Submissions were evaluated by a judging panel composed of federal employees from across NIH and potentially other government agencies. The judging panel selected eight Phase 1 winners based on the official judging criteria, subject to a final decision by NIH.
Given the volume of entries in Phase 1, submissions were initially be evaluated by a multidisciplinary group of technical reviewers, including experts in biomedical engineering, neuroscience, and systems biology.
Phase 1 judging panel
Joe Bonner, Ph.D.
Dr. Joe Bonner is a Program Officer with the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). His portfolio includes rehabilitation research addressing many disabling conditions, including stroke, spinal cord injury, and limb loss.
Theresa Cruz, Ph.D.
Dr. Theresa Cruz became director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) at the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in August 2020, after serving as acting director since September 2019. In her capacity as a health scientist administrator in NCMRR, Dr. Cruz manages grants in the Devices and Technology Development and Rehabilitation Diagnostics and Interventions Programs. She also manages Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) awards in medical rehabilitation and is a team lead in the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative.
Daniel Gossett, Ph.D.
Dr. Daniel Gossett is a Program Director in the Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). His portfolio includes biomedical imaging of the kidney, technology development efforts, and translational research in the areas of kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases, including research conducted by small business (SBIR & STTR). He is also a Project Scientist for the NIDDK programs (Re)Building a Kidney Consortium and Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP).
Ranu Jung, Ph.D.
Dr. Ranu Jung is Executive Director and Endowed Chair of the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research, Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Associate Vice Chancellor at University of Arkansas. Professor Jung’s research is at the cutting edge between engineering and neuroscience, developing devices that lead to scientific advances with clear pathways to clinical application. Her team developed the first wireless, implantable, intrafascicular neural-interface system for restoring sensations to individuals with upper limb amputation and received FDA approval to conduct a first-in-human trial. Dr. Jung has been a grantee of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering for over fifteen years, she holds 14 U.S. patents, has founded a company, and has authored more than 130 publications.
Note: Dr. Ranu Jung is a Special Government Employee.
Matthew McMahon, Ph.D.
Matthew McMahon leads the Small Business Education and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) Office in helping to transform cutting-edge technologies into products that improve health and save lives. He previously served as the first director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Office of Translational Alliances and Coordination, and he created and led the National Eye Institute’s Office of Translational Research. His previous experience also includes service as the principal scientist for the bionic eye company Second Sight Medical Products and as a staff member on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives committees responsible for science, technology, and innovation policy.
Roger Miller, Ph.D.
Roger Miller is the Program Director for Neural Prosthesis Development at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). He is also responsible for coordinating the institute’s Small Business Innovation Research (SEED Funding) program and other projects in the Division of Scientific Program’s Hearing and Balance Program. He has represented the NIDCD’s mission areas in biomedical engineering, regulatory science, translational science, nanoscience, open-source hardware and software development, hearing aid signal processing, and data science on a number of trans-NIH committees.
Terez Shea-Donohue, Ph.D.
Dr. Terez Shea-Donohue is a Program Director in the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). She supports basic and translational research related to neurogastroenterology, gastrointestinal (GI) and GI epithelial barrier function, and her research portfolio covers the enteric nervous system including neuroimmune interactions; the brain-gut axis including the impact of neurodegenerative diseases on gastrointestinal physiology; basic and translational gastrointestinal motility; mechanisms of non-nutrient luminal sensing including those involved in pain; and changes in mucosal barrier function in response to inflammation or infection.
Siddharth Shenoy, Ph.D.
Dr. Siddharth Shenoy is a Program Officer with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering in the Airway Biology and Disease Branch in the Division of Lung Diseases at National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). His portfolio includes Digital Health and Informatics Technologies, SBIR/STTR activities and NHLBI Air You Wear Challenge. His specific expertise includes translational pulmonary technologies, drug delivery, FDA medical device design, machining, microfluidics, microelectronics, electrophysiology and computer programming.
Siavash Vaziri, Ph.D.
Siavash Vaziri is a Program Director at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) where he oversees grants and funding opportunities in the areas of computational neuroscience and brain reward systems. Prior to joining NIMH, he was a scientific program manager at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) working on the SPARC Common Fund program, an initiative aimed at advancing peripheral neuromodulation research. Siavash’s academic research is focused on cortical sensorimotor processing, combining computational approaches with experimental work spanning behavioral studies in humans and electrophysiology in non-human primates.
Michael Wolfson, Ph.D.
Dr. Michael Wolfson is a Program Director in the Division of Discovery Science and Technology at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). He specializes in performing characterization, analysis, and integration of novel biologic and microscale systems within commercial, small business, and academic R&D environments. His expertise spans multiple disciplines and covers emerging domains, such as bio-, micro-, and nano-system technologies.