BIOE Announces Faculty Promotions and Appointments

The Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BIOE) at the University of Maryland (UMD) announced promotions and appointments for 12 faculty members, citing their work in teaching, research, mentorship, and departmental service.

The group includes Steven M. Jay and Catherine K. Kuo, promoted to full professor; Rohan Fernandes, Yu Gan, Netanel Korin appointed to associate professor; Erika Moore and Jenna Mueller promoted to associate professor; Deborah S. Goldberg, promoted to principal lecturer; Brian Blair and Jarred Callura, promoted to senior lecturers; Michelle Kaluzianski, promoted to senior faculty specialist; and Wequan Ou, promoted to associate research professor. Their work spans engineering education, biocomputational training, immunoengineering, artificial intelligence, vascular mechanics, global health research, regenerative medicine, and biotherapeutic development.

Those promoted to Full Professor are listed below:

Steven M. Jay Promoted to Full Professor

Steven standing with his arms crossed in front of a University of Maryland donor wall

BIOE Professer and Fischell Institute Affiliate Fellow, Steven Jay leads the Biotherapeutic Development and Delivery Laboratory, which studies the design, production and delivery of biotherapeutics, focusing on cell-derived products such as extracellular vesicles and bacterial extracellular vesicles as well as engineered protein therapeutics. The lab combines engineering and biological approaches to advance drug delivery and biomanufacturing strategies while training students for careers in biotechnology and pharmaceutical research.

"It has been wonderful to work with so many talented students and colleagues," Jay said. "Any career accomplishments related to research are all based on the hard work and ingenuity of the graduate students and undergraduates that have been part of my group and collaborations with outstanding investigators."

Jay credited mentors including BIOE colleagues John Fisher , Ian White and Bill Bentley , doctoral advisor Mark Saltzman, and postdoctoral mentors Richard Lee and Linda Griffith, saying their training gave him "a strong foundation for teaching both fundamental and cutting-edge courses in bioengineering."

Catherine K. Kuo Promoted to Full Professor

Catherine Kuo smiling at the camera in a professional portrait

Catherine K. Kuo leads a multidisciplinary team of engineers, biologists, orthopedic surgeons, and sports medicine clinicians investigating stem cell-based approaches to musculoskeletal tissue engineering and regeneration. Her research draws on insights from fetal tendon development to advance potential therapies for tendon rupture and tendinopathy.

Kuo’s research impact has been recognized by election to the AIMBE College of Fellows, the Sweden Orthopaedics Go: Life Research Innovation Award, NSF CAREER Award, March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award, and more. She has also received society and university awards for teaching and mentoring, including the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Americas (TERMIS-AM) Education, Training and Outreach Award, the Poole & Kent Teaching Award for Senior Faculty, and two BIOE Instructional Impact Awards.

"Promotion to full professor is one of the most meaningful milestones of my career because it is the highest academic rank one can achieve," Kuo said. "I have felt privileged to be able to spend my career pursuing impactful science with amazing students and postdocs and wonderful collaborators, and inspiring curiosity in students in the classroom. It’s an incredible honor to be recognized for these contributions."

In addition to her research and teaching, Kuo serves as BIOE's associate chair for research and, until recently, as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine for nearly 5 years. She is also associate editor of Science Advances. She has helped launch multiple initiatives within the Orthopaedic Research Society and, after three years as president-elect, will begin a three-year term as president of the TERMIS-AM in January 2027. Asked what she was most proud of, Kuo pointed to her students: "Not only are they incredibly bright, but they are some of the best people I know." She added: "It takes a village — my amazing trainees, mentors, colleagues, friends, and of course family!"

Those promoted and appointed to Associate Professor are listed below:

Rohan Fernandes Appointed to Associate Professor

Rohan looking at the camera in a lab

Rohan Fernandes joined BIOE as an associate professor this past fall. His research focuses on immunoengineering, with an emphasis on developing nanoparticles that work with the immune system to treat cancer and other diseases. His lab will be based at the Edward and Jennifer St. John Center for Translational Engineering and Medicine (CTEM) at the 4MLK building in Baltimore, where he will continue translating laboratory discoveries into potential therapies.

