Ravi Venkat Bellamkonda

Bellamkonda

Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering

Ravi Bellamkonda is the Vinik Dean of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. Prior to becoming dean, Bellamkonda served as the Wallace H. Coulter Professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. He is committed to fostering transformative research and pedagogical innovation as well as programs that create an entrepreneurial mindset amongst faculty and students.

A trained bioengineer and neuroscientist, Bellamkonda holds an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering. His graduate training at Brown University was in biomaterials and medical science (with Patrick Aebischer), and his post-doctoral training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology focused on the molecular mechanisms of axon guidance and neural development (with Jerry Schneider and Sonal Jhaveri). His current research explores the interplay of biomaterials and the nervous system for neural interfaces, nerve repair and brain tumor therapy.

From 2014 to 2016, Bellamkonda served as president of the American Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering (AIMBE), the leading policy and advocacy organization for biomedical engineers with representation from industry, academia and government. Bellamkonda’s numerous awards include the Clemson Award for Applied Research from the Society for Biomaterials, EUREKA award from National Cancer Institute (National Institutes of Health), CAREER award from the National Science Foundation and Best Professor Award from the Georgia Tech Biomedical Engineering student body.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Vinik Dean of Engineering

Contact Information

Education

  • Ph.D. Brown University, 1994

Research Interests

Engineered devices for brain tumor therapy; immunomodulation for peripheral and central nervous system repair; biomaterials; brain-machine interfaces.

Courses Taught

  • BME 493: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 494: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 791: Graduate Independent Study
  • BME 792: Continuation of Graduate Independent Study
  • EGR 393: Research Projects in Engineering
  • NEUROSCI 496: Research Independent Study 4

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Alvarado-Velez, M; Enam, SF; Mehta, N; Lyon, JG; LaPlaca, MC; Bellamkonda, RV, Immuno-suppressive hydrogels enhance allogeneic MSC survival after transplantation in the injured brain., Biomaterials, vol 266 (2021) [10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120419] [abs].
  • Enam, SF; Kader, SR; Bodkin, N; Lyon, JG; Calhoun, M; Azrak, C; Tiwari, PM; Vanover, D; Wang, H; Santangelo, PJ; Bellamkonda, RV, Evaluation of M2-like macrophage enrichment after diffuse traumatic brain injury through transient interleukin-4 expression from engineered mesenchymal stromal cells., Journal of Neuroinflammation, vol 17 no. 1 (2020) [10.1186/s12974-020-01860-y] [abs].
  • Falcone, JD; Sohal, HS; Kyriakides, TR; Bellamkonda, RV, The impact of modulating the blood-brain barrier on the electrophysiological and histological outcomes of intracortical electrodes., Journal of Neural Engineering, vol 16 no. 4 (2019) [10.1088/1741-2552/ab1ef9] [abs].
  • Lyon, JG; Carroll, SL; Mokarram, N; Bellamkonda, RV, Electrotaxis of Glioblastoma and Medulloblastoma Spheroidal Aggregates., Scientific Reports, vol 9 no. 1 (2019) [10.1038/s41598-019-41505-6] [abs].
  • Saxena, T; Lyon, JG; Pai, SB; Pare, D; Amero, J; Karumbaiah, L; Carroll, SL; Gaupp, E; Bellamkonda, RV, Engineering Controlled Peritumoral Inflammation to Constrain Brain Tumor Growth., Advanced Healthcare Materials, vol 8 no. 4 (2019) [10.1002/adhm.201801076] [abs].