Yan Li, Ph.D, is a professor, Postdoctoral Fellow Director Honors in the Major Program Director in Chemical & Biomedical Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida. (Mark Wallheiser/FAMU-FSU Engineering)
The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Yan Li, a chemical and biomedical engineering professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, to its College of Fellows.
Li was nominated, reviewed and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for addressing critical challenges in neurological tissue regeneration, service to the biomedical profession, and inspiring female and minority students.
“I feel honored by receiving this recognition, supported by my peers and AIMBE,” Li said. “I hope to generate more impact to the scientific and general community through my profession in medical and biological engineering.”
A formal induction ceremony was held during the AIMBE Annual Event at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, March 25, 2024. She was inducted along with 162 colleagues who make up the AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2024.
Li has made significant contributions to regenerative medicine by addressing challenges associated with engineering neurovascular tissues. Her Stem Cell Engineering Laboratory develops innovative therapies, disease modeling and drug testing systems.
In a recent National Institutes of Health project, she used artificially grown brain organoids to create medicine that targets brain cells damaged by stroke. In another study, Li worked with FSU College of Medicine to develop a technique that could produce therapeutic particles in stem cells using 3-D modeling. The process may help patients with neurological diseases.
AIMBE also recognized Li for her commitment to educating youth and promoting access to students who may not traditionally envision themselves in the biomedical field.
“Many high school students are unfamiliar to what a biomedical engineer does,” Li explained. “Our lab has hosted many high school female, minority and socially disadvantaged students in the hopes that by exposing the students to the environment they might be inspired by having a better understanding of what biomedical engineers do.”
Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, comprised of the top two percent of engineers in these fields. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to, “engineering and medicine research, practice or education” and “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”
While most AIMBE Fellows hail from the United States, the College of Fellows has inducted Fellows representing more than 30 countries. AIMBE Fellows are engaged in academia, industry, clinical practice and government.
AIMBE Fellows are among the most distinguished medical and biological engineers, including three Nobel Prize laureates and 22 Presidential Medal of Science and, or Technology and Innovation awardees. Additionally, 214 Fellows have been inducted to the National Academy of Engineering, 117 inducted to the National Academy of Medicine, and 48 inducted to the National Academy of Sciences.
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