017 – Zachary David Brown
    • 2016 – Gregory Derrick Poore
    • 2015 – Liangbo Shen
  • Given in recognition of outstanding perseverance and accomplishment in the study of biomedical engineering

    Established in 1993 by the Whitaker Foundation as an endowment award in memory of Dr. Pilkington, founding chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. The recipient is selected at the end of their junior year. 

    Recent Winners

    • 2024 – Jacklyn Herzberg
    • 2023 – Skylah Connelly
    • 2022 – Ramona Sonia Nasseri
    • 2021 – Canyon Fray Duncan
    • 2020 – Bradley Robert Foster
    • 2019 – Olivia Rose Gwynn
    • 2018 – Anthony Nicola Schneider
    • 2017 – Daniel Archer Hull
    • 2016 – Lauren Nicole Heckelman
    • 2015 – Natalie S. Fahey

Graduating with Departmental Distinction

    • Alaa Osman
    • Anand Chundi
    • Anna Demelo
    • Benjamin Johns
    • Benjamin Perry
    • Bowie Shreiber
    • Caroline Way
    • Catherine Price
    • Claire Lee
    • Dahlia Halabi
    • Darienne Rogers
    • Dmitri Morales
    • Grace Flynn
    • Jack Kovach
    • Jacklyn Herzberg
    • Joanna Peng
    • Joseph Laforet
    • Kishen Mitra
    • Matthew Lee
    • Mia Woodruff
    • Miranda Liu
    • Rachel Weirnick
    • Rajiv Raman
    • Sabina Yampolsky
    • Sara Taube
    • Sarah Broders
    • Sarah Glomski
    • Selena Halabi
    • Sophia Leeman
    • Sophie Wu
    • William Temme
    • Max Hube

     

    • Akhil Bedapudi
    • Andres Bermudez
    • Arunangshu Chakrabarty
    • Benjamin Simon
    • Chloe Derocher
    • Ethan Ho
    • Jacob Spruance
    • James Zheng
    • Jasmine King
    • Jessica Shah
    • Jessica Winakor
    • Megan Christy
    • Mohanapriya Cumaran
    • Morgan McCloud
    • Nikhil Peterson
    • Reed Chen
    • Seijung Kim
    • Sophie Vincoff
    • Suraj Upadhya
    • Xiao (Shaun) Wu
    • Yiru Li
    • Zirui Zhou

     

    • Claire Szuter
    • Ethan Nicklow
    • Gabbi Marushack
    • Grace Dessert
    • Jaclyn Xiao
    • John Boom
    • Jonathan Perera
    • Leandro Choi
    • Michael Tian
    • Molly Chakraborty
    • Ramona Naseri
    • Rishabh Jain
    • Simone Wall
    • Wayne Shi
    • Yesh Doctor

     

    • Allison Li
    • Austin Wen Feng Li
    • Christopher John Davis
    • Craig James Cronin
    • Emily Cloud Barre
    • Erin Elizabeth Brown
    • Geovanni L. Janer Carattini
    • Matthew Harrison Kleiser
    • Megan Lynn Libke
    • Natalie Shea Wilkinson
    • Rees Patrick Ridout
    • Rivka Becky Arbiv
    • Rohin Maganti
    • Ruopu Jiao
    • Stephanie Ann Crater
    • Wendy Dong
    • William Frederick Herbst

     

    • Aditi Madan Pilani
    • Adrienne Alice Hawkes
    • Aimee Joanmarie McVey
    • Alexander William Wilson
    • Andrew Ho-Fai Yeung
    • Anthony-Fayez Haddad
    • Beepul Bharti
    • Benjamin Robert Wesorick
    • Bradley Robert Foster
    • Chris Jiayang Zhou
    • Eric Robert Wahlstedt
    • Jackson Mitchell Dozier
    • Jason Jeh-Sen Chou
    • Jay Gupta
    • Kendyl Claire Bree
    • Maria ter Weele
    • Matthew James Salvino
    • Maya Uday Sheth
    • Sabrina Wei Qi
    • Stephanie Renée Zelenetz

     

    • Jay GuptaAndrew Kelleher
    • Ashish Vankara
    • Chance Robert Taylor Fleeting
    • Elizabeth Louise Snyder-Mounts
    • John Everett Knudsen
    • Kendall Ward Liang
    • Marisha Sai Madhira
    • Neel Krishna Prabhu
    • Olivia Georgi Anna Nillissen
    • Rebecca Michelle Cohen
    • Ryan Joseph Zerega
    • Stephen Zhifan Xu
    • Thomas Andrew Vincent
    • Yilin Yang

     

    • Alim Ladha
    • Andrea Helen Rossman
    • Anna Ruta
    • Arjun Divyang Desai
    • Brandon Joon-Sun Thio
    • Christine Wang
    • Danielle Giverny Dawes
    • Edward Dilong Liang
    • Emelina Prevost Vienneau
    • Gabriel Jakub Antoniak
    • Harvey Yizhuang Shi
    • Jihong Lee
    • Joseph James Tharayil
    • Karen Ling Xu
    • Kevin Jacob Mutchnick
    • Morgan Jill Ringel
    • Pablo Ortiz Escovar
    • Rachel S.Yang
    • Ryan Shaun Gallagher
    • Sydney Elisabeth Jeffs
    • Vincent Nevan Miao
    • Yuxiao Wei
    • Ziyi Zhang

     

    • Anchi Wu
    • Aubrey Presnell
    • Christine Zhao
    • Derek Chan
    • Feimei Liu
    • Grace Ying
    • Hao (Eddie) Zha
    • Harrison Ferlauto
    • Jay Rathinavelu
    • Jennifer Chang
    • John D’ Angelo
    • Kantapon Wiboonsaksakul
    • Katherine Lee
    • Kay Palopoli
    • Kevin Murgas
    • Leon Cai
    • Rohan Achar
    • Simeng Song
    • Thammathida Ketsiri
    • Udita Ghoshal
    • Varun Prasad
    • Yash Bhatnagar
    • Zachary Brown
    • Zoe Roecker

     

    • Andrew Constantin Toader
    • Archit Verma
    • Christopher Paul Eckersley
    • Dhiraj Sikaria
    • Gregory Derrick Poore
    • Hannah Jensen Vaughan
    • Heather Liu
    • Henian Zhu
    • Jacob Clark Ruprecht
    • Jeffrey L Wang
    • Jeffrey Winston Santoso
    • Jinsu Kim
    • John Michael Bernabei
    • Kaustav Prakash Shah
    • Kenneth Timothy Shiao
    • Michaela Jane Walker
    • Minyoung Ryoo
    • Nishkala Kunigal Shivakumar
    • Shane Solomon Neibart
    • Tyler Jonathan Glass
    • Xizheng Wan
    • Zohaib Ali Shaikh

     

    • Ananya Zutsh
    • Andrew David Lynch
    • Anna Elizabeth Knight
    • Bianca Bracht
    • Claire Marie Regan Vannelli
    • Dillon Tanner Arey
    • Jenny Yao
    • Justin Jeng-Young Fu
    • Kendall Marie Covington
    • Liangbo Shen
    • Lin Liao
    • Matthew Robert Morgan
    • Mengyun Lu
    • Michael Marvin Rees
    • Morgan Geraghty Simons
    • Samuel David Butensky
    • Samuel Spence McCachren III
    • Taylor Doores Waanders
    • Vignesh Vudatha
    • Yeong-Ran Ahn