Los Angeles, CA – October 30, 2026 - We are pleased to announce that Dr. Johnson V. John, Assistant Professor at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), has received an R56 grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The project is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Magdalene J. Seiler of the University of California, Irvine, and Dr. Biju B. Thomas of the University of Southern California.
Los Angeles, CA – October 15, 2026 - The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) today announced the appointment of Dr. Paul Sheehan as Chief Strategy Officer. A nationally recognized leader in translational science and mission-driven innovation, Dr. Sheehan brings more than 25 years of experience advancing breakthrough technologies from concept to clinical and commercial impact.
Los Angeles, CA – October 8, 2026 - Dr. Yangzhi Zhu of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), with collaborators at UC San Diego and USC, published a Nature Sensors perspective on what it will take to turn tear-based wearable sensors into reliable, long-term health-tracking tools.
Los Angeles, CA – October 7, 2026 - The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation announced today that OnVagus, a medical device company incubating at the Institute, has received institutional and regulatory approval to begin the first human trial of its noninvasive nerve-stimulation device for patients experiencing cancer-related wasting.
Los Angeles, CA – October 2, 2026 - The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) has been awarded a contract worth up to $19.8 million under the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) PRINT program to lead a multi-institution effort to engineer transplantable, immune-compatible liver tissue. Dr. Xiling Shen, Principal Investigator and Acting Director, will lead the project, aimed at easing donor scarcity and the lifelong immunosuppression that transplant patients require today.
Los Angeles, CA – September 28, 2026 - The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation has been awarded an NIH U01 research grant of approximately $6.9 million to develop a first-of-its