Ravi Venkat 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
- Email Address: ravi@duke.edu
- Websites:
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.
In the News
- Duke Engineering Dean Discusses Confronting and Overcoming Biases (Mar 21, 2017)
- Engineering Dean on Immigration Policy and Attracting the Best Minds (Mar 20, 2017)
- Tumor-Seeking Salmonella Treats Brain Tumors (Jan 11, 2017)
Representative Publications
- Enam, SF; Krieger, JR; Saxena, T; Watts, BE; Olingy, CE; Botchwey, EA; Bellamkonda, RV, Enrichment of endogenous fractalkine and anti-inflammatory cells via aptamer-functionalized hydrogels., Biomaterials, vol 142 (2017), pp. 52-61 [10.1016/j.biomaterials.2017.07.013] [abs].
- Lyon, JG; Mokarram, N; Saxena, T; Carroll, SL; Bellamkonda, RV, Engineering challenges for brain tumor immunotherapy., Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews (2017) [10.1016/j.addr.2017.06.006] [abs].
- Mokarram, N; Dymanus, K; Srinivasan, A; Lyon, JG; Tipton, J; Chu, J; English, AW; Bellamkonda, RV, Immunoengineering nerve repair., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, vol 114 no. 26 (2017), pp. E5077-E5084 [10.1073/pnas.1705757114] [abs].
- Betancur, MI; Mason, HD; Alvarado-Velez, M; Holmes, PV; Bellamkonda, RV; Karumbaiah, L, Chondroitin Sulfate Glycosaminoglycan Matrices Promote Neural Stem Cell Maintenance and Neuroprotection Post-Traumatic Brain Injury, ACS biomaterials science & engineering, vol 3 no. 3 (2017), pp. 420-430 [10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00805] [abs].
- Mehta, N; Lyon, JG; Patil, K; Mokarram, N; Kim, C; Bellamkonda, RV, Bacterial Carriers for Glioblastoma Therapy., Molecular Therapy - Oncolytics, vol 4 (2017), pp. 1-17 [10.1016/j.omto.2016.12.003] [abs].