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Why do we get a skip in our step when we're happy? Thank dopamine

Mallory Phillips — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 21:17:06 +0000

Why do we get a skip in our step when we're happy? Thank dopamine Mallory Phillips Tue, 03/24/2026 - 15:17

New research by engineers from the lab of Alaa Ahmed, BME faculty member at ��ӽ紫ý aims to get to the bottom of why, as the saying goes, you get a “skip in your step” when you’re happy.

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Could 3D-printed livers make transplant lists a thing of the past?

Mallory Phillips — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 21:04:57 +0000

Could 3D-printed livers make transplant lists a thing of the past? Mallory Phillips Tue, 03/24/2026 - 15:04

The human liver, experts say, is an architectural wonder. But its complexity has also made it immensely difficult to replicate in the lab.

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How ��ӽ紫ý built a biomedical engineering powerhouse

Alexander James Servantez — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 21:35:35 +0000

How ��ӽ紫ý built a biomedical engineering powerhouse Alexander Jame… Mon, 03/23/2026 - 15:35

Alexander Servantez

When the first biomedical engineering class graduated from ��ӽ紫ý in 2023, about a dozen students walked across the stage.

They weren’t just earning degrees—they were laying the foundation for a degree program on the rise.

Today, that once-small start has evolved into a powerful engine for biomedical innovation and education. With robust industry partnerships, national accreditation and a potent local research pipeline, the Biomedical Engineering Program (BME) has quickly ballooned into the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s fourth-largest degree-granting program.

But how does a program go from modest beginnings to powerhouse in such a short time? Director Corey Neu believes it was only ever a matter of time.

“We’ve had biomedical research in our laboratories for years,” said Neu. “We’ve had individual course offerings and other opportunities for people to learn about biomedical engineering. However, it was never organized into a formal degree-granting program.”

That is, until 2018, when a conversation amongst faculty began to spark some lofty ideas.

The early journey

At the time, ��ӽ紫ý only offered a biomedical engineering minor. The program featured just one course, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, dedicated specifically to the field.

Professor and inaugural Program Director Mark Borden (right) with a student in his lab.

Of course, there were other classes offered in various departments in the college where students could learn biomedical engineering principles. But without any real structure, faculty members realized they were starting to fall behind.

“We were hearing reports from the dean that students were choosing to go to other universities simply because we didn’t offer a degree in biomedical engineering,” Neu said. “The time was right. A lot of people came together from many different units and entities on campus to finally design a true program.”

The group’s program proposal was accepted by the CU Board of Regents in spring 2019.

In spring 2020, Professor Mark Borden was elected as the inaugural director and the program was launched. But the challenge ahead was immense. COVID shutdowns quickly tested the program’s early momentum.

Borden said a strong network of campus resources and key contributors helped keep the program on track.

“I was very lucky to have experienced people like Rob Davis in my corner. He volunteered his services as undergraduate chair early in the process and he helped solve so many problems,” said Borden. “Dean Keith Molenaar was also extremely helpful when he first started, too. He instituted a leadership program with outside consultants that really gave our program a voice and brought us together.”

Breaking ground

Despite its early obstacles, the newly established BME program welcomed roughly 20 total students—all of them transfers—during its first semester. That number surged to 122 students in fall 2020 with the help of the program's first undergraduate and graduate classes.

Students working together in a BME classroom.

Now, the program is home to nearly 466 students, including 396 undergraduates and 70 graduate students.

In addition to building the program, Borden said they also focused on building community and collaboration amongst the undergraduate cohort.

“We structured courses strategically so that students could easily get to know each other as they moved through our curriculum,” he said. “Then, we helped the students invigorate the Biomedical Engineering Society student chapter. They introduced a career symposium, built a peer mentorship program and helped lead programming and events throughout the academic year.”

New classes and opportunities were piloted nearly every semester with significant input from existing students in the program.

And finally, in spring 2023, Borden and his team turned to one final step: earning national accreditation.

“At that time, I was already looking to pass leadership to someone who can build off our foundation. However, I made a promise to our first graduating class that I would get the program accredited before I step down,” said Borden. “We got to work, received a strong review and were officially accredited in fall 2024.”

A maturing program

With his goal accomplished, Borden handed the program’s leadership to Neu. But the momentum and achievements continued to mount.

Today, the program matriculates over 100 students every year. Its undergraduate program ranks among the top 50 biomedical engineering programs in the nation, while its graduate program is ranked No. 21 among public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report.

A graduate student working in the Neu lab.

The program has also emerged as a leader in representation and inclusivity. Nearly 56% of BME’s students are women, a rare milestone for engineering programs.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the program’s growth, though, is its development of strong industry partnerships. Colorado features the highest concentration of biomedical-related jobs in the country, with over 90 companies based in the region.

Major companies like Terumo BCT and Medtronic, who recently entered a research agreement with the university, play an active role in the program. They support undergraduate senior design projects and collaborate with graduate researchers in university labs—something Neu says is crucial to student outcomes.

