
At The University and beyond...
Across UVA Grounds, throughout the Commonwealth and beyond, nanoSTAR strives to provide a collaborative platform for nanoscale research and commercialization of products, to provide excellence in teaching and to provide outreach that promotes science, education, and collaboration.
nanoSTAR Institute collaborates with businesses and other universities to leverage resources and expertise. These partnerships enable the acceleration of research discoveries through technology transfer and commercialization. nanoSTAR offers a web-based portal to facilitate nano-focused research interactions between engineers and scientists. Nanotechnology, which by definition sits at the cusp of engineering, materials science, and physics, enables the burgeoning medical concepts of personalized medicine, tissue re-engineering and regenerative medicine, artificial cells and exosomes, theranostics, microfluidics for diagnostics, and multi-modal imaging.
Our mission is to to make The University the premier destination for students to pursue education in nano science and medicine and for people and organizations seeking nanoscale technologies to gain access to intellectual and material resources in order to advance science and technology. We do this through facilitating not only cross-Grounds collaborations but also through collaborations with outside academic and industrial partners
nanoSTAR News
Our Faculty


Rebecca Pompano
Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering
Research Areas
- Advanced Biomanufacturing

James M. Howe
Thomas Goodwin Digges Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Director of the Nanoscale Materials Characterization Facility (NMCF), Faculty Advisor for the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Minor
Research Areas
- Phase Transformations
- Interfaces
- Materials Characterization
Christopher B. Highley
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering

John C. Bean
Emeritus Professor


George T. Gillies
Research Professor
Research Areas
- Materials and Advanced Manufacturing for Biological Applications
- Cardiovascular Engineering
- Drug Delivery

Avik Ghosh
Professor
Research Areas
- Internet of Things
- Optoelectronic Devices
- Microscale Heat Transfer

Liheng Cai
Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering (by courtesy)
Research Areas
- Soft (bio)Materials
- Polymers
- Biophysics

Michael E. Gorman
Professor of Engineering & Society, Director, Science, Technology and Society Program, Director, Policy Internship Program, Member, Link Lab
Research Areas
- Human Machine Interface
- Science, Technology and Society

Pamela Marie Norris, Ph.D.
Executive Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Frederick Tracy Morse Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Research Areas
- Nanoscale Heat Transfer
- Interfacial Thermal Transport
- Thermal Management

Mark Bennett Williams
Professor of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Biomedical Engineering, and Physics
Research Areas
- Medical and Molecular Imaging
- Biomedical Data Sciences
- Quantitative Biosciences

Rachel A. Letteri
Assistant Professor
Research Areas
- Polymer synthesis and characterization
- Peptide binding and assembly
- Biomaterials

Mircea R. Stan
Virginia Microelectronics Consortium (VMEC) Professor
Research Areas
- Internet of Things
- Low Power Design
- Processing in Memory

Rider W. Foley
Assistant Professor in Science, Technology, and Society
Research Areas
- Wireless Health
- Smart Buildings/Cities
- Risk and Decision Analysis

Mool C. Gupta
Langley Professor
Research Areas
- Intelligent Processing of Materials
- Laser-materials interactions
- Nanomaterials and nanomanufacturing

Kyle J. Lampe
Assistant Professor
Research Areas
- Biomaterials
- Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
- Materials and Advanced Manufacturing for Biological Applications

Alexander L (Sasha) Klibanov
Associate Professor
Research Areas
- Medical and Molecular Imaging
- Biotechnology and Biomolecular Engineering (Biomolecular Design, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering)
- Drug Delivery

Steven M. Bowers
Assistant Professor
Research Areas
- Internet of Things
- Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Electronics
- Low Power Design

Ammasi Periasamy
Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering, Center Director-WM Keck Center for Cellular Imaging
Research Areas
- Medical and Molecular Imaging

Haydn N. Wadley
University Professor, Edgar Starke Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Areas
- Microscale Heat Transfer
- Nanoelectronics and 2-D Materials
- Corrosion and Electrochemical Sciences and Engineering

Hilary Bart-Smith
Professor
Research Areas
- Biotechnology and Biomolecular Engineering (Biomolecular Design, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering)
- Bio-inspired systems

Baoxing Xu
Associate Professor
Research Areas
- Nanomechanics; Manufacturing; Low-dimensional functional materials and structures; soft-hard material integration

Randall J. Moorman
Professor of Medicine, Biomedical Engineering and Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Research Areas
- Cardiovascular Engineering

