UC Irvine researchers discover drug compounds to block blood-vessel branching in skin and tumors

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New angiogenesis inhibitors have potential to treat cancer and skin diseases

Irvine, Calif. — A research team led by scientists at the University of California, Irvine has discovered new drug compounds that can block blood-vessel branching in both skin tissue and tumors.

The compounds work by blocking proteins needed to form new blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis, the researchers report in the study published today in the journal iScience. A team of scientists at the Italian Institute of Technology also contributed to the research.

Anti-angiogenesis drugs have long been used to block tumor growth in many types of cancer. Yet they are largely ineffective at treating melanoma, the most aggressive skin cancer. Most skin tumors need to develop a blood supply to grow beyond 1 millimeter in depth.

The researchers focused on compounds with the potential to disrupt two molecular switches thought to control blood-vessel branching in the skin, CDC42 and RhoJ, said corresponding author and UCI Health dermatologist Anand Ganesan, MD, PhD.

The study measured the effects of the drugs discovered by the Ganesan research team — called CDC42-effector interaction inhibitors — on blood-vessel branching. They compared these CDC42 interaction inhibitors, which can block signals generated by the RhoJ molecular switch, with existing drugs that prevent the CDC42 molecular switch from turning on. They demonstrated that blocking RhoJ, but not CDC42, inhibited blood-vessel branching in skin, said Ganesan, a UC Irvine professor of dermatology and biological chemistry whose lab led the study.

“Importantly, this anti-vascular effect was not limited to skin; the class of drugs also blocked melanoma tumor vascularization and inhibited tumor growth,” he said. “Taken together, the CDC42-effector interaction inhibitors work as selective anti-vascular agents that can be used to treat both cancer and skin disease.”

While further study is needed to decipher exactly how vessel-branching in skin is regulated, Ganesan said the team is now focused on understanding whether CDC42 interaction inhibitors could be used to treat skin conditions characterized by a proliferation of blood vessels, including rosacea and other inherited vascular disorders.

The UC Irvine research team included first author Linh M. Vuong, PhD; Stephanie Hachey, PhD; Jessica Shiu, MD, PhD; Danny F. Xie; Noel Salvador, PhD; Rachel Pham; Vance Ku; Swara D. Limbekar; Terry Nguyen; Bernard Choi, PhD, and Christopher C.W. Hughes, PhD, a UC Irvine Chancellor’s Professor of molecular biology and biochemistry. A team of researchers led by Marco de Vivo at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa provided critically important molecular modeling and translational pharmacology expertise.

The research was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute, the Italian Association for Cancer Research, the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease, and the Clinical Innovation Incubator, a new UC Irvine Department of Dermatology program that provides pilot funding to support the development of innovative solutions for clinical problems.

Anand Ganesan, MD, PhD, a UC Irvine dermatologist, is the author or co-author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. His research focuses on understanding how signaling between different skin cell types drives the formation of cancer and skin disease. His goal is to develop new therapies to treat melanoma and other skin diseases. Ganesan serves as co-director of Biotechnology, Imaging and Drug Development and co-director for Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics at the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is also associate dean for Physician-Scientist Development at the UC Irvine School of Medicine and vice chair for research for its Department of Dermatology.

Learn more about UCI Health Dermatology Services.

Click here to read full article on the UCI Health website.

 

 

 

Lasers for Pediatric Skin Conditions Require a Different Approach Than in Adults

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By Richard Mark Kirkner, Medscape

Children can benefit from a variety of dermatologic laser procedures, from hair removal to treatment of scars and vascular anomalies. However, the data on the safety and effectiveness of lasers for treating skin conditions in pediatric patients are lacking, as are clinical guidelines.

Lasers have been widely used in pediatric dermatology, with the earliest reports of laser treatment of port-wine stains going back 30 years or more. The steady evolution of devices has improved clinical results, but the use of lasers in children for dermatologic conditions carries unique challenges, pediatric dermatologists who specialize in laser treatments have reported.

A multitude of indications for ablative fractional lasers (AFLs) for pediatric patients exist. However, “performing laser surgery on kids tends to be a very different experience than working with adult patients,” Andrew C. Krakowski, MD, network chair of dermatology at St. Luke’s University Health Network in Easton, Pennsylvania, told Medscape Medical News. “First off, adult patients want to be there, usually to have something being made to look better. Kids, on the other hand, want to be anywhere other than the doctor’s office.”

Lasers can be useful for patients of all ages, “from newborns to people over 100 years old, depending on what you’re trying to treat,” Kristen M. Kelly, MD, professor and chair of dermatology at UC Irvine School of Medicine, told Medscape Medical News. “Just like any therapeutic modality, you want to make sure that you know how to use it, that you’re using it for the correct indications, you’re using it in the correct way for that particular indication.”

Indications for Lasers in Pediatric Dermatology

Pediatric patients can undergo laser procedures for many of the same indications as adults, including hair removal. Anna Yasmine Kirkorian, MD, chief of dermatology at Children’s National Hospital, Washington, DC, and colleagues reviewed the ethical and clinical considerations of lasers and other hair removal modalities in pediatric patients in a 2024 review. “All methods of hair removal appear to be safe and generally well tolerated in children, and there are no age restrictions to any modality,” Kirkorian and her coauthors wrote. Regarding lasers specifically, they added, “In the pediatric population, lasers have the most extensive data supporting their use for hair removal, and their safety profile in treating other dermatologic conditions adds to the existing body of evidence.”

AFL can be used for a host of scarring indications in pediatric patients, including hypertrophic scarring, keloid scarring, acne scarring, and surgical scarring. At the Society for Pediatric Dermatology annual meeting held the day before the American Academy of Dermatology meeting in March, Krakowski said the treatment of self-cutting scars is another indication.

“A big focus of mine is treating kids’ scars, not just the appearance of scars but, perhaps even more importantly, any deficit in function the scar may be causing,” Krakowski told Medscape Medical News.

Other pediatric indications Krakowski enumerated include collagen nodules and contracture, repigmentation of pulse dye laser hypopigmentation, porokeratotic eccrine ostial and dermal duct nevus, Dowling-Degos disease, angiofibromas in tuberous sclerosis, recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, Goltz syndrome, and infantile hemangiomas and birthmarks.

Psychosocial Issues in Children

“Scars can also be associated with posttraumatic stress disorder and depression,” Krakowski said. Burn scars are a typical example of the latter. And disfiguring scars can also be associated with increased anxiety and feelings of social isolation in adolescents and teenagers.

“These scar-related comorbidities are often under-investigated and underreported, so you really have to make the deliberate point to ask your patients and then be prepared to address what they share,” he said.

Children with chronic skin conditions deal with a host of psychosocial issues, such as bullying and stigmatization, different from those that adults deal with, a multisite cross-sectional study of 1671 children published last year in JAMA Dermatology reported.

The study concluded that this is an area that requires further study and one that dermatologists need to take more seriously. While skin disorders “are often regarded as less serious” than other groups of diseases, “a child or adolescent with a chronic skin disorder risks becoming the target for bullying, alienation, and feelings of reduced self-worth, leading to stigma,” the authors wrote.