“We work with companies all around the state and even beyond. They advise us on our curriculum and help guide our direction forward,” Neu said. “These partnerships help us educate students optimally and they also help our students secure fantastic jobs and internships.”

He also believes expanding the program’s research enterprise is the key to unlocking its full potential.

Similar to the program’s healthy industry relationships, Neu’s goal is to unlock more research and educational opportunities with CU Anschutz, the University of Colorado system’s medical school.

“It’s important for our students to participate in clinical rotations and interface with medical doctors,” said Neu. “We’re not just trying to create excellent engineers—we want our engineers to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with medical professionals, too.”

But most of all, Neu and his team remain focused on the program’s founding mission: cultivating the next generation of engineers capable of tackling the world’s most pressing health challenges.

When the first biomedical engineering class graduated from ��ӽ紫ý in 2023, about a dozen students walked across the stage. Today, that once-small start has evolved into a powerful engine for biomedical innovation and education. But how does a program go from modest beginnings to powerhouse in such a short time?

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BME students design leg sleeve for Team USA para-athletes

Alexander James Servantez — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 18:19:43 +0000

BME students design leg sleeve for Team USA para-athletes Alexander Jame… Mon, 03/09/2026 - 12:19

A team of BME students created a leg sleeve device designed to help para-athletes on Team USA. They will be debuting the novel design at a national competition in April.

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BME startup brings cancer care technology to LVC

Alexander James Servantez — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 21:59:38 +0000

BME startup brings cancer care technology to LVC Alexander Jame… Tue, 02/24/2026 - 14:59

Alexander Servantez

William Frantz didn’t walk away with the top prize at this year’s Lab Venture Challenge (LVC), but his research may still be a winner for future cancer patients.

Frantz, a PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering Program (BME) at ��ӽ紫ý, is developing microscopic droplets designed to help doctors track radiation therapy in real time. His finalist pitch at the 2025 LVC competition highlighted how the technology could one day make cancer treatment more precise and less harmful, particularly for pediatric patients.

“In the lab, we believe we have a great idea,” said Frantz. “Our research and spin-out is still in its early stages, but this could be something that has the potential to help a lot of people in the future.”

The work centers on what Frantz calls vaporizable exoskeletal droplets—microscopic droplets that can be injected into the body and used as ultrasound contrast agents.

William Frantz (right) working in the Borden Research Lab.

The tiny droplets are a staple in the Borden Research Lab because of their ability to vaporize into microbubbles and reflect ultrasound, improving imaging and therapeutic outcomes. However, Frantz’s research shows the droplets are capable of much more.

During a collaborative project with CU Anschutz, Frantz began modifying the exoskeletal droplets to respond to radiation. From there, a new startup—Radiosensitive VEDs—created alongside Professor Mark Borden was born.

The team began their journey right away, participating in university entrepreneurship and startup accelerator initiatives such as Catalyze CU and the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program (I&E). But Frantz says their participation in the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program was what really helped the group build their venture.

“The program really encouraged us to do customer discovery interviews to find out exactly where our technology fits inside of a large field like radiation therapy,” Frantz said. “We started talking to medical physicists and they really helped guide our company’s research and thinking.”

Their findings helped narrow their focus to proton therapy. Typical radiation therapy involves x-rays or photon beams to blast cancer cells with radiation. However, these x-ray beams have a tendency to travel through a patient entirely, which can expose healthy tissue to radiation and increase the risk of side effects.

Proton therapy on the other hand, uses positively charged particles that behave differently once inside the body. Instead of passing completely through tissue like x-rays, protons can be calibrated to travel a specific distance and then stop, depositing most of their energy directly into the tumor site.

But according to Frantz, the increased precision that proton therapy offers still isn’t perfect.

“Imagine you’re trying to hit a tumor mass with a proton beam, but the patient lost weight between treatments, the tumor shifted, or their breathing patterns are causing the protons to travel a little too far or short than what was originally planned for,” said Frantz. “Not only are you missing the tumor site and irradiating healthy tissue, but you are also decreasing the amount of radiation delivered to the cancer cells and the benefit of proton therapy.”

Frantz during his finals pitch at the Lab Venture Challenge (LVC) competition.

That’s where Frantz and Borden’s research fits in. The modified exoskeletal droplets they have created can vaporize under proton radiation and form a microbubble. The team can track that bubble using ultrasound, measuring where the protons are stopping in real-time and verify that the therapy is being delivered as intended.

If proton radiation is deviating from its intended target, physicists and oncologists can stop and use this information to make fine-tuned adjustments to the proton beam or the overall treatment plan.

Frantz said this added layer of clarity will not only help them ensure the proton therapy is as effective as possible, but it will also help minimize healthy tissue exposure—something that’s especially important for children.

Frantz working in the Borden Research Lab.

