The challenges that define biomedical engineering rarely belong to a single field. They require expertise that crosses boundaries between engineering and medicine, discovery and application, the laboratory and the clinic. The Department of Biomedical Engineering’s External Advisory Board reflects this breadth, bringing together leaders from research universities, healthcare organizations and technology-driven industries.
Through their work in areas ranging from brain imaging and medical devices to pharmaceutical development, engineering education and healthcare commercialization, board members provide insight that helps shape the department's academic and research priorities.
Advisory Board
Tor Alden
Principal, OllieWorks, Co-Founder, Sympfiny
Tor Alden, FIDSA, is a product innovation and commercialization leader with more than 35 years of experience developing technologies across medical devices, diagnostics, drug delivery, healthcare, and consumer products. He served as Principal and CEO of HSD, now Ensera Design, where he led the development and commercialization of innovative healthcare and technology products for companies ranging from emerging ventures to global organizations.
Today, Alden is Principal of OllieWorks, where he advises healthcare and technology companies on innovation, product development, strategic partnerships, and commercialization. He is also co-founder of Sympfiny, a pediatric drug delivery platform, and remains actively involved in mentoring entrepreneurs and emerging innovation teams, including working with Steven's students and faculty to advance biomedical engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Over the course of his career, Alden has contributed to more than 40 patents and numerous award-winning products. He earned his Bachelor of Industrial Design from Syracuse University and his Master of Science in Management of Technology from Stevens Institute of Technology. He is a Fellow of the Industrial Designers Society of America (FIDSA).
Priti Balchandani
Professor, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai
Dr. Priti Balchandani is Professor of Diagnostic, Molecular, and Interventional Radiology, Professor of Neuroscience, and Endowed Professor of Engineering Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She also serves as Co-Director of the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine (CEPM) with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Her research focuses on advancing the field of medical imaging by developing innovative electrical engineering techniques and medical imaging applications. She applies principles from signals and systems engineering to image the human brain with unprecedented detail and to uncover new insights into normal and diseased brain function. Her work combines advanced MRI techniques to visualize detailed brain anatomy, vasculature, neuronal fiber tracts, and metabolic characteristics, providing a more comprehensive understanding of neurological diseases. Dr. Balchandani has applied these methods to improve the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, guide surgical interventions for tumors, and study the biological mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders.
In addition to her scientific contributions, she has addressed several major technical limitations associated with ultra-high-field MRI, leading to innovative tools with broad applications in human brain imaging and spectroscopy. These advances are ultimately aimed at improving the diagnosis, treatment, and surgical planning for a wide range of neurological conditions. Dr. Balchandani has also played a key role in developing MRI-guided procedures for neurological diseases, including both image-guided diagnosis and treatment strategies. She received her BASc in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada and earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Muna Bitar
Vice President, Clinical Development RETINA Glaukos Corporation
Muna I. Bitar, PharmD, is Vice President, Clinical Development, Retina at Glaukos and an accomplished pharmaceutical leader with more than 25 years of experience across medical affairs, clinical development, and commercial strategy. She has deep expertise in ophthalmology and retina, including clinical trial strategy, launch planning, lifecycle management, scientific engagement, and cross-functional leadership.
Throughout her career at Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron, Merz, Novartis, Sankyo, and Roche, Muna has built and led high-performing teams, supported multiple successful product launches, developed strong relationships with retina specialists and key opinion leaders, and contributed to clinical development programs across retina and other therapeutic areas. She is also an accomplished fencer, recognized as a three-time NCAA All-American at Temple University and inducted into the Temple University Sports Hall of Fame. Muna earned her PharmD and B.S./RPh from Temple University and completed postgraduate residency and fellowship training.