“There are both physical and emotional scars,” Kelly said. “Sometimes, that’s something that people need an opportunity to be able to deal with.” In some cases, other resources, such as counseling or group therapy, may be in order, she said.

Informed Consent for Pediatric Patients

Obtaining informed consent for a dermatologic laser procedure for a child is far different from the process for adults, Kirkorian told Medscape Medical News. “Children cannot consent to procedures, but as often as is possible, they should be able to assent,” she said. The dermatologist must be able to explain the procedure to the child in an age-appropriate manner.

“For procedures, such as laser hair removal, which are elective and not medically necessary, the child should both want to participate in the procedure and be able to comply with safety requirements,” such as having the ability to wear eye protection and stay still during the procedure, she said.

Parents play an integral role in the informed consent process because they are the ones ultimately giving the informed consent for their child, Kirkorian said. But the child must also cooperate. “It’s important that we do not force children to undergo procedures that are not medically necessary or the only option if they are unwilling participants,” she said.

Two examples Kirkorian offered where the child’s cooperation is vital are cryotherapy for the treatment of verruca and intralesional steroid injections for the treatment of alopecia areata. She only performs these procedures on children if they “are willing and able to participate because these procedures can be painful and do not lead to resolution of the condition in all cases,” she said. “If a child cannot or will not participate with such procedures, then alternative medical treatments would be indicated.”

Medically necessary procedures, such as biopsy of a changing nevus, require a different approach, she said. “If a child cannot comply, then we consider a sedated procedure as an alternative,” Kirkorian said.

Informing parents and children of procedures requires different approaches for each, Kelly said. “Obviously, the language you might use for the parents and the children could be somewhat different because certainly, you want everyone to understand.”

In addition, “you want to work with the parents to find the best way to approach the information with the child,” she added. “You want them to be informed. You also don’t want to create unnecessary fear, and so you need to find the right approach to let them know what will be happening but not scare them.”

Pain Management in Children

Children also have different pain management needs. “Obviously, it’s not a totally painless procedure,” Lisa Arkin, MD, director of Pediatric Dermatology and co-director of the Birthmarks and Vascular Anomalies Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin, said of laser ablation. “Most kids of an appropriately selected age and maturity can tolerate these procedures in the office.”

Here, the dermatologist may need to take a nuanced approach based on the type of injury or condition being treated, she said. “There’s always sort of a select patient population, particularly the kids who’ve had extensive burns, where there’s just too much trauma, and you just need to leverage general anesthesia to keep them comfortable.”

In children, the same principles apply as in adults: mitigating anxiety, pain, and fear, Arkin said. Techniques include topical anesthetic cream, cooling of the epidermis, and use of the Buzzy handheld device that combines a reusable ice pack and vibration near the treatment area.

“Control is a big thing for kids,” Arkin said. “They want to know how much it’s going to hurt and how many pulses it will take so that they can mentally wrap their head around expectations.”

Another strategy in small children that Kirkorian has found useful is having the parent hold the child during the laser treatment. “There are many positions or embraces that can be taught, especially by collaborating with child-life teams,” she said. “The parent’s job is to provide comfort, not to ‘hold the child down.’”

Besides topical anesthetics, vibratory devices, and cold sprays, other approaches include distraction with videos, music, or virtual reality, Kirkorian said.

“Lastly, dermatologists who perform procedures on children should feel very comfortable doing so and be able to perform the procedures quickly and effectively on a moving patient,” she added. Otherwise, the child should be referred to a board-certified pediatric dermatologist.

Managing Expectations

Preparing parents and children for the eventual outcome also requires some skill and nuance. “Dermatologists should explain the procedure plan in detail with parents in advance of the procedure while being mindful that this discussion might be best performed without the child present in case it will increase the child’s anxiety if it is a small child,” Kirkorian said.

“For older children or adolescents, it’s important to include them in the discussion because they cannot be ‘held down’ or restrained safely, so they need to be able to understand and assent,” she added.

Kelly gave an example of how that conversation can go with a child. “If I’m treating a scar — and I would say the same thing to adults — I never promise that I’m going to completely remove the scar,” she said. “I’m not going to be able to make it go away like it had never happened, but we can dramatically improve it.”

A Word About Teenagers

In Krakowski’s experience, “teenagers are awesome” and have often been the most motivated of patients “because they want nothing more than to fit in with their peers,” whereas adults “tend to want to stand out from the people around them.”

However, teenagers can also present unique challenges compared with younger children, he said.

“The trouble with teenagers, though, is that they are old enough and strong enough to be able to get off the exam table and walk out of the procedure room,” Krakowski said. “You can be halfway through a procedure, and if they decide they are finished, there is not much you can do about it.”

His advice: Plan ahead so that the treatment can be completed. For example, to treat atrophic scars from chronically inflamed acne, which is the most common condition he treats with lasers in teenagers, he’s switched from AFL to a fractional nonablative device because patients tolerate it better. Referring to AFL, he said, “I know this device hurts and is associated with significant downtime.”

With the nonablative device, “I can finish the treatments, and I know the patients will notice some significant improvement by the end of our third or fourth treatment session,” Krakowski said.

That, he said, improves the chances that these potentially difficult pediatric patients will complete their treatment.

Click here to read full article on Medscape.

Moles can become melanomas through nongenetic transitions, UC Irvine study shows

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Irvine, Calif., June 26, 2025 — Researchers at the University of California, Irvine exploring the genesis of melanoma have identified a cell type in animal and human models that can initiate tumors in the absence of other genetic mutations.

These cells, which resemble neural crest stem cells, were found to be present in human and mouse melanomas, as well as in normal skin, the researchers report in a study published today in the journal Nature Communications. Single-cell transcriptomics and advanced bioinformatics approaches revealed that these cells could act as “precursors of malignant cells,” a finding that has significant implications for developing strategies to detect melanoma early or even prevent melanoma from forming.

“We show that an initial mutation, known to generate either a normal mole or a tumor, need not be followed by a second mutation to change into a melanoma tumor,” said Anand Ganesan, MD, PhD, a UC Irvine professor of dermatology and biological chemistry and corresponding author of the study.

“This opens up the possibility of reverting the tumor cell to back into a normal cell if indeed the event that is causing it is not permanent, like a mutation,” added the UCI Health dermatologist and skin cancer specialist. “It also opens up the possibility that one could design a therapy to stop this cellular transition as a way to prevent melanoma.”

Melanoma, which is expected to cause more than 8,000 U.S. deaths in 2025, is a type of cancer that arises in the skin’s pigment-making cells. Called melanocytes, these cells can form a pigmented lesion on the skin called a “mole” and also known as a nevus. Most moles are benign, but those that become melanomas can spread rapidly to other organs throughout the body.

Difficult to diagnose

About 90% of tumors detected early can be cured with surgery, but they can be difficult to diagnose in an initial biopsy. Tracking the transition of the neural crest-like cells could help better identify melanoma in its beginning stages for removal and a cure.

What triggers the change from mole to tumor has been the subject of study for years. Most melanomas are thought to result from exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays. However, other melanomas found in hidden parts of the body not exposed to the sun are difficult to detect let alone prevent.

