Cores & Activities – Center for Advancing Systems Science and Bioengineering Innovation (CASSBI)

Center Cores

The Center for Advancing Systems Science and Bioengineering Innovation (CASSBI) is organized into four Cores.

Administrative Core

This core consists of the center leadership and admin staff, as well as advisory councils. This core establishes strategic priorities for the Center and provide operational support as needed for center activities. This includes pre-award and post-award and project management support for center faculty, support for grant writing, and research development, as well as administration of training programs, and coordination of center events. This core also coordinates funding opportunities, grant applications, and partnerships with industry and academic institutions. By providing these resources, the Center ensures a robust support system for its researchers, students, and community partners.

Leadership Council: Made up of Directors, Assistant Directors, Graduate Student Representatives, and rotating faculty fellows.
Administrative Staff: To execute the mission of the Center and report to the leadership team.
External Advisory Council: Will consult the leadership team, and will be composed of scientists, policy experts, and individuals with lived experience.

Science and Engineering Resource Core

This core provides science and engineering methodological expertise to all ongoing Center research activities. Participating faculty in this core conduct basic and applied science research on a range of relevant topics. This core provide access to facilities for device fabrication and testing, prototyping, cell culture, wet lab facilities, small animal imaging, etc. This core provides vital support services and infrastructure for the Center’s activities. This includes maintaining state-of-the-art laboratories, equipment, and technology platforms necessary for research and development. Additionally, this area manages data repositories, libraries, and other knowledge resources that support the Center’s academic and practical pursuits. This core also enables mentoring junior faculty and trainees on interdisciplinary research.

Core Coordinator: Parag Chitnis

Clinical Research and Translation Core

This core provides clinical research and technology transfer expertise to all participating center faculty and trainees. This core include clinical research infrasctructure, including facilities for human subjects research, as well as personnel for designing and conducting clinical studies. This core also include training and mentoring, and partnerships for technology translation through regulatory processes and commercialization.

Core Coordinator: Siddhartha Sikdar

Community Engagement and Outreach Core

This core provides expertise in conducting community-based participatory research, participatory action research, and human-centered design to all participating center faculty and trainees. This core will conduct community-engaged research projects in collaboration with community partners and organizations. The core provides consultations and training to participating faculty and trainees for adding human-centered design and community-engaged approaches to their research and technology development projects, and provide access to student design teams to work on investigator-initiated ideas.

Core Coordinator: Jenny Mai Phan

Center Activities

The following activities within the Center cut across all four cores.

Outreach

Outreach will focus on engaging with local, national, and global communities to raise awareness about the Center’s work and the benefits and impacts of new medical technologies. This includes public lectures, workshops, and community forums to educate and involve diverse populations. The outreach efforts aim to foster partnerships with community organizations, healthcare providers, policymakers, industry partners, and key partners with lived experiences. Through these collaborations, the Center seeks to ensure that its innovations are informed by and accessible to the communities they serve and to promote a two-way exchange of knowledge and feedback.

Specific activities include:

Cultivate and maintain a network of community and industry partners
Hold consortia with Center partners bridging scientists, engineers, providers, policymakers, industry partners, and community members with related and lived experiences
Annual retreat for community sponsors
Seminar series for the public
Science demonstrations for middle and high schoolers

Outreach Coordinator: Jenny Mai Phan

Training

The Center develops and deliver educational programs and professional development opportunities. This includes training future leaders in the field of medical technology through degree programs, certificates, internships, and workshops. The Center offers hands-on training in cutting-edge technologies, ethical considerations in MedTech development, and skills in community engagement and participatory research methods. The goal is to equip students, researchers, and professionals with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in a rapidly evolving field and to promote lifelong learning.