Research Quick Takes

Mar 19, 2026

Early Detection of Hidden Internal Bleeding

Professors Ryan Halter, Jonathan Elliott, Vikrant Vaze, and Ethan Murphy—with Geisel Professor Norman Paradis—were issued a US patent for "System and method to detect the presence and progression of diseases characterized by systemic changes in the state of the vasculature." The invention uses a novel technique to obtain multiple tissue measurements which are then "transformed by a multivariate algorithm to outputs that convey the diagnostic and prognostic risk of the disease of interest," according to the patent. "We show that by effectively combining signals from multiple sensors using advanced machine learning algorithms, we can save lives through early detection of hidden internal bleeding," said Vaze.

Mar 12, 2026

New Design Strategy for Solid-State Batteries

PhD students Baiheng Li and Huilin Qing, Research Associate Peiyu Wang, and professors Ian Baker and Weiyang "Fiona" Li co-authored "Highly Stable Quasi-Solid-State Sodium Batteries via Facile Grain Boundary Engineering" published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. "This work improves the performance of solid-state batteries by employing a novel and scalable fabrication method for the electrolyte, and paves the way for safer and cheaper next-generation energy storage solutions," said Baiheng.

Headshots of Zequn Chen and Wesley Marrero

Mar 12, 2026

Fair AI and Optimization in Healthcare

PhD student Zequn "Vincent" Chen and Professor Wesley Marrero co-authored "A survey on optimization and machine learning-based fair decision making in healthcare" published in Health Care Management Science. The review examines how fair AI and mathematical optimization can improve areas like patient scheduling, disease diagnosis, and treatment recommendations. It identifies potential sources of bias in existing literature, classifies different bias mitigation strategies, and evaluates fairness metrics that help verify whether outcomes are equivalent for privileged and unprivileged groups. "By analyzing the trade-offs of each method, this research facilitates more informed and transparent decision-making in health care," said Marrero.

Jiahui "Gary" Luo standing with his research poster

Mar 05, 2026

Better Liver Transplant Decisions

PhD student Jiahui "Gary" Luo and Professor Wesley Marrero, with researchers at U Michigan, developed a new simulation framework to analyze liver transplant decisions, which was published in IEEE's 2025 Winter Simulation Conference. The team created a continuous-time simulation that models patient health and organ arrivals while mimicking real-world, varied organ acceptance practices. "The study concludes that high selectivity is a major obstacle to saving lives. Because small quality differences have modest survival effects, accepting a broader range of medically suitable organs can significantly reduce waiting times and maximize the lifesaving potential of the donor pool," said Marrero.

Figure depicting reversible all-liquid conversion path

Feb 26, 2026

Next-Gen Batteries for Grid Storage

Research Associate Peiyu Wang Th'25, PhD students Huilin Qing, Baiheng Li, and Ruiwen Zhang, and Professor Weiyang (Fiona) Li co-authored "Semi-liquid lithium−sulfur batteries for large-scale energy storage" published in Nature Reviews Clean Technology. This review examines catholyte chemistry and design, static and redox flow configurations, and strategies to improve performance and scalability for large-scale energy storage. "Lithium–sulfur batteries offer high energy density and cost-effectiveness but are limited by the precipitation of solid sulfur species, which has driven interest in semi-liquid systems," said Li.

Feb 19, 2026

Machine-Learning-Enabled Phototransistors

PhD student Simon Agnew '22, Research Associate Xavier Cadet, and professors Peter Chin and Will Scheideler co-authored "Decoding disorder: Machine learning unlocks multi-wavelength and intensity sensing in a single indium oxysulfide phototransistor" published in Device. The paper presents machine-learning-enabled phototransistors that decode both light wavelength and intensity from a single printed device—no filters or sensor arrays required. This work points toward simpler, lower-cost, and more scalable multi-parameter sensing for flexible optoelectronics. "By combining scalable liquid-metal printing of ultrathin indium oxysulfide with data-driven analysis, we show how disorder—often viewed as a limitation in printed semiconductors—can be turned into a powerful sensing feature," said Scheideler.