“Cancer initiation begins with a mutation, but unraveling the sequence and number of mutations required to generate tumors has been challenging,” said Ganesan, a physician-scientist whose previous work has included developing new compounds with the potential to slow the grow of skin cancers. He also serves as co-director for Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics at the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The research team led by Hui Xiao, PhD, a former graduate student in Ganesan’s lab, conducted In-depth genetic studies of mouse models with mutations of the cell growth-regulating gene BRAF. While the BRAF mutation induced rare melanomas in albino mice, it induced only normal moles in black mice. Notably, consistent mutations were not found in the tumors that arose in albino mice, indicating that additional mutations were not required to generate tumors.

Potential marker for malignancy

“The detection of the cells that can form tumors in biopsies may represent a clinically useful marker of malignant potential as it appears that they are observed in melanomas arising in both mice and humans,” the study said.

“If cancer formation is strictly dependent on the accumulation of genetic mutations, then the only way to prevent cancer would involve preventing the accumulation of additional mutations,” Ganesan added.

“On the other hand, if tumor initiation involves a combination of a mutation and non-genetic events, preventing nongenetic events would be a method to prevent cancer formation.  Thus, while wearing sunscreen to prevent mutations is still important in preventing melanomas and other cancers, there may be other therapies we could devise that could prevent normal melanocytes from transitioning into melanoma cells.”

The work required close collaboration between Ganesan and Arthur D. Lander, MD, PhD, an expert in computational biology and the Donald Bren Professor of Developmental Biology, as well as Qing Nie, PhD, an expert in single-cell bioinformatics and the Chancellor’s Professor of Mathematics. The research team also included Jessica Shiu, MD, PhD; Chi-Fen Chen, MS; Jie Wu, PhD; Peijie Zhou, PhD; Sahil S. Telang; Rolando Ruiz-Vega, PhD; and Robert A. Edwards, MD, PhD.

The study was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

Anand Ganesan, MD, PhD, a UC Irvine physician-scientist specializing in pigmentary disorders and skin cancer, is the author or co-author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. His research focuses on understanding how pigment cells function in the skin; how they give skin its color; how they are lost in vitiligo, and how they can transform into melanoma. His goal is to develop new therapies to treat melanoma and pigmentary disorders. Ganesan serves as co-director for Biotechnology, Imaging and Drug Development and co-director for Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics at the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is also associate dean for Physician-Scientist Development at the UC Irvine School of Medicine and vice chair for research for the medical school’s Department of Dermatology.

The UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated U.S. comprehensive cancer centers and the only one based in Orange County, the sixth most populous county in the nation. A research powerhouse, the cancer center brings together basic and translational scientists with clinician investigators to drive discoveries through the pipeline into the clinical arena. The center treats more patients with cancer — and more complex cases — than any other healthcare provider in the region, with more than 80,000 outpatient visits and 65,000 infusion treatments annually at practice sites in Orange, Irvine, Yorba Linda, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Laguna Hills. The center also offers more than 500 clinical trials, including the region’s largest portfolio of early-phase and investigator-initiated trials. It has the only adult bone marrow transplant program in Orange County, performing more than 100 transplants a year and enabling critically ill patients to receive life-saving care close to home. It is also one of the few U.S. programs to provide transplants for debilitating autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. With the opening of its second clinical hub in Irvine in July 2024, the cancer center has tripled its space to treat cancer patients and conduct novel studies aimed at bringing an end to cancer.

UCI Health, one of California’s largest academic health systems, is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. The 1,317-bed system comprises its main campus UCI Medical Center, its flagship hospital in Orange, Calif., the UCI Health — Irvine medical campus, four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and a network of ambulatory care centers across the region. UCI Medical Center provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to the only Orange County-based National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).

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Click here to read full article on the UCI Health website.

Global Laser Charities Save Skin and Change Lives

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Click here to read Medscape article.

By Jennie Smith, Medscape

ORLANDO, Fla. — In 2009, Thanh-Nga Tran, MD, was a dermatology resident at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston when she traveled to Vietnam — the country of her birth — for a clinical rotation.

There, Tran found that children with vascular and pigmented birthmarks were being treated not with energy-based devices, as had long been standard in the US, or propranolol, which was emerging an effective treatment for hemangiomas at the time.

Click here to read full Medscape article.

Faculty Celebrated for Outstanding Service and Contributions

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By Lori Brandt, UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering

June 17, 2025 – “Engineers are optimistic people – we study the world as it could be, from imagination to reality,” said UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering Dean Magnus Egerstedt to faculty and staff who gathered on June 9 for the 2025 Spring Faculty Awards.

The annual awards acknowledge and honor the valued contributions of professors in five categories — teaching, research, innovation, service and mentorship. Awardees are selected by a voting committee that consists of the dean and associate deans.

“The end of the academic year is always hectic, so it’s nice to take a step back and spend a little time celebrating colleagues,” Egerstedt said. He noted a new award this year celebrating mentorship, a vitally important function for the school. “It demonstrates that we are in this effort together, all part of one engineering family.”

Here are the 2025 Spring Faculty Award recipients.

Excellence in Research

This recognition is bestowed upon faculty members who have conducted exceptional fundamental or applied research in one or more areas, or who have made a single or unique contribution to engineering concepts, and in which the research is responsive to or has an impact on society as a whole.

Early Career:  Maxim Shcherbakov, Assistant Professor, EECS

In less than four years as a tenure-track faculty member, Shcherbakov has established himself as a rising star in the field of photonics. His groundbreaking research addresses critical socio-economic demands in high-bandwidth telecommunications, data processing and computing through light-based information and hardware. His innovative approach to understanding light-matter interactions in artificially nanostructured semiconductors and exotic materials has resulted in several recent breakthroughs, and he has been able to translate fundamental discoveries into potential technological applications.

He has more than 60 peer-reviewed journal publications and 30 invited talks and has secured more than $2.4 million in research funding. Recent recognitions include the DARPA Young Faculty Award, NSF CAREER Award and DARPA Director’s Fellowship Award. Shcherbakov’s innovative research, successful funding record, impactful publications and dedication to mentoring have earned him this early career excellence in research award.

Mid-Career:  Penghui Cao, Associate Professor, MAE

Cao leads a dynamic research program in the computational modeling of complex alloys under extreme conditions. His work has fundamental and broad impacts in understanding the deformation mechanisms of high-entropy alloys and gradient density materials. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, including three recent papers in Nature Communications. His 2022 publication on dislocation patterning featured on the cover of Science Advances is regarded as a landmark contribution in the field.

Cao has secured more than $5 million in research funding over the past few years, an exceptional achievement for a theoretical and computational research group. He also holds leadership roles in the NSF-funded Center for Complex and Active Materials at UCI and the DOE’s Center for Additively Manufactured Complex Systems under Extremes. Additionally, through his service and leadership activities, Cao has taken meaningful steps to advance inclusive excellence and broaden participation. His outstanding research and creative work, leadership and service, and commitment to inclusive excellence make him highly deserving of this award.

Senior:  Amir AghaKouchak, Chancellor’s Professor, CEE

AghaKouchak is an international leader in water resources engineering known for developing novel frameworks for monitoring and predicting compound hydroclimate hazards. He has pioneered methodologies for the integration of multiple sources of information including satellite data, ground-based observations, physically based models, and advanced data-analytics methodologies for the prediction and mitigation of catastrophic extremes. He is a highly cited researcher who has published, with his group, more than 230- peer-reviewed papers.