“Proton therapy is gaining a lot of traction for pediatric cancer patients because they are extremely sensitive to the ill effects of radiation. Radiating their healthy tissue can lead to chronic lung and heart diseases and musculoskeletal issues. They can even develop cancer later in life,” Frantz said. “If we can make it even just a little bit more accurate, we can help decrease these risks of chronic health conditions and they can live a long healthy life.”

The team’s impactful research earned their startup a spot as a finalist in this year’s LVC community showcase. The competition, hosted by Venture Partners, allows top innovators across Colorado to compete for a combined $750,000 in startup funding grants for projects that address a commercial need, have a clear path to a compelling market and have strong scientific support.

Despite a strong pitch and a lot of public support, Frantz and Borden were not selected as winners of the competition. But Frantz said they learned a lot that they can use moving forward.

“It’s all about focusing on the business model,” said Frantz. “We have confidence that this can be used in the clinic. Now it’s about doing more customer discovery and market research. It’s about answering these big supply chain distribution and even administrative healthcare questions to show that we have an economically-viable product.”

He even said the competition helped him develop a new passion for the entrepreneurial process that he never thought he would have.

“My long-term goal has always been to become a professor,” Frantz said. “I still want to do that, but I can definitely see myself being involved in entrepreneurship, as well.”

Regardless of what path he chooses, the LVC hasn’t seen the last of Frantz and his team.

“We’re really grateful to CU Venture Partners and the I&E Fellowship for all of these opportunities,” said Frantz. “We’re going to try and roll with the punches this year. Maybe next year we’ll come back to LVC with a vengeance and secure some funding to continue pushing this technology towards the market."

PhD student William Frantz is developing microscopic droplets designed to help doctors track radiation therapy in real time. His finalist pitch at the 2025 LVC competition highlighted how the technology could one day make cancer treatment more precise and less harmful, particularly for pediatric patients.

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Researchers build ultra-efficient optical sensors shrinking light to a chip

Alexander James Servantez — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 18:42:22 +0000

Researchers build ultra-efficient optical sensors shrinking light to a chip Alexander Jame… Mon, 02/23/2026 - 11:42

BME professor Won Park is co-advising a research project building high performing optical microresonators to open the door for new sensor technologies. In the future, the microresonators could be used for compact microlasers, advanced chemical and biological sensors and even tools for quantum metrology and networking.

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Researchers create shape-shifting, self-navigating microparticles

Mallory Phillips — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 21:34:13 +0000

Researchers create shape-shifting, self-navigating microparticles Mallory Phillips Thu, 01/22/2026 - 14:34

Researchers, including BME faculty member Wyatt Shields at ��ӽ紫ý have created tiny, microorganism-inspired particles that can change their shape and self-propel, much like living things, in response to electrical fields.

One day, these shape-shifting “active particles” could be used as microrobots that deliver medications inside the human body, particularly in areas that are hard for drugs to reach on their own, or for building large-scale dynamic materials that are responsive and self-healing.

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Donated blood has a shelf life. A new test tracks how it's aging

Alexander James Servantez — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:33:08 +0000

Donated blood has a shelf life. A new test tracks how it's aging Alexander Jame… Wed, 01/21/2026 - 10:33

Roughly 6.8 million people donate blood in the United States alone, helping save millions of lives, according to the American Red Cross. But just like groceries sitting on store shelves, red blood cells age over time. That's why Associate Professor Xiaoyun Ding and medical collaborators at CU Anschutz have created a new chip device to help give blood centers and hospitals a reliable way to monitor the quality of red blood cells after they sit for weeks in storage.

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Major funding fuels osteoarthritis treatment collaboration

Mallory Phillips — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:53:11 +0000

Major funding fuels osteoarthritis treatment collaboration Mallory Phillips Tue, 12/09/2025 - 09:53

��ӽ紫ý and partners secure up to $39M ARPA-H contract to develop revolutionary joint-healing solutions for millions

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AISES names ��ӽ紫ý Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous students 2026

Shrim Patel — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 16:53:42 +0000

AISES names ��ӽ紫ý Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous students 2026 Shrim Patel Wed, 12/03/2025 - 09:53

The national nonprofit AISES — Advancing Indigenous People in STEM — has ranked ��ӽ紫ý among its “Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students” in the 2025–2026 list, recognizing the university’s strong support and community for Indigenous students in STEM.

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Homepage News

Why do we get a skip in our step when we're happy? Thank dopamine

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Could 3D-printed livers make transplant lists a thing of the past?

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How ���ӽ紫ý built a biomedical engineering powerhouse

The early journey

Breaking ground

A maturing program

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BME students design leg sleeve for Team USA para-athletes

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BME startup brings cancer care technology to LVC

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Researchers build ultra-efficient optical sensors shrinking light to a chip

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Researchers create shape-shifting, self-navigating microparticles

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Donated blood has a shelf life. A new test tracks how it's aging

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Major funding fuels osteoarthritis treatment collaboration

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AISES names ���ӽ紫ý Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous students 2026

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How ��ӽ紫ý built a biomedical engineering powerhouse

AISES names ��ӽ紫ý Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous students 2026