Fernandes and his team have developed theranostic Prussian blue nanoparticles that combine diagnostic and therapeutic functions to generate immune responses against tumors. With his lab located near the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Fernandes plans to expand his cancer research and pursue collaborations in infectious and autoimmune diseases. His work has received support from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense and private foundations and has resulted in multiple patents and the launch of ImmunoBlue, LLC , a startup developing an immunoengineered T cell therapy for glioblastoma.

Fernandes earned his Ph.D. in bioengineering from UMD and completed postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University. He previously held leadership positions at Children’s National Hospital and George Washington University, where he advanced research in translational nanomedicine and cancer immunotherapy. Returning to College Park, Fernandes described his appointment as a “full-circle moment” and said he looks forward to contributing to BIOE’s continued growth while mentoring the next generation of undergraduate and graduate students.

Yu Gan Appointed to Associate Professor

Yu Gan looking at the camera in a professional portrait

Yu Gan joined BIOE as an associate professor this summer and also holds a joint appointment with the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM). Gan will conduct his research at CTEM to bring together artificial intelligence, biomedical engineering and data science to address challenges in health care, scientific discovery and agriculture.

Gan develops next-generation AI systems for biomedical imaging, experimental data analysis and digital health. His work focuses on trustworthy methods, including machine learning, computer vision, large language models and bioimaging, to improve how biomedical images and sensing data are collected, analyzed and interpreted. He leads the Computational Learning, Artificial Representation, and Imaging Technology (CLARITY) Lab , where his team develops AI systems designed to be robust, explainable, and trustworthy.

His research has received support from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Burroughs Wellcome Fund and Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation. His honors include an NSF CAREER Award, an NIH R01 award, a USDA Data Science Award and selection as a Scialog Fellow. His research program has also produced three issued U.S. patents and two pending patent applications. At UMD, Gan looks forward to collaborating across BIOE, AIM and other colleges to develop AI technologies that improve diagnosis, accelerate scientific discovery and ultimately benefit patients.

Netanel Korin Appointed to Associate Professor

Korin looking at the camera against a white background

Netanel Korin joined BIOE as an associate professor this past spring and is based at CTEM. His research brings together vascular mechanics, drug delivery and cardiovascular engineering to develop more targeted treatments for vascular disease.

Korin studies how blood flow and the mechanics of blood vessels influence cardiovascular disease and treatment. His team develops drug carriers and therapeutic systems that respond to disease-specific flow conditions, helping treatments concentrate at sites of vascular disease while limiting effects on healthy tissue. The lab also uses human-relevant models, including microfluidic systems and reconstructed blood vessels, and develops cardiovascular devices designed to improve the safety and effectiveness of treatment.

Before joining UMD, Korin was an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and a visiting scholar at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. His research has been published in journals including Science and Science Advances, supported by competitive funding including a European Research Council Consolidator Grant, and advanced toward clinical and commercial applications. At UMD, Korin plans to bring together biofluid mechanics, biomaterials, vascular biology and device design to develop technologies that can improve cardiovascular care.

Erika Moore Promoted to Associate Professor

Erika smiling at the camera in a lab

Erika Moore is principal investigator of the Moore Lab , which she founded in July 2020 after a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins. Her research examines how gaps in biomedical knowledge relate to health outcomes, including modeling vasculitis in lupus, age-related macrophage function, extracellular matrix signaling and ancestral influences on innate immune response. Her work includes three-dimensional fibroid models used to study tumor growth and treatment response, research she has said was informed in part by her own experience with fibroids.

Moore holds a Ph.D. from Duke University and a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins. Her recognitions include an NSF CAREER Award, the 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, the BMES Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award, an NIH R35 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award, a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare recognition and a TED Fellowship. She was also recently named a 2026 Ford Global Fellow.

"I'm honored to be the first Black woman in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering to earn tenure," Moore said.

"It means the world to me," she said. "A few generations ago, my ancestors did not have the opportunity to pursue a Ph.D., much less build a career in academia. Reaching this milestone fills me with gratitude, humility and excitement." Moore pointed to the 2025–2026 E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty and the BIOE Instructional Impact Award among her accomplishments. She also advises the UMD Financial Wellness Center on student financial literacy.

Jenna Mueller Promoted to Associate Professor

Jenna smiling while holding up a small laboratory sample

BIOE Associate Professor and Fischell Institute Affiliate Fellow, Jenna Mueller was prompted to associate professor, recognizing her research in global health technologies and her mentorship record. She holds a bachelor's degree in bioengineering from Rice University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Duke University, where her postdoctoral work contributed to development of the Pocket colposcope, a low-cost cervical dysplasia screening device that is now commercially available.