Christie Chen
Regulatory Affairs Lead Technical Product Owner, Johnson & Johnson
Ms. Chen is a Stevens Institute of Technology graduate with a Bachelor of Engineering in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering and a Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. Her journey began as a Research Assistant at the Center for Healthcare Innovation Program at Stevens and upon graduation continued her journey at Johnson & Johnson as a business analyst for hospital medical devices in customer and sales product lines to regulatory affairs for MedTech R&D that maximize business value and drive product vision for strategic objectives.
Brian Helmke
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, National Biomedical Engineering Society Fellow
Brian Helmke is Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia (UVA), where he teaches courses in diverse topics such as physiology, mechanobiology, biotransport, and bioelectricity. Brian also serves as Faculty Consultant to the UVA Center for Teaching Excellence, acting as facilitator for the Course Design Institute and faculty development workshops on Equity in Collaborative Learning, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and Specifications Grading. As Director of Undergraduate Research for the UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science, Brian created Starting an Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), a student-led program to lower barriers to entry in research experiences for 1st-year engineering students.
Brian has received the UVA Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Hartfield Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Harold S. Morton Teaching Prize for excellence in 1st- and 2nd-year teaching in engineering, and he is a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Brian is co-founder and Editor in Chief of Biomedical Engineering Education. Brian’s educational scholarship encompasses active learning, collaborative and inclusive pedagogies, and alternative grading. His science and engineering research interests include cardiovascular physiology, cellular mechanobiology, and nanotechnology-based biomaterials.
Monique McRipley
Head of Alliance & External Affairs, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine's Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO), Johnson & Johnson
Monique McRipley, M.S., Ph.D., PMP is Head of Alliance & External Affairs within Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine's Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO), where she leads the Strategic Alliances and Pharmacovigilance Alliance Contracting teams. With more than 30 years of experience across the pharmaceutical, medical device, and consulting industries, she has extensive expertise in strategic planning, acquisitions and divestitures, alliance management, project and program leadership, and business analytics. Prior to her current role, Monique served as Director of Project Management, Acquisitions & Divestitures at Johnson & Johnson, leading complex transactions and strategic initiatives. During her 20-year career at Johnson & Johnson, she has held leadership positions in Strategic Planning, Global Strategic Analytics, and Portfolio Management across both Pharmaceutical and MedTech sectors within J&J.
Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Monique was a management consultant with IBM Business Consulting Services and PwC Consulting, specializing in pharmaceutical R&D, post-merger integration, strategic planning, and new product development. Monique earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and both an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. She serves on several university Biomedical Engineering Advisory Boards and is passionate about supporting the advancement of education and innovation.
Conrad Zapanta
Teaching Professor and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Conrad Zapanta is Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Engineering and a Teaching Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon and his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Penn State. His research interests include biomedical engineering education, biomedical engineering design, and cardiovascular medical devices.
He has held leadership roles in the American Society for Engineering Education and serves as an ABET team chair, commissioner, and program evaluator. His honors include ASEE’s Theo Pilkington Award and Carnegie Mellon’s Benjamin Richard Teare Teaching Award. He is a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Volunteer Clinical Professors
Anthony Gagliardi
Physician Advisor and Medical Director, Tribe Health
Dr. Gagliardi is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Medicine, recognized for his leadership in clinical care, hospital administration, chronic disease management, and post‑acute care innovation. He currently serves as a Physician Advisor and Medical Director at Tribe Health, a company dedicated to hospital aftercare and the longitudinal management of chronic illnesses. He is also a Senior Physician at the SVCMC Uniformed Services Family Health Plan, a Department of Defense–contracted program providing comprehensive care for 14,000 military family members.
