Biomedical Engineering Content

Engineers, Neurosurgeons Help Restore Autonomy for People with Paralysis

Cody Kitaura — October 15, 2025 - 7:00am

In a world first, a team of engineers, neuroscientists and neurosurgeons at UC Davis and UC Davis Health has demonstrated that brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, for translating brain signals into speech can also enable control of a computer cursor.

A Stretchy Protein Senses Forces in Cells

Andy Fell — October 10, 2025 - 11:20am

How does skin hold you in? How do heart cells beat together? Researchers at the University of California, Davis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, are exploring how structures called desmosomes, which stick cells together, function and react to mechanical stress.

New work from Professor Sanjeevi Sivasankar’s lab, published Oct. 10 in Nature Communications, shows how a desmosome protein can respond to mechanical stress and potentially send signals within the cell.

Total-Body PET Imaging Takes a Look at Long COVID

Andy Fell — August 28, 2025 - 9:59am

Using total-body PET imaging to get a better understanding of long COVID disease is the goal of a new project at the University of California, Davis, in collaboration with UC San Francisco. The project is funded by a grant of $3.2 million over four years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

New Two-photon Microscopy System Aims to See Into 'Impossible' Spaces

Andy Fell — April 28, 2025 - 3:20pm

Researchers at UC Davis have developed a fast and cost-effective two-photon microscopy system capable of imaging depths previously impossible to reach in scattering tissues, such as bone and the brain.

Holographic 3D Printing With Soundwaves

Andy Fell — March 26, 2025 - 2:50pm

In an operating room, doctors and technicians work on repairing a broken bone. There are no scalpels, no incisions — the skin is not broken.

No, this is not science fiction, but a potential application of a groundbreaking 3D printing method developed by Mohsen Habibi, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Davis.

Outside-In Signaling Shows a Route Into Cancer Cells

Andy Fell — February 04, 2025 - 9:08am

A new study shows how an anticancer drug triggers an “outside in” signal that gets it sucked into a cancer cell. The work, published Jan. 29 in Nature Communications, reveals a new signaling mechanism that could be exploited for delivering other drugs.

Many malignant cancers overexpress a protein called P-cadherin, which is embedded in the cell membrane. Because cancer cells have a lot of P-cadherin sticking out of their surface, the protein has been targeted for drug development.

A Chip to Measure Immunity

Andy Fell — December 04, 2024 - 4:16pm

Every winter, influenza returns with a new variant. People who have previously been infected with or vaccinated against flu may have some protection, but this depends on how well their immune system’s “memory” of the previous virus or vaccine cross-reacts with the new variant. At present, there is no good way to measure this. A new NIH-funded project by researchers at the University of California, Davis and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health aims to solve that problem with a new device to measure this immune system “memory” in the blood.

Novel Dynamic Imaging Technology Captures the Body’s Immune Response to COVID-19

Andy Fell — October 19, 2023 - 1:18pm

A team of UC Davis scientists used dynamic total-body positron emission tomography (PET) to provide the first imaging of the human body’s immune response to COVID-19 infection in recovering patients. Their work, published in Science Advances, could lead to a better understanding of how the body’s immune system responds to viral infections and develops long-term protection against re-infection.

New Light-Activated Technique to Track Protein Interactions

Andy Fell — October 11, 2023 - 10:10am

Biomedical engineers at UC Davis have come up with a new tool for tracing interactions between proteins. The new, light-activated tool could have wide applications in cell biology.

Engineered Bone Marrow Shows Promise for Developing Cancer Treatment

Andy Fell — September 15, 2023 - 3:15pm

The development of engineered bone marrow is revolutionizing research and treatment for osteosarcoma, the most common malignant bone cancer in children.