As principal investigator of the Global Biomedical Devices Lab , Mueller develops low-cost diagnostic and therapeutic technologies for cervical cancer and other cancers in low-resource settings. In her new role as an associate professor, Mueller is excited to see her lab’s technologies being used in humans in the next few years. Her team's KeyScope, a low-cost laparoscope , is scheduled for a clinical trial in Uganda in 2027. An ethyl cellulose-ethanol ablation therapy for precancerous cervical cells developed by her team is scheduled for trial at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2028.

"I'm thrilled to be promoted to associate professor with tenure," Mueller said. "This achievement is a culmination of my career so far and represents many years of hard work not only by me but by my amazing lab. I’m so grateful to my lab, collaborators, mentors, family, friends, and community for their support!”

Looking ahead, in addition to her exciting translational research, Mueller plans to expand her educational collaboration with Makerere University in Uganda, including developing international design teams that bring together UMD and Makerere students to work collaboratively on developing biomedical devices to solve challenges in global health.

Those promoted to Principal Lecturer are listed below:

Deborah S. Goldberg Promoted to Principal Lecturer

Deborah Goldberg smiling at the camera in front of clark hall donor wall

Deborah Goldberg holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. in bioengineering from UMD, where her doctoral research focused on using dendrimers for oral drug delivery of chemotherapy drugs with low bioavailability. She spent six years as a scientist in Formulation Sciences at MedImmune, now AstraZeneca, supporting clinical programs for monoclonal antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates and fusion proteins, and leading technical development projects on protein aggregation and high-concentration lyophilized drug products.

Goldberg returned to UMD in 2016 as a lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, teaching seven courses and developing new offerings in biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing and first-year engineering education, before joining BIOE in fall 2023.

Throughout her career at UMD, Dr. Goldberg has demonstrated a sustained commitment to advancing engineering education through innovative teaching, course development, and pedagogical research. Her work has included evidence-based course redesign and evaluation of teaching practices, with findings shared through presentations and publications that contribute to the broader engineering education community. She now serves as associate chair for Community Engagement and Development, a role in which she has worked on initiatives connecting students, faculty, and staff and expanding access to departmental resources.

"Being promoted to principal lecturer is a meaningful recognition of that work," Goldberg said. "In this new role, I look forward to continuing to develop engaging, student-centered courses while expanding my impact through leadership in engineering education and mentorship."

Goldberg received the Provost's Professional Track Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching in 2025. She credited former Department Chair John Fisher with supporting her nomination and giving her the autonomy to lead BIOE’s Community Engagement and Development committee.

Those promoted to Senior Lecturer are listed below:

Jarred Callura Promoted to Senior Lecturer

Jarred smiling at the camera outdoors beside a stone wall

Jarred Callura teaches in BIOE's Biocomputational Engineering (BCE) program and has worked with students since the program's first graduating classes. Before joining UMD, he worked for two years as a xenotransplantation scientist at United Therapeutics, five years as a project manager in the Animal Sciences Division of Intrexon (now Precigen), and one year at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He holds a B.S.E. from Duke University and a Ph.D. from Boston University, both in biomedical engineering.

"I'm first and foremost grateful that the faculty would deem my teaching efforts worthy of such a promotion," Callura said. "As a lecturer, you don't receive much feedback from your peers because it is only the students who experience your courses."

Callura recently developed a molecular techniques laboratory module in which students perform DNA extraction , nanopore sequencing and computational analysis of microbial communities from their own saliva samples. The module was published in Biomedical Engineering Education . Callura credited Dr. Lan Ma, the BCE’s Program Director, with supporting the program since its founding. "She's been a rock, working tirelessly to grow the program," he said. "I couldn't have made it to senior lecturer without her friendship and expertise."

Callura noted that the program continues to grow: "Each year we are adding more students and building momentum. The future of BCE is bright."

In addition to these promotions and appointments, BIOE also recognizes Brian Blair , promoted to senior lecturer; Michelle Kaluzianski , promoted to senior faculty specialist; and Wequan Ou , promoted to associate research professor, for their contributions to the department.

Published September 10, 2026