Dr. Gagliardi was also the Chief Medical Officer at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, serving both the Lower Manhattan Hospital and the academic medical center at Weill Cornell Medical Center. He previously served as Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Saint Barnabas Medical Center and as Medical Director and Senior Vice President at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York, where he held administrative responsibility for more than 600 physicians while continuing to practice pulmonary medicine within the Saint Barnabas Internal Medicine Faculty Practice.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Gagliardi held clinical, academic, and public health roles at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the New York State Department of Health, New York Medical College, Pace University, and the Catholic Health Care Network, contributing to statewide health initiatives, medical education, and system-level quality improvement. He is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and an active member of leading professional societies, including the American Thoracic Society. His longstanding commitment to service is reflected in his work with the American Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, through which he has completed 26 pilgrimages to the Shrine of Lourdes and looks forward to his 27th pilgrimage in May 2027.
Across all roles, Dr. Gagliardi is known for his clinical expertise, strategic leadership, and dedication to improving outcomes for diverse patient populations.
Herman Morchel
Attending Physician, Emergency Medicine, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack Meridian Health
Dr. Morchel holds a position as a Board-Certified Attending Physician in Emergency Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center/Hackensack Meridian Health in Hackensack, New Jersey since completing a residency in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Center in 2007 and graduating UMDNJ, now Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He is founding core faculty of their Emergency Medicine Residency Program, founding Director of their Simulation Training facility, was Medical and Engineering Director of their Disaster Response Mobile Hospital program, and holds a position as an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine in Nutley, New Jersey.
Prior to medical school, Dr. Morchel had over a 25-year career with ITT Corporation, now L3 Harris, in advanced electronics/computer systems engineering design and development including two U.S. Patents. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in New Jersey. Master of Engineering – Electrical, Stevens Institute of Technology in 1980, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Newark College of Engineering, now New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1973.
Jerome E. Granato
Retired, System Senior Vice President and Medical Director, CommonSpirit Health
Jerome E. Granato has actively practiced clinical and interventional cardiology for over 35 years. Dr. Granato graduated with high honors from Stevens Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. He then attended Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for his MD degree. This was followed by a three-year residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Granato then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, remaining there an additional year as a research fellow of the American Heart Association. Dr. Granato also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the J.L. Kellogg School of Graduate Management at Northwestern University. Dr. Granato is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and interventional cardiology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a Fellow of the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association.
In 2020, he retired as System Senior Vice President and Medical Director for the national cardiovascular service line at CommonSpirit Health. CommonSpirit Health is the largest nonprofit healthcare provider in the United States with over $41 B in annual revenue. With this position, Dr. Granato oversaw the largest cardiovascular enterprise in the United States encompassing over 130 hospitals and 3 medical schools in 21 states. Dr. Granato has also served as a strategy consultant and on scientific advisory boards for Genentech, Pfizer, Cordis, Philips Healthcare, Change Healthcare and Boston Scientific Corp. He has served on the board of trustees for the Texas Heart Institute, the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology and the Alliance for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.
He is the recipient of numerous awards in the areas of patient safety and medical education. These include the Dean’s Special Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching at the Drexel University College of Medicine, the Physician Champion Award and the Milton Fine Award for Patient Safety from the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and the Claude Joyner Award for Excellence in Teaching from the West Penn Allegheny Health System. He has been regularly cited as one of the “Best Doctors in America” for cardiovascular disease and one of “America’s Top Cardiologists”.
Health Innovation Think Tank (HITT)
Wayne S. Berberian
Professor, Vice Chair, Residency Program Director, Department of Orthopedics, Hackensack University Medical Center
Wayne S. Berberian, MD, MBA is an orthopedic surgeon, educator, and researcher with over twenty-five years of experience in treating disorders of the foot and ankle. During his 17 year tenure on the faculty at Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, he served as Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. As Residency Program Director, he was the primary individual responsible for the training of over 100 orthopedic surgeons currently practicing throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. He has served as an educator for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, and as an Oral Examiner for the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Currently, he is a professor, Vice Chair, and inaugural Residency Program Director for the Department of Orthopedics at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Paul R. Booth
Interim Director, Biomedical Engineering, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Founder, Applied Surgical Robotics
Paul Booth manages the development and engineering of new medical devices from a technical, operational, and financial perspective. He graduated from Bucknell University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, a master's degree in finance from Texas Tech University, and a master's degree in computer science from Stevens Institute of Technology. Mr. Booth is on the Industrial Advisory Board for New Jersey Institute of Technology in a role that assists both the institution and its students in shaping its engineering curriculum and programs. He also volunteered on the Engineering Alumni Board of Directors for Bucknell University. He has facilitated and mentored biomedical engineering internship programs and managed and mentored over 30 interns within Biomedical Engineering.