AghaKouchak has earned numerous honors including the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics’ Early Career Scientist Award, and the  American Geophysical Union’ Early Career Hydrologic Sciences Award. He was recently named a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental and Water Resources Institute (2023) and is also a recipient of the ASCE Norman Medal (2022); ASCE Huber Prize (2020); and AGU James B. Macelwane Medal (2019). AghaKouchak’s groundbreaking research, original ideas and societal relevance along with his contributions to the scientific community have earned him this Samueli School recognition for excellence in research.

Innovation in Teaching

This teaching award is presented to a faculty team or individual who has made outstanding contributions to the improvement of undergraduate engineering education. It recognizes the demonstrated impact of innovation in the education process, including the design, development and application of new pedagogy, teaching tools and assessment methods. Exceptional teaching in the classroom is also considered. Selection favors those whose contributions have made important, pervasive improvements in engineering education with a significant potential for long-term impact.

Early Career: Quinton Smith, Assistant Professor, CBE

Smith integrates interactive teaching methods, real-world applications and hands-on experiences in his teaching, contributing to the overall quality of education by enhancing student engagement, comprehension and skill development. By contextualizing abstract principles within tangible examples, students are better equipped to grasp the practical significance of the derived equations and concepts. This enhances their understanding and cultivates critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities essential for success in engineering practice.

Smith fosters an environment where questions are encouraged and explanations are clear and relatable. This approach humanizes the learning process, breaking down barriers between students and educators, and instills a sense of ownership and agency in students’ learning journey. As a result, students are more intellectually stimulated and actively engaged in the course material, leading to enhanced learning outcomes. Smith plays a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of engineering professionals and driving innovation in the field.

Mid-Career:  Hung Cao, Associate Professor, EECS

Cao has an enthusiastic and engaging teaching style that is highly appreciated by his students. Through sustained efforts, he has successfully managed to enrich course content with practical problems and examples. This exposure to real world applications has helped students develop an interest in research. Noting the importance of training students on semiconductor and microelectronics, Cao initiated a special ENGR 199 class, in which undergraduate students can enter the cleanroom facility and learn microfabrication processes. He designed a special device “the Anteater microsensor,” which has the shape of our mascot, and can sense toxic gases and liquids.

He leads a large research group and through his mentorship, his former Ph.D. students have found positions at national labs and top companies. He also involves large numbers of undergraduate students in research. He serves as a capstone coordinator and DECADE mentor. Student comments testify that Hung “is always engaging and interesting” and he makes “math and physics very fun!”

Senior:  Vasan Venugopalan, Professor, CBE  

Venugopalan has made exceptional contributions in developing and implementing novel and impactful educational programs to support multidisciplinary training of students, researchers and industrial professionals in the area of biophotonics. His contributions have had tangible benefits for both UCI Ph.D. students across campus — impacting the Schools of Engineering, Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences and Medicine — as well as a larger population of academic and industrial researchers nationally and internationally.

Venugopalan’s efforts have resulted in the development of five extramurally-funded ($6.5 million in total) multidisciplinary educational initiatives, each utilizing mixed methods, for intensive research education and training, coupled with professional development and technical and career mentorship. Examples include an NSF Integrated Graduate Education, Research and Training (IGERT) program, several NIH short courses and training programs in computational and biophotonics, and a UC/HBCU program for multidisciplinary research experience for undergraduate students.

Innovator of the Year:  Zhongping Chen, Professor, BME

This award is presented to an individual or team who best demonstrates innovation in the development of a product or technology. The award recognizes achievements in which the innovation has successfully translated the research emanating from our laboratories into new products and technologies that can be used by the public at large.

Chen has distinguished himself as a prolific and impactful translational researcher in biomedical optics. His innovations have advanced the frontiers of science and led to commercially viable technologies now poised to transform clinical care across ophthalmology, cardiology, otolaryngology and oncology. His work in optical coherence tomography has been integrated into clinical ophthalmology as a standard of care, allowing clinicians to noninvasively visualize retinal microvasculature, and enabling early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.

He has pushed forward the development of acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography —a novel technique for real-time, noninvasive imaging of tissue biomechanics that could help with early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and diagnosis of glioblastoma. His endoscopic OCT technologies have enabled the first in vivo imaging of pediatric airways in obstructive sleep apnea and been adopted for diagnosing genitourinary syndrome of menopause. These advances mark a new direction for OCT technologies in neurological and oncological imaging, with the potential to reshape early diagnostic practice. In addition, two companies with over $10 million in secured funding have been founded based on his technologies. In recognition of his foundational and applied contributions to biomedical optics, Chen was recently honored with the 2024 Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award.

Faculty Service:  Fadi Kurdahi, Professor, EECS

The service award acknowledges a faculty team or individual who has made outstanding service contributions to the many endeavors of the department or school. It recognizes the importance of the sacrifices that faculty members make in advancing the school’s mission of education, research and outreach. 

Kurdahi excels in service to his profession, colleagues, the school and our students. He is currently director of the Center for Embedded & Cyber-physical Systems (CECS) and formerly served as Associate Dean for Graduate and Professional Studies from 2017 to 2022. Kurdahi founded and directs the Master of Embedded & Cyber-Physical Systems (MECPS) program, the first of its kind in the U.S., designed to equip both mid-career and early career professionals with the skills needed to excel in the rapidly expanding Internet of Things (IoT) job market. The program has seen significant growth, with enrollment now reaching 50 students.

Fadi also has engaged in many activities aimed at promoting participation from Under-Represented Minorities. He created a STEM program for underrepresented high school and community college students, which enabled the sponsorship of about 30 students for a two-week “boot camp” in IoT. He was instrumental in establishing the Engineering Pathway to Ph.D. Fellowship, leading the efforts to establish a full-ride MS fellowship fund for students from Hispanic Serving Institutions and serving as PI for a UC-HBCU grant that funds several students from Alabama A&M University who spend their summer doing research with our top faculty.

Outstanding Faculty Mentor: Naomi Chesler, Professor, BME

The mentorship award recognizes and honors outstanding faculty members who demonstrate exceptional mentorship to students, junior faculty and/or staff and who have demonstrated quantitative and qualitative success in assisting mentees to achieve their academic and professional goals. Efforts to mentor underrepresented or marginalized groups and development of creative or unique approaches to mentoring are particularly appreciated.

Chesler is not only an accomplished scientist but also a compassionate and visionary mentor. Over the course of her career, she has served as a dedicated mentor to many undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty and colleagues from underrepresented backgrounds across engineering and the biomedical sciences. Her mentees have gone on to successful careers in academia, medicine and industry. Many credit her with helping them develop confidence in their abilities, clarity in their goals and the skills to succeed in rigorous research environments.

