E4H was established to combine multidisciplinary expertise in engineering (biomedical, mechanical, chemical, electrical, aeronautical engineering, computer sciences) and health aligned disciplines to translate innovative and emerging engineering technologies into clinical practice, while generating substantial responsible and impactful healthcare and societal benefits. 

Our core objectives can be summarised as:

  1. Develop innovative, impactful, and cross-disciplinary research at the interface of Engineering and Health.
  2. Nurture the rich multidisciplinary ecosystem present at Aston towards a wide portfolio of research projects, knowledge transfer partnerships and commercial exploitation of research in  MedTech and HealthTech.
  3. Inspire and develop the next generation of researchers through high-quality training.

Our People

Engineering for Health Management Team

Dr Antonio Fratini

Senior Lecturer, Biomedical Engineering, Director of Engineering for Health 

Pure Profile

Email: a.fratini@aston.ac.uk


Dr Eirini Theodosiou

Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Deputy Director 

Pure Profile 

E-mail: e.theodosiou@aston.ac.uk


Prof Jo Lumsden

Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, Deputy Director

Pure Profile

E-mail: j.lumsden@aston.ac.uk


Prof Igor Meglinski

Professor of Quantum Biophotonics and Biomedical Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: i.meglinski@aston.ac.uk


Dr Tim Whitehead, Senior Lecturer in Design

Pure Profile

E-mail: t.whitehead@aston.ac.uk

Engineering for Health members 

Dr Lyndon Buck

Senior Teaching Fellow, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: l.buck1@aston.ac.uk


Dr Patrick Geoghegan

Senior Lecturer, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: p.geoghegan@aston.ac.uk


Renia Gkountiou

Medical Device Prototyping technician

Email: r.gkountiou@aston.ac.uk


Dr Lilit Hakobyan, Lecturer

Software Engineering and Cybersecurity

Pure Profile

E-mail: l.hakobyan2@aston.ac.uk


Dr Ali Jabran

Lecturer, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: a.jabran@aston.ac.uk


Dr Sarah Junaid

Senior Lecturer, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: s.junaid@aston.ac.uk


Dr Sokratis Komaris

Lecturer, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: s.komaris@aston.ac.uk


Dr Surej Mouli

Lecturer, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: s.mouli@aston.ac.uk


Dr Dmitri Nerukh

Senior Lecturer, Applied Mathematics and Data Science

Pure Profile

E-mail: d.nerukh@aston.ac.uk


Dr Farah Raja

Research Associate, Electronic and Computer Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: f.raja4@aston.ac.uk


Dr Heather Rose

Research Fellow, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

Email: h.rose1@aston.ac.uk


Dr Jean Baptiste Souppez

Senior Lecturer, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: j.souppez@aston.ac.uk


Dr Ian Storer

Senior Teaching Fellow, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: i.storer@aston.ac.uk


Dr Alexander Zhigalov

Lecturer, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: a.zhigalov@aston.ac.uk

Associate Members 

Dr Sami Al-Ani

Senior Lecturer, Anatomy

Pure Profile

E-mail: s.al-ani@aston.ac.uk


Dr Ulysses Bernadet

Lecturer, Applied AI and Robotics

Pure Profile

E-mail: u.bernardet@aston.ac.uk


Dr Felipe Campelo

Senior Lecturer, Applied AI and Robotics

Pure Profile

E-mail: f.campelo@aston.ac.uk


Dr Amit Chattopadhyay

Associate Professor, Applied Mathematics and Data Science

Pure Profile

E-mail: A.K.CHATTOPADHYAY@aston.ac.uk


Prof Aniko Ekart

Professor, Applied Mathematics and Data Science

Pure Profile

E-mail: a.ekart@aston.ac.uk


Dr Val Franklin

Research Fellow, Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry

Pure Profile

E-mail: biostuff@aston.ac.uk


Dr Hassan Aqeel Khan

Senior Lecturer, Applied AI and Robotics

Pure Profile

E-mail: h.khan54@aston.ac.uk


Dr Laura Leslie

Associate Professor, Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: L.J.LESLIE@aston.ac.uk


Dr Anisa Mahomed

Lecturer, Chemical Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: a.mahomed2@aston.ac.uk


