NYU Tandon hosts successful 51st Northeast Bioengineering Conference

Nearly 500 researchers, industry professionals, and students gathered to showcase cutting-edge developments in bioengineering and healthcare technology at the 2025 Northeast Bioengineering Conference (NEBEC), hosted this year in Brooklyn, NY, by the Department of Biomedical Engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering on April 4 and 5.

NEBEC is a consortium of biomedical engineering departments from leading universities in the Northeast region. The conference continued its tradition of excellence with this year's theme, "Engineering the Future of Healthcare."

"This event represents the incredible collaborative spirit of bioengineering in the Northeast region," said NYU Executive Vice President for Global Science and Technology Juan de Pablo, who is also Executive Dean of NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

"Bringing NEBEC to NYU Tandon was particularly timely as we pursue an ambitious health engineering agenda through a new initiative that will include unprecedented investments in new faculty, state-of-the-art new facilities, and innovative programming at the intersection of engineering, biology, chemistry, and AI. The intersection of healthcare and engineering is a core Tandon strength.”

The conference featured diverse specialized technical sessions organized into parallel tracks covering distinct but complementary areas of biomedical innovation. These highly interdisciplinary sessions integrated principles from engineering, biology, medicine, computer science, and materials science to address complex healthcare challenges.

Topics ranged from robotics-assisted medical procedures and nanomedicine delivery systems to organ-on-chip platforms, advanced biosensing techniques, AI-driven diagnostic tools, and neural engineering breakthroughs.

"What made this year's NEBEC particularly impactful was the convergence of fundamental research with translational applications," said Irene de Lazaro, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at NYU Tandon and the lead of this year's NEBEC organizing committee. "We designed the program to foster cross-disciplinary discussions that could accelerate innovations from bench to bedside, and the energy throughout the event exceeded our expectations."

Two distinguished keynote speakers highlighted transformative research in their respective fields. Daniel A. Heller, Associate Professor and Head of the Cancer Nanomedicine Laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, presented work on "Nanoengineering for the Detection and Treatment of Cancer," showcasing novel approaches to targeted drug delivery systems.

On the second day, Tejal Desai, Dean of the School of Engineering at Brown University, delivered a lecture on "Crossing Barriers: Bringing together Materials, Medicine and Molecular Biology to Improve Therapeutic Delivery."

A highlight of the conference was the presentation of the prestigious Emerging Investigator Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the field of bioengineering by junior faculty. This award celebrates innovative research, impactful teaching, and leadership in advancing the boundaries of bioengineering. Recipients are tenure-track Assistant Professors within their first five years of faculty appointment.

This year's recipients — Santiago Correa from Columbia University, Woojin Han from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Cameron Myhrvold from Princeton University, and Nathalie Pinkerton from NYU Tandon — demonstrated exceptional achievement in research, teaching, and service both before and after establishing their independent laboratories. Each awardee presented research during the dedicated Emerging Investigators Session, showcasing the innovative approaches that earned them this recognition.

The conference concluded by awarding its Best Poster Presentation prizes to Vidya Raju (NYU), Jason Tang (NYU), Zachary Marvin (Stevens Institute of Technology), Anna-Lena Stein (Temple University), Kasoorelope Oguntuyo (Icahn School of Medicine) and Charlene Cai (Icahn School of Medicine).

NEBEC’s Best Senior Design Project Awards went to:

• Biomechanics and Robotics track:
  Avitus Orthopaedics Dragon Wing Bone Graft Delivery (Fairfield University, Avitus Orthopaedics); Self-Regulating Warming System for Dorrance Hook Prosthetic (George Washington University)
• Tissue Engineering track:
  Antibody Conjugated Super-Paramagnetic Iron-Oxide Nanoparticles as a Novel Solution for the Localization of Non-Palpable Breast Tumors (Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design); Biostrain 3.0, A Magnetic Stimulation Platform for Controlled Cell Mechanostimulation (New Jersey Institute of Technology)
• Imaging and AI Track:
  Cradle Cam: Non-Contact Baby Vital Signs Monitor (The College of New Jersey); A Resistance Based Colonoscopy Probe for Real-time Polyp Analysis (Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Biomedical Engineering Department and Materials Engineering Department)

The 2026 Northeast Bioengineering Conference will be hosted by Temple University, continuing the consortium's mission to advance bioengineering research and education across the Northeast region.