She mentors through structured, individualized plans that evolve over time and center both academic and professional growth. This commitment extends into her teaching: she integrates mentoring into the classroom through discussion-based formats, equity-centered design projects and real-world engagement. Chesler developed Project Connect, a summer bridge program for students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities interested in graduate study. The program has placed 100% of its participants into graduate or professional programs. She also co-leads a $3M NSF Research Traineeship program that prepares graduate students to develop biomedical technologies responsive to sex, gender and racial identity—an integrative mentoring approach at the intersection of science, ethics and equity.

Click here to read full story on the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering website.

SABPA OC/LA Hosted its 17th Annual Biomedical Forum in Irvine, CA

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On April 26, 2025, the SABPA OC/LA 17th Annual Biomedical Forum, one of the three flagship professional forums organized by the Socal Association for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Advancements (SABPA), convened successfully in Irvine, CA. More than  200 guests from academia, medical device, IVD and biopharmaceutical companies in Southern California and beyond participated in the forum. It was truly inspiring to see the life & medical sciences community come together for thoughtful discussion, collaboration, and innovation. The quality of the program, the diversity of perspectives, and the energy of the speakers and attendees made the forum an exceptional experience.

The event commenced with a welcome speech by Ms. Dongmei Huang, Vice President of SABPA and President of SABPA OC/LA for 2025-26. This year’s forum focused on Innovation and Compliance with a full day of panels and keynotes spotlighting advances in AI, wearable devices, biotech research, regulatory best practices and Entrepreneurship in the Digital Era.

Morning Momentum: Regulation Meets Innovation

In a landmark gathering of biomedical innovators, health tech leaders, and regulatory strategists, a powerful message emerged: the future of healthcare lies at the intersection of AI, continuous monitoring, and smart regulatory navigation.

Dr. Elliot Botvinick from UC Irvine introduced a next-generation implantable multi-analyte sensor, capable of monitoring a wide array of biomarkers — from glucose and lactate to potassium and insulin — every 13 seconds. Designed to function across all skin tones, the device promises to revolutionize chronic care and trauma response by offering real-time, continuous insights without the burden of frequent blood draws. The system’s foundation in spectroscopic sensing and miniaturized wireless technology points to the  future where patient monitoring is both seamless and personalized.

On the regulatory front, Dr. Jay Vaishnav emphasized the critical role of early FDA strategy in launching Software as a Medical Device (SaMD). With AI tools becoming increasingly central to diagnostics and workflow optimization, she underscored the need for cybersecurity, human oversight, and post-market vigilance. Regulatory readiness, she said, is not just a compliance task — it’s a key differentiator for investors and clinicians alike.

Panel discussions on Small Business Innovation Research(SBIR) grants offered tactical guidance to startups navigating through a tough/increasingly challenging funding environment. Key advice included writing grant proposals with clarity, responding constructively to rejections, and embracing feedback. AI, while useful, should be used carefully in submissions — passion and scientific rigor must still come from the innovator.

AI also took center stage in drug development. Dr. Alex Zhavoronkov of Insilico Medicine shared how Generative AI and robotics are accelerating drug discovery by simulating biology and generating new therapeutic candidates — a breakthrough in aging and oncology research.

Dr. Binh Nguyen highlighted that in the evolving pharmaceutical landscape, ensuring the safety, efficacy, and quality of medicinal products is paramount. Quality Risk Management (QRM) has emerged as a critical strategy to proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks throughout the product lifecycle—from development and manufacturing to distribution and post-market surveillance.

Sessions Explore Innovations in Dental Industry and In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Industry

During the lunch break, attendees had the opportunity to participate in three concurrent lunch-and-learn sessions, covering specialized topics offered by SABPA OC/LA sponsors:

  1. The Future of the 3D printing in Dental Industry -Pac Dent
  2. Navigating Global IVD Manufacturing: How Quaero Accelerates Innovation and Market Access – Quaero
  3. Strategic Commercialization of POC & OTC Diagnostics: Unlocking Retail, Distribution, and Reimbursement Pathways – CorDx

Afternoon Spotlight: Generative AI, Wearables, Cell Therapy and Entrepreneurship in the Digital Era

In the realm of cancer therapy, Dr. Peter Wang introduced a remote-controlled CAR-T cell therapy using ultrasound to safely activate or deactivate treatment in solid tumors. Combined with CRISPR, this innovation opens new frontiers in non-invasive, real-time immunotherapy.

From the lab of Dr. Wei Gao came another futuristic development: wearable molecular sensors powered by sweat and AI. These devices target early diagnosis of metabolic diseases, stress monitoring, cancer drug dosing, and even hormone tracking — a noninvasive, continuous, and deeply personal approach to health.

Dr. Laura Li highlighted how AI is transforming genomic interpretation, reducing the cost and complexity of diagnosing rare diseases. Darren LaCour addressed shifting global strategies due to the EU’s Medical Device Regulation (MDR), urging early-stage companies to reconsider their clinical and regulatory entry points.

Closing the event, a forward-looking panel on entrepreneurship in the digital era—moderated by Yinghong Gao of Viva Biotech—brought together leaders from Ancora Medical, Accelerated Venture Partners, Amberstone Biosciences, and BOLD Capital Partners. The discussion highlighted the increasingly challenging investment landscape for digital health startups, where only 1 in 10 ventures now secure funding, a steep drop from 1 in 3 just a few years ago. Investors emphasized a shift toward greater selectivity, prioritizing robust clinical data, experienced advisory teams, and clear, differentiated value propositions. While AI remains a powerful enabler, panelists were clear: AI is a tool, not the business itself.

The Forum Highlighted Future Healthcare Innovations and Collaborative Strategies for Patient-Centered Care

The forum offered a clear vision for the future of healthcare, where new technologies like wearable sensors, AI-driven drug discovery, and advanced diagnostics work hand in hand with smart regulatory planning to improve patient care. From real-time health monitoring to targeted cancer treatments, the message was clear: innovation must be focused, backed by data, centered on patient needs, and meet federal and professional compliance regulation requirements.

But technology alone isn’t enough. In today’s tough funding environment, success also requires strong planning, solid clinical proof, and determined leadership. This event was a reminder and a call to action — encouraging everyone in healthcare to work together, adapt to, and lead the way toward smarter, safer, and more accessible care.

Click here to read full article on Gene Online.

A Surgical Procedure Without the Surgery

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By Jill Kato/UC Irvine Beall Applied Innovation

UC Irvine professor of ophthalmology and biomedical engineering Tibor Juhasz spent 25 years perfecting a laser treatment for glaucoma. Now it’s ready to change how the world sees.

June 11, 2025 – Most people let go of a plan if it doesn’t pan out after a few months. Tibor Juhasz held onto his for more than two decades.

Back then, Juhasz, a physicist and biomedical engineer, was part of a team trying to develop a new kind of laser treatment for glaucoma.

It didn’t work.

But instead of dropping the aspiration, he put it on pause.

“We failed,” he says, laughing. “But the good thing is we failed early.”

It would be more than 25 years before that aspiration eventually developed enough to become ViaLase, his startup built around a femtosecond laser system that treats glaucoma with a procedure so precise, patients feel like nothing happened.

A femtosecond laser emits ultra-short pulses of light—each pulse lasts for just one hundred femtoseconds, or one hundred quadrillionths of a second (or 0.0000000000001 seconds). To put that in perspective, a femtosecond is to a second what a second is to about 32 million years. Because the pulses are so short and precise, they can cut or alter tissue at the micron level without damaging surrounding areas. It’s like doing surgery with a light beam so fine it doesn’t leave a mark.