Prof Richard Martin

Professor, Electronics and Computer Engineering

Pure Profile

E-mail: R.A.MARTIN@aston.ac.uk


Prof Andrew Schofield

Professor, School of Psychology

Pure Profile

E-mail: a.schofield@aston.ac.uk


Prof James Wolffsohn

Professor, Head of Optometry 

Pure Profile

E-mail: j.s.w.wolffsohn@aston.ac.uk


Prof Brian Tighe

Professor, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry

Pure Profile

E-mail: b.j.tighe@aston.ac.uk


Prof Paul Topham

Professor, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry

Pure Profile 

E-mail: P.D.TOPHAM@aston.ac.uk


Dr Mengchao Zhang

Lecturer, Audiology

Pure Profile

E-mail: m.zhang22@aston.ac.uk 

Honorary Members 

Dr Adrian Crucean

Congenital Heart Surgery/Consultant in Cardiac Morphology

NHS Profile


Professor Adrian Gardner

Consultant Spinal Surgeon

NHS Profile

PhD students 
  • Amy Harrison             
  • Benjamin Dages           
  • Eleanor Barton           
  • Joshua Lowe            
  • Yanni Cai            
  • Sinling Tiffany Yu       
  • Ekgari Kasawala         
  • Rajan Vraitch            
  • Alice Johnson            
  • Louis Hutchings            

Our Projects

E4H is positioned with close collaboration with regional and national healthcare centres of excellence. We develop and deliver on a range of research projects and services: from fundamental research to clinical practice-ready health and medical technologies.

West Midlands Health Tech Innovation accelerator

The West Midlands Health Tech 6D Innovation Accelerator (6D-IA) is a multimillion government-supported programme, led by the University of Birmingham, that brings together key stakeholders in the region (universities, hospitals, industry, technology and innovation centres) to address issues bringing new health and medical technologies to market. 

The programme aims to create a supportive environment through centrally coordinated activities that will help companies navigate obstacles to accelerate the commercialisation process
 

Find out more here 

Experimental investigation into cardiovascular disease and surgical interventions

The project group is using particle image velocimetry to study the cardiovascular system with two key aims:

  • Design and develop medical devices for cardiovascular disease intervention (e.g., stents and grafts)
  • Investigate the effect of an individual’s arterial geometry on arterial health and disease progression 
Management of compressive spinal cord pathology

Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) has an annual incidence of 7.44 per 100,000 and cost of £685 million in the United Kingdom alone. Despite its prevalence, there remain unanswered questions associated with the most effective long-term management strategies. This project aims to develop a physical model that accurately represents the spinal cord and its surrounding vertebral column, enabling the simulation of the different presentations of spinal cord compression seen clinically and generating novel insights into management strategies for spinal cord compression. This collaboration between Aston University and the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital is funded by ORUK, BASS and BSS.

Novel device for intraoperative cell salvage during cancer surgeries

The project aims to develop an extremely selective, high-throughput, single-use intraoperative cell salvage system, based on electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibers arranged in membrane chromatography format, for the removal of a target cell population directly from human blood.
The project is developed in collaboration with the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Technical University of Liberec (CZ)

Bioprocess development using novel microcarriers for scalable cultivated meat production

Worldwide meat consumption is not sustainable and presents a huge burden to the environment and to natural resources. It is a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance and is associated with ethical issues, such as animal welfare. Cellular agriculture offers an alternative solution to the traditional meat-production systems and relies on the creation of meat using bioreactors. Our project aims to develop food grade microcarriers that will enable the cost-efficient processing of bovine mesenchymal stem cells in vitro, in order to produce affordable and healthy cultivated beef mince at scales comparable to industrial biotechnology.
The project is developed in collaboration with the Aston College of Health and Life Sciences (HLS) and the University College London

Vibratory stimulation for neuromuscular rehabilitation in cerebral palsy children

Regular exercise has been proven to increase muscle strength. However, it can be difficult if not impossible for children with cerebral palsy (CP) to undertake regular exercise outside of the home. Vibration training protocols have shown potential when used in children with cerebral palsy for their ability to stimulate a somatosensory response and potentially retrain balance and postural control. 
We aim at testing the changes in functional abilities (e.g., range of motion and walking speed) in children with CP before and after different vibratory stimulation session either in upper and lower limbs. Results from this study could provide an addition aid to common physiotherapy, to maximize its outcomes and offer children a more comprehensive and potentially better care.
The project is developed in collaboration with the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, NHS Trust

Bespoke Wheelchair Design

Research conducted South Africa identified a distinct lack of resources for children’s disability sports, especially wheelchair rugby. One of the main barriers to uptake is the cost of the specific chairs. It was identified that current designs look and sound intimidating to young children who wish to give wheelchair rugby a go. Dr Timothy Whitehead and project partners at the Central University of Technology and Loughborough University created a new chair that better meets user needs.

Find out more here 

Medical imaging based anatomical segmentation, 3D modelling and printing for surgical training

3D modelling and printing of anatomical regions (e.g., bones) can assist clinicians in discussing surgical approaches or communicating to patients and carers the specific procedure. Current technologies also allow to create a digital version of the organs or section of interest that can be visualised Virtual or Augmented reality.
The project aims at using advance processing of medical images (CT and MRI) to develop 3D digital versions and the relative 3D physical models (3D printed) of anatomical areas of interest for pre- and post-intervention analysis in in paediatric care. 
The project is developed in collaboration with the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, NHS Trust