Research figure depicting transfer learning

Feb 12, 2026

Better Metamaterial Design Via Transfer Learning

PhD students Xiangbei Liu, Ya Tang, and Huan Zhao, and Professor Yan Li, are co-authors of "A transfer learning–enabled framework for rapid property prediction toward scalable and data-efficient metamaterial design" published in Results in Engineering. When faced with new requirements, conventional machine-learning approaches require substantial new datasets for retraining—basically starting from scratch. Transfer learning can significantly reduce the required amount of training data while maintaining high accuracy and stability. "This approach provides a foundation for building a scalable, data-efficient knowledge base for future applications," said Li.

Feb 12, 2026

Diagnosing Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer

Professor Arthur Pétusseau (far right) has teamed up with Research Fellow Dylan Parker, MD, and professors of dermatology Shane Chapman, MD, and Brian Simmons, MD to launch a clinical study focused on the diagnosis of non-melanoma skin cancer. The study, titled "Assessment of Skin Lesions Using a Tissue Oxygen Imager Based on Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) Fluorescence," will enroll 120 patients to investigate whether oxygen dynamics following gentle palpation can serve as an early marker to distinguish malignant from non-malignant lesions. "Information from this study could help dermatologists better determine when surgical resection is truly necessary, potentially reducing unnecessary procedures, particularly in cosmetically-sensitive areas such as the face," said Pétusseau who developed the imager called, Pressure-Enhanced Sensing of Tissue Oxygenation (PRESTO).

Feb 05, 2026

Top Biophotonics Device

Professors Petr Brůža and Brian Pogue—along with former Thayer professor and now CTO of DoseOptics, Venkat Krishnaswamy—attended the Prism Awards Celebration at SPIE's Photonics West conference where DoseOptics' Clinical Cherenkov Imaging was listed in the top three biophotonics devices of 2025. (See Pogue's recent Commercialization Report published in Biophotonics Discovery) "What a treat to be at the world's largest biomedical optics conference with my brilliant colleagues, designers of the BeamSite Cherenkov Imaging camera. In only one year, with over 40 installations in place and planned worldwide, this technology will help keep radiation therapy advances safe for all patients," said Pogue.

Priyanshu Alluri, Zequn Chen, and Wesley Marrero

Jan 29, 2026

A Socially-Fair Framework for Measuring Student Well-Being

Priyanshu Alluri '26, PhD student Zequn Chen, and Professor Wesley Marrero presented a socially-fair framework, published in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association - Open, that ensures homogeneous clustering performance across demographic groups while minimizing within-cluster variability. "The study integrates fairness considerations into clustering algorithms to reduce discrepancies in risk stratification and provides insights into socioeconomic drivers of student well-being," said Marrero.

Jan 29, 2026

Making Skin Stick

Hixon Lab PhD candidate Adelaide Cagle is first-author on "Keratin Additive for Cellular Adhesion in Transcutaneous Prosthetics," with co-authors including NH BioMade trainee Lois Szulc, Jack Flaggert '26, Yowis Arias '24 Th'25, Annika Nikhar '26, and Professor Katie Hixon. Published in Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, the paper explores how incorporating hydrolyzed keratin into electrospun and cryogel scaffolds enhances cell adhesion and proliferation. "This study highlights a promising biomaterials strategy to improve dermal integration at skin-implant interfaces," said Hixon.

Jan 22, 2026

Converting Carbon Emissions into Fuels for Net Neutrality

PhD students Huilin Qing and Baiheng Li, and Professor Weiyang "Fiona" Li co-authored "Protonation pathway for CO2 reduction mediated by coordinated H2O on active sites" published in Nature Communications. This work, presented by Qing, was nominated for "Best Poster Award" at the 2025 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting which drew over 6,000 attendees from 50+ countries.