This is the kind of precision Juhasz, a professor at UC Irvine with joint appointments in ophthalmology at School of Medicine and biomedical engineering at the Samueli School of Engineering, had in mind when he set out to change how millions of people manage a leading cause of blindness: glaucoma.

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world, affecting 76 million people globally—a number expected to rise to 112 million by 2040.

Glaucoma is known as the “silent thief of sight” for a reason—people don’t feel it. It damages the optic nerve over time as pressure builds up in the eye. By the time someone notices vision loss, it’s often too late to stop it.

The only proven way to treat glaucoma is by lowering intraocular pressure, usually through eye drops or invasive surgeries. But drops can be expensive, difficult to use consistently, and easy to forget—especially when you don’t feel that anything is wrong.

“The compliance rates with eye drops are terrible,” says Juhasz, who works out of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute. “That’s just human nature. If you don’t feel pain, you don’t think it’s urgent.”

“That’s just human nature. If you don’t feel pain, you don’t think it’s urgent.”

ViaLase offers an entirely new approach. Its FLigHT procedure, short for “femtosecond laser image-guided high-precision trabeculotomy,” uses tightly focused light pulses to create a microscopic channel in the eye’s drainage system, allowing fluid to flow and pressure to drop.

What’s revolutionary isn’t just what it does. It’s how it does it.

“This is a surgical procedure, but it’s not surgery,” Juhasz says. “There’s no incision, no implant, no cutting open of the eye. The laser goes through the cornea, and you don’t even feel it.”

From the patient’s point of view, the procedure couldn’t be simpler. A dome-like glass lens with gentle suction stabilizes the patient’s eye while a surgeon selects a treatment site using real-time imaging. Then the laser takes over. In minutes, the laser creates a drainage channel 500 microns wide and 200 microns high, or about the size of a grain of dust. That’s it.

There’s no pain. No recovery time. No visible wound. Patients walk out of the doctor’s office on their own, often seeing clearly right away. And so far, the treatment’s pressure-lowering effects have lasted for up to four years.

“We expect it will work even longer. And it can be repeated, since we’re only treating a very small portion of the drainage angle each time,” Juhasz says.

Juhasz’s technology may sound space-age, but it was born the old-fashioned way: through slow, stubborn perseverance.

When Juhasz first tried to apply femtosecond lasers to glaucoma, the technology wasn’t there. Imaging resolution was too low, and lasers weren’t precise enough. So, he changed direction.

Along the way, he developed the laser technology that would become IntraLase, the first femtosecond laser used in LASIK eye surgery. (In LASIK, the femtosecond laser cuts the cornea to reshape vision; in ViaLase’s procedure, it bores a microscopic tunnel inside the eye to relieve pressure.) That work earned him early recognition: in 2002, he was awarded the Berthold Leibinger Innovation Prize, a prestigious international honor for breakthroughs in laser technology.

Then in 2017, Juhasz realized the tools had improved enough that he could adapt them to treat glaucoma.

“The imaging was better. The laser was better. We could see what we needed to see and aim exactly where we needed to aim,” he says.

Juhasz began developing his treatment, thanks to funding from the National Institutes of Health and a Proof of Product (PoP) grant from UC Irvine Beall Applied Innovation. PoP grants provide industry perspective and critical funding during a pivotal phase of development. For Juhasz, the PoP grant was instrumental in helping conduct early validation experiments using human cadaver eyes, which helped demonstrate that the FLigHT procedure was viable outside of theory. It also provided critical early-stage credibility when approaching investors.

“The fact that the technology was coming from UCI gave it a lot of credibility with the investors.”

“The fact that the technology was coming from UCI gave it a lot of credibility with the investors,” Juhasz says.

Early on, Juhasz collaborated with UC Irvine professor Zhongping Chen from UC Irvine’s Samueli School of Engineering and Beckman Laser Institute to develop the first prototype used in the NIH-funded studies. ViaLase’s early results were promising. Patents were filed. Investors were approached.

ViaLase’s early traction was also helped by its location. Not just at UC Irvine, but in Orange County as well, which Juhasz calls “the center of the ophthalmic device industry.”

“This is where all the companies are, the experienced engineers, and investors who specialize in eye care,” he says. “In fact, when we started IntraLase, the investors made us move the company to Irvine because this is where the talent and ecosystem are.”

That proximity paid off—helping the company secure early investment, talent, and momentum. With that foundation in place, ViaLase began clinical trials, with first-in-human procedures taking place in Hungary in late 2020. The company announced in April 2024 that it had closed a Series C round, securing approximately $40 million in gross proceeds.

In recognition of his work as a translational innovator, Juhasz was named UC Irvine’s Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year in 2022. During that same year, he also received the Golden Goose Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor given to researchers whose federally funded work has had unexpected, transformative societal impact.

ViaLase has now received CE mark approval, or a certification that their device meets health, safety, and environmental standards for sale in the European Union. They’re preparing for commercial launch in Europe this summer.

In the U.S., ViaLase is beginning a pivotal trial required for FDA approval—a randomized, two-arm study comparing ViaLase’s procedure to existing treatments, with a follow-up period of at least a year.

When asked what’s been the most rewarding throughout this long journey, Juhasz’s answer is immediate.

“It’s helping people. It’s improving lives. That’s the most exciting part,” he says. “Glaucoma may not kill you, but no one wants to go blind. If we can prevent that—if we can make it easy for people to keep their sight—that’s everything.”

And if there’s a message he wants to share with other researchers at UC Irvine or elsewhere, it’s this: don’t give up.

“This started in the mid-1990s. It’s 2025, and now we’re finally getting there,” he says. “It takes time. But if you believe in it, keep going.”

Click here to read full article on the UC Irvine Beall Applied Innovation website.

 

Enrico Gratton Wins Argentina’s 2024 LELOIR Award

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By Natalie Tso, UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering

June 11, 2025 – Enrico Gratton has won the 2024 LELOIR Award in the field of exact and natural sciences. The award is the highest honor given to a foreign researcher by Argentina’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. Every year, the ministry presents the award to a distinguished global researcher who has supported the growth of Argentina’s scientific and technological development.

Enrico Gratton has made a lasting contribution to the advancement of cutting-edge microscopy in Argentina through his longstanding collaboration with Professor Laura Estrada. Their joint efforts led to the establishment of the only operational two-photon 3D orbital tracking microscope in Latin America, significantly expanding the country’s capacity for high-resolution, live-cell imaging and quantitative biophysics. His commitment also extended well beyond Buenos Aires, supporting the development of advanced optical techniques and laboratory capabilities in provinces across the country, fostering national networks and reducing the technological gap in advanced microscopy.

Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Technology Executive Director Marcelo Marzocchini said the award recognizes Gratton’s “significant contributions to the strengthening of our National Scientific and Technological System, as well as invaluable efforts in fostering its engagement with the scientific systems of the Italian Republic and the United States of America.”