P. Paxton Marshall
Emeritus Professor

Kimberly A. Kelly
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Research Areas
- Targeted Diagnostic Imaging
- Targeted Drug and Gene Delivery
- Cancer

Brian P. Helmke
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, UVA Engineering Director of Undergraduate Research

Kenneth Brayman
Professor of Surgery, Medicine, and Biomedical Engineering, Chief, Transplant Division, Department of Surgery
Research Areas
- 3D Bioprinting
- Gene Therapy

Petra Reinke
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Director Engineering Physics Program
Research Areas
- Nanoelectronics and 2-D Materials
- Corrosion and Electrochemical Sciences and Engineering
- Surface and Interface Science and Engineering

Keivan Esfarjani
Associate Professor
Research Areas
- Nanoscale Heat Transfer
- Nanoelectronics and 2-D Materials
- Computation Materials Science

Patrick E. Hopkins
Professor, Director of Graduate Studies
Research Areas
- Microscale Heat Transfer
- Nanoelectronics and 2-D Materials
- Surface and Interface Science and Engineering

Richard J. Price
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Research Director, UVa Focused Ultrasound Center
Research Areas
- Drug and Gene Delivery
- Biomechanics and Mechanobiology
- Cardiovascular Engineering

N. Scott Barker
Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Fellow, IEEE, Chair, IEEE MTT-S Publications Committee, Co-Founder and CEO, Dominion MicroProbes Inc.
Research Areas
- Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Electronics
- Radio-Frequency Microelectromechanical Systems (RF-MEMS)
- Wireless and Optical Communication Systems

Erik Fernandez
Professor Emeritus
Research Areas
- Molecular Analysis of Protein Adsorption and Purification
- Misfolding of Pharmaceutical Proteins and Proteins Relevant to Human Disease

David L. Green
Associate Professor
Research Areas
- Colloids and Interfaces
- Assembly and Rheology
- Soft Materials and Soft Matter

Stuart S. Berr
Professor of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Research Areas
- Medical and Molecular Imaging
- Cardiovascular Engineering

Robert M. Weikle, II
Professor
Research Areas
- Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Electronics
- Wireless and Optical Communication Systems

Giovanni Zangari
Professor
Research Areas
- Nanoelectronics and 2-D Materials
- Corrosion and Electrochemical Sciences and Engineering
- Metallurgy

Xiaodong (Chris) Li
Rolls-Royce Commonwealth Professor
Research Areas
- Additive Manufacturing/Smart Manufacturing
- Nanomaterial-enabled Energy Systems
- Biomaterials and Biomechanics

Mark Kester
Director, nanoSTAR Institute, Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Pharmacology, Molecular Physiology/Biophysics
Research Areas
- Medical and Molecular Imaging
- Signal and Image Processing
- Human Factors

Steven R. Caliari
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Research Areas
- Biomaterials
- Mechanobiology
- Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering

James T. Burns
Associate Professor
Research Areas
- Materials Characterization
- Nanomaterials and nanomanufacturing
Matthew Panzer
Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering (Courtesy), Deputy Director, Center for Applied Biomechanics
Research Areas
- Injury Biomechanics
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Computational Biomechanics

Jerrold Anthony Floro
Professor, Associate Chair for Research, DMSE
Research Areas
- Epitaxial growth and self-assembly of semiconductors and metals
- Pattern formation across lengthscales by self-assembly
- Magnetic materials

Lloyd R. Harriott
Emeritus Professor
Research Areas
- Microscale Heat Transfer
- Nanoelectronics and 2-D Materials
- Nanomaterials and nanomanufacturing

Geoffrey M. Geise
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering (by courtesy), ChE Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Research Areas
- Molecular Transport in Polymeric Membranes
- Desalination Membranes
- Battery / Fuel Cell Membranes

James Fitz-Gerald
Professor & Director of Undergraduate Programs, MSE, Director, Engineering Science Program
Research Areas
- Optoelectronic Devices
- Corrosion and Electrochemical Sciences and Engineering
- Surface and Interface Science and Engineering

Donald Richieri Griffin
Assistant Professor
Research Areas
- Novel Biomaterial Development
- Drug and Cell Delivery
- Regenerative Medicine

Nathan Swami
Professor
Research Areas
- Signal and Image Processing
- Wireless Health
- Biomedical Data Sciences

Gary Koenig
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Research Areas
- Batteries and Energy Storage
- Particle Engineering and Characterization
- Materials Microstructure Control and Characterization

Joshua J. Choi
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Associate Professor of Physics (by courtesy)
Research Areas
- Materials Chemistry
- Optoelectronic Devices
- Solar Power