Mehdi Nikkhah is currently an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering (SBHSE), Arizona State University (ASU). He completed his postdoctoral fellowship training at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering and M.S. degree in biomedical engineering from Tehran Polytechnic University followed by Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech. His lab’s research interest is focused on the integration of micro- and nano-scale technologies, innovative biomaterials, and biology to better understand the mechanisms of human disease progression and to develop regenerative medicine strategies for treatment of organ/tissue failure. Dr. Nikkhah has published more than 70 journal articles (+8500 citations, H-index of 41), 8 book chapters and 90 peer-reviewed conference papers and holds 9 US patents and invention disclosures. Dr. Nikkhah has received numerous prestigious awards and recognitions during his career including: Arizona Flinn Foundation Award, ASU Biomedical Engineering Outstanding Assistant Professor Award, NSF CAREER Award and so forth. Along with his research endeavors, Dr. Nikkhah is also very passionate to educate the next generation of students and scholars, with specific attention to minority and underrepresented groups, in science and engineering. He has trained more than 55 trainees including postdoctoral fellows, PhD/MS students as well as undergraduate researchers, from a diverse background, in his lab.
Education
Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech
M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, Villanova University
M.Sc. Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran Polytechnic, Iran
B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, Amikabir University of Technology, Tehran Polytechnic, Iran
· Journal Publications (Published, In Press, or Accepted): 70
· Journal Manuscripts in Preparation/Revision: 3
· Book Chapters Published: 8
· Abstracts Published in Conference Proceedings: 90
Publication Metrics
Total Number of Citations = +8500 (Google Scholar as of Aug 2022)
H-index = 42; i10-Index = 62
Research Activity
Nikkhah,Mehdi*, Mehta, Shwetal, Plaisier, Chris, Elucidating the Role of Perivascular Niche in Glioblastoma Invasion and Therapeutic Resistance at Single Cell Resolution using Biomimetic Tumor Microenvironment Models. NIH NINDS R01 (2021-2026).
Nikkhah,Mehdi*, Perreault, Francois, Westerhoff, Paul, Electromechanical Interactions of Gold Nanomaterials with Human Cardiac Cells. National Science Foundation (NSF)-ENG-NanoScale (2020-2023).
Nikkhah,Mehdi*, Jin Park. Investigating the Biophysical and Biochemical Influences of Stromal Cells on Anti-Cancer Drug Resistance within Bioengineered Tumor Microenvironment Models. National Science Foundation (NSF)-ENG-CBET (2019-2022).
Junseok Chae*, Nikkhah,Mehdi*. A Wireless Fully-Passive Miniaturized Patient-Tailored Pacemaker. National Institutes of Health (NIH), NIBIB Trailblazer R21, (2019-2022).
Nikkhah,Mehdi*. Flinn Foundation Award, “Bridge-Funding Initiative: NIH Priority Research Areas”, (2019-2020).
Nikkhah,Mehdi*. NSF CAREER: Cardiac Ischemia on-a-Chip: Probing Mechanisms Underlying Molecular, Cellular and Tissue-Level Adaptive Responses After Injury. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, (2017-2022).
Nikkhah,Mehdi*. Next Generation of Scaffold-Free, Electrically Conductive, Vasculogenic Micro-Tissues for Myocardial Replacement Therapy (MRT). Arizona Biomedical Research Commission (ABRC) (2018-2021).
Nikkhah,Mehdi*, Ros,Robert. Three Dimensional Microengineered Diseased Tissue Model to Study Invasive Phenotype of Cancer Cells. National Science Foundation (NSF)-ENG-CBET(2015-2019).
Nikkhah,Mehdi*, Three Dimensional Microengineered Diseased Tissue Model to Study Invasive Phenotype of Cancer Cells. Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH) Leadership Circle Grant (2017-2018).