Gratton is an UCI Distinguished Professor Emeritus in biomedical engineering and professor of physics and astronomy. He led the first national facility, the Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics (LFD), dedicated to fluorescence spectroscopy. At the LFD, scientists use fluorescence to study cellular processes. These include protein aggregation, membrane interaction, and migration of cells to track moving particles and analyze collagen formation and deformation. The research provides insight into cellular function and can be applied to the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. The LFD is an 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art laboratory that also offers free technical assistance to visiting scientists.

Gratton’s work spans across biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, nuclear medicine and biomedical engineering. Under his guidance, more than 50 students have earned doctorates and many now occupy critical roles in academia and at research institutions.

The LELOIR awards honors foreign scientists, researchers, and technologists who have contributed to strengthening the scientific and technological capabilities of Argentina.  The award is named after Luis F. Leloir, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1970.

Click here to read full article on the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering website.

Born in California and Innovator Awards 2025

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By Jill Kato, UC Irvine Beall Applied Innovation

A Platform for Turning Research into Impact

A fingertip sweat patch that monitors glucose. A miniaturized propulsion system for small satellites. Cancer cells engineered to destroy themselves.

These aren’t just prototypes or hypotheticals. They’re startups—each one rooted in years of research across the University of California system.

These ventures were center stage at the 2025 Born in California event, held May 5 at the Cove at UC Irvine’s Beall Applied Innovation. The event brought together 20 startups from all 10 University of California campuses and drew more than 200 attendees, including investors, researchers, and campus leaders. Now in its fourth year, Born in California has become a regular feature of OC Innovation Week and a central venue for university research on the path to commercialization.

But before there’s a product, there’s a pitch. Each team had six minutes to present, followed by a brief Q&A. For the first time, founders received advance coaching from investors—resulting in more polished, market-ready presentations across fields like gene therapy, battery materials, and data infrastructure.

The range of startups reflected both broad societal challenges—such as chronic illness, climate risk, and data security—and technical frontiers, including artificial intelligence, next-generation materials, and aerospace systems.

Biotech with a Mission

Several teams presented technologies aimed at addressing persistent gaps in healthcare access, diagnosis, and treatment—reminders that medicine is as much about people as it is about precision.

Makani Sciences (UC Irvine): Real-time respiratory monitoring outside the hospital

Makani is developing a wireless, wearable device that tracks breathing rate and depth continuously, aiming to improve respiratory care for patients from neonatal to sports and performance tracking.

Persperion Diagnostics (UC San Diego): Non-invasive, sweat-based glucose testing

Using fingertip sweat instead of blood, Persperion offers an affordable and user-friendly alternative to traditional glucose monitors—with future potential to measure hormones and other biomarkers.

Kopra Bio (UC San Francisco): Turning cancer cells into self-destructing agents

Kopra Bio is developing an immunotherapy platform for glioblastoma that reprograms cancer cells to trigger their own destruction, showing dramatic early results in preclinical models.

DataUnite (UC Santa Barbara): Privacy-first health data for faster clinical trials

DataUnite gives researchers access to real-world health data without compromising patient privacy. Its platform lets hospitals and biopharma companies query data inside existing systems—without copying or transferring it—cutting the time and cost of clinical trials by up to 50%.

Materials, Machines, and Mobility

Other teams focused on building the infrastructure behind emerging industries—from satellite propulsion to clean energy to next-gen wireless.

CISGAM (UC Irvine): Compact satellite propulsion for crowded orbits

CISGAM’s electrospray propulsion system uses micro-nozzles and ionic liquid to steer small satellites with precision—offering a combustion-free option for in-space maneuvering and refueling.

SolGrapH (UCLA): Cleaner, faster graphite for battery production

SolGrapH turns sunlight into graphite, compressing what used to take years into seconds. It uses solar-driven pyrolysis (a method of breaking down materials with heat, but without combustion) to produce synthetic graphite, a U.S.-designated critical material, helping secure a domestic and low-emissions supply chain for EVs and energy storage.

Light Links (UC Santa Cruz): Laser-based wireless for a crowded spectrum

Light Links replaces traditional radio signals with diffused laser beams, delivering fast, secure wireless communication that avoids interference—ideal for AR, defense, and next-gen connectivity.

Intelligent Twins (UC Riverside): AI agents for next-gen engineering design

Intelligent Twins builds AI-powered digital agents to accelerate engineering workflows in sectors like aerospace, automotive, and energy. By enhancing traditional digital twin models, their platform helps teams simulate, test, and iterate on designs faster.

The UC system is one of the largest research engines in the world, and Born in California is a direct expression of that scale and breadth. The event showcases not just what’s being developed in labs across California, but how those ideas move toward application—with the support of campus-based programs, state and federal research funding, and industry collaboration.

UC Irvine plays a key role in that pipeline. As the host of Born in California and the home of Beall Applied Innovation, the university offers a platform that connects research to real-world deployment through Proof of Product grants, startup support, and investor engagement. This annual gathering underscores the value of coordinated public efforts to move ideas out of the lab and into the market. Translation, not invention, is often the hardest part.

“In a time when research is increasingly under threat, Born in California stands as a reminder of what’s possible when public investment is matched by strategic action,” says Errol Arkilic, UC Irvine’s Chief Innovation Officer. “This is not just about launching startups. It’s about ensuring that the research we support leads to public benefit.”

UC Irvine Innovator Awards

Following the afternoon of startup pitches, UC Irvine hosted its seventh annual Innovator Awards, recognizing faculty who have moved university research toward commercial application. The awards ceremony, also held at the Cove, reflected the university’s broader commitment to research with measurable outcomes and was created with the generous support from Don and Ken Beall.

Nominees were recognized across three categories: early career innovation, entrepreneurial leadership, and breakthrough innovation.

This year’s winner for the Early Career Innovator / Emerging Innovation of the Year was Andres Sebastian Bustamante (School of Education) for his work designing interactive learning tools that support STEM education through play and movement.

Lauren Albrecht (School of Pharmacy) for her work targeting diseases at the cellular level and Jenny Yang (School of Physical Sciences) for her work capturing greenhouse gases were also nominated.

This year’s winner for the Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year was Michelle Khine (School of Engineering) for her work developing wearable biomedical devices and founding multiple startups focused on improving health monitoring.

Jessie Colin Jackson (School of the Arts) for his innovation in architectural environments and Reginald Penner (School of Physical Sciences) for his work advancing low-cost diagnostic tools were also nominated.

This year’s winner for the Innovator of the Year was Joe Rinehart (formerly School of Medicine) for developing an automated system to manage blood pressure treatment and advancing it toward clinical use.

Matthew Blurton-Jones (School of Biological Sciences) for his work reprogramming the brain’s immune system for therapeutic use and Mari Kimura (School of the Arts) for her gesture-based control system for musical performance were also nominated.

During her acceptance speech, Khine stood on stage with her sleeping infant strapped to her chest. “It takes a village,” she said, thanking her collaborators and acknowledging the support required to move both ideas and companies forward. “To raise kids and to raise a company.”

Her comment underscored a broader truth about innovation: it rarely unfolds in isolation. Events like Born in California and the Innovator Awards reflect the network of support—technical, institutional, and financial—required to translate research into practical use.