Mr. Booth has a particular interest in surgical robotics. He investigates new technologies and evaluates their applicability in the healthcare environment. Where appropriate and feasible, pilot programs are set up to physically test the systems in a limited yet real world application. Notable devices involved are Robotic Uterine Manipulator (clinical trial), Vein Identifying Phlebotomy assist device and Fluid separator for chest drainage (planned clinical trials). He is the founder of Applied Surgical Robotics.
Jim Breen
Vice President Project Development, J&J Innovative Medicines, Johnson & Johnson
Jim is presently Vice President Project Development, J&J Innovative Medicines at Johnson & Johnson.
Jim has worked for Johnson & Johnson for over 25 years in roles such as Biologics Expansion Program, VP Worldwide Engineering & Technical Operations (WWETO) and VP Network Management. Jim joined J&J in 1997 in Shanghai, China and has progressed through a variety of roles in project management, network management, real estate, facility management, manufacturing and engineering.
Prior to J&J, Jim was employed by General Electric and Hercules Inc. in both domestic and international assignments in manufacturing, project management and engineering.
Jim is presently an adjunct professor at Drexel University in the Engineering Department teaching graduate courses in Engineering and Construction Management.
Jim is past Chairman of the Board for the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE). Jim is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Schaeffer Engineering School at Stevens Institute of Technology.
Jim earned his Bachelor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, MBA from Drexel University and Master of Engineering in Technology Management from University of Pennsylvania. He is a registered Professional Engineer and LEED AP.
Anthony Gagliardi
Physician Advisor and Medical Director, Tribe Health
See list of Volunteer Clinical Professors above for bio.
John Khadem
Founder, Associated Retina Specialists
John Khadem obtained an undergraduate degree from Duke University majoring in Chemistry and sociology. He then went on to the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University to obtain a Doctorate of Medicine and a Master's in Public Health.
He then went on to do a general surgery internship, followed by an Ophthalmology residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals. This was followed by a fellowship in vitro-retinal surgery at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary of Harvard Medical School. Dr. Khadem was clinical faculty and scientific researcher at Harvard Medical School before leaving to start a private practice. He currently has a practice in the West Village of Manhattan and an ocular ambulatory surgical center in the Hudson Yards section of Manhattan. His research interests include tissue adhesives for use inside the eye. Dr. Khadem lives in Hoboken with his three children.
Erin McKenna
Head of Medical Devices, Operating Partner, Amplify Program, Mass General Brigham
Erin McKenna is Head of Medical Devices and Operating Partner of the Amplify Program at Mass General Brigham, and also serves as Program Director for MGB Ignite, an early-stage translational program for Mass General Brigham researchers and clinicians. The Ignite program is based in part on the successful Boston Biomedical Innovation Center (B-BIC), a life science accelerator program funded by the National Institutes of Health, where Erin was the Deputy Director. Projects receiving B-BIC awards have generated over 20 times their initial return on investment on average. Erin is also a Board Observer for Third Pole Therapeutics.
Previously Erin worked at Boston Scientific in Research and Development, where she launched several vascular graft and peripheral embolization products before shifting her focus to identifying and implementing company-wide product development lifecycle process improvements. Erin earned an MBA and MS degrees in Global Management from Babson College, a B.E. in Chemical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and holds 9 issued patents.
Herman Morchel
Attending Physician, Emergency Medicine, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack Meridian Health
See list of Volunteer Clinical Professors above for bio.