That work is ongoing. And at UC Irvine, it’s part of a larger strategy to ensure research doesn’t just live in academic journals, but in tools, therapies, and systems that make a measurable difference.

A full list of the participating startups in Born in California can be found here. More information about the UC Irvine Innovator Awards and past awardees can be found here.

Click here to read full article on the UC Irvine Beall Applied Innovation website.

UC Irvine Startup Makani Science Has Created the Most Important Medical Device You’ll Never Notice

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Before Michelle Khine co-founded Makani Science, she was just a mother trying to hold her newborn son. He was in the NICU, hooked up to a constellation of wires and monitors, but none of them caught what turned out to be a collapsed lung. Hours passed before clinicians discovered the problem.

By Jill Kato/UC Irvine Beall Applied Innovation

May 23, 2025 – As a biomedical engineering professor at UC Irvine’s Samueli School of Engineering, Khine knew she could design something better. And she did.

That failure planted the seed for what would become Makani Science, a UC Irvine-born startup that’s developed the first wireless, wearable continuous respiratory monitor. About the size of a Band-Aid, the device tracks how a person breathes in real time—even while in motion.

The technology hinges on a strain gauge so sensitive it can detect movement down to 20 microns—less than half the width of a human hair. Unlike traditional systems, it doesn’t rely on tubes, wires, or bulky belts. And, perhaps most importantly, it delivers respiratory data faster than the clinical tools most hospitals rely on today.

“I’ve spent my career trying to improve the health of individuals,” says Dr. Greg Buchert, Makani’s CEO and a former ER pediatrician and healthcare executive. “I believe this device could transform how we think about respiratory care.”

Makani Science was co-founded in 2019 by Khine and her former doctoral student, Michael Chu. The technology they developed addresses one of medicine’s most persistent blind spots: respiration.

That transformation is long overdue. Despite being one of the body’s most essential functions, respiration remains one of the least well-monitored vital signs. Most hospitals infer breathing status through pulse oximetry (which measures oxygen saturation) or capnography (which tracks exhaled CO₂).

But both methods have drawbacks. Pulse oximeters are considered lagging indicators—by the time oxygen levels drop, a patient may already be in distress—and they perform less reliably on individuals with darker skin tones. Capnography is more direct but requires nasal tubing and often malfunctions during movement or sedation.

In contrast, Makani’s wireless sensor sidesteps those limitations. It works wirelessly—whether you’re walking, playing sports, or sleeping—and streams real-time respiratory data to a mobile device. The sensor captures breathing as a continuous waveform, creating a signature for every inhale and exhale.

“Under routine conditions, a five- to twelve-second lead time over existing monitors might not seem like much. But when someone is deteriorating? That’s huge,” Buchert says.

Combining that kind of functionality with real-world momentum is no small feat. Neither is Makani’s pace: in just six weeks, the startup cleared three major milestones—FDA clearance, a critical round of funding, and a competitive $1.1 million NIH Catalyze grant.

Makani’s aim is to make that kind of early detection possible not just in the ICU, but anywhere someone is breathing. A second-generation model is already underway. The upgraded version will be smaller, with longer battery life, and will have additional features like heart rate monitoring, and a two-week lifespan to match other market-ready wearables like Continuous Glucose Monitors and Zio Patches.

The most urgent testbed for the technology is neonatal intensive care. Backed by their $1.1 million NIH Catalyze Grant, Makani is developing a version of the sensor for premature infants at risk of apnea of prematurity—episodes where a baby stops breathing for 20 seconds or more. These episodes, especially when frequent or prolonged, are linked to long-term developmental delays.

“The frequency and duration of these apneic events is associated with delays in intellectual, motor, and language development,” Buchert explains. “These kids will be compromised for life. If we can interrupt or prevent the apneic events, it’s not just life-saving — it’s life-changing.”

Makani is currently collaborating with clinicians at CHOC Children’s Hospital to trial the device in this context.

“If we can detect early signs of deterioration in someone with asthma, COPD, or sleep apnea, we can help keep them out of the ER”

– Dr. Greg Buchert

The company also sees wide-ranging applications in adult respiratory care, outpatient sedation, and athletic performance. Biofeedback from continuous breath monitoring could help athletes fine-tune endurance or improve recovery. The Department of Defense has expressed interest in monitoring stress in pilots, soldiers, and veterans exposed to environmental hazards. But Makani Science’s biggest impact may come from helping people avoid the hospital all together.

“If we can detect early signs of deterioration in someone with asthma, COPD, or sleep apnea, we can help keep them out of the ER,” Buchert says. “The goal is to help people stay healthy, and at home.”

This mission to improve lives and reduce hospitalizations is rooted in research that began at UC Irvine. The sensor’s core technology was developed in Khine’s lab and supported by a Proof of Product (PoP) grant from Beall Applied Innovation. The grant helped Makani turn its sensor into a product ready for the real world. The team tested its sensitivity, strength, stickiness, and safety on skin to make sure it could hold up in medical settings. They also ran usability studies, began weaving in machine learning to interpret breathing patterns, and started building relationships with potential partners to bring the device to market.

Beyond funding and lab space, the university has also helped raise the company’s profile.

“UC Irvine has helped champion Makani at conferences and in the community,” Buchert says. “That’s been really important for our visibility.”

“Makani is deeply committed to advancing their technology—they’re in the lab consistently, putting in the work to derisk and validate each step”

– Sandra Miller, Executive Director, University Lab Partners

Today, Makani is housed at University Lab Partners (ULP), a non-profit wet lab incubator and accelerator located just minutes from campus at UC Irvine Research Park. Buchert credits Makani’s location—and the ecosystem around it—with accelerating their development.

“ULP has been an incredible place to grow—having access to a wet lab, being surrounded by other startups, and learning from teams just a step or two ahead of us has made a huge difference,” Buchert says.

From the incubator’s side, the feeling is mutual.

“Makani is deeply committed to advancing their technology—they’re in the lab consistently, putting in the work to derisk and validate each step,” says Sandra Miller, Executive Director at ULP.

She notes that Buchert and Chu are not only building a promising company—they’re also building community.

“They show up, they support other founders and invest their time mentoring students through our STEM outreach programs. That kind of leadership is exactly what we strive to foster at ULP,” Miller says.

Makani has also secured early-stage funding from Tech Coast Angels, Koa Accel and the Cove Fund, three influential backers in the Southern California medtech scene. Their early support signals confidence not just in the technology, but in Makani’s potential to capture a share of a rapidly growing space. The global market for respiratory monitoring and disease management is projected at $153 billion. It’s a staggering figure, and one that reflects just how much room there is to innovate.

Respiration has long been overlooked in the vital sign hierarchy. As wearable health tech goes mainstream, Makani’s small, data-rich sensor may have arrived at exactly the right time.

With FDA clearance in hand, the company is preparing for commercial launch by the end of 2025. They’ve already had to turn down pilot requests—from Olympic trainers to military partners—simply because they don’t have enough devices in production.

“I know our sensor will save lives and improve the health of many people,” Buchert says. “That’s what I find the most exciting.”

And if Makani succeeds, the device might not just improve how we monitor breath—it could redefine what we expect from vital signs altogether.

Click here to read full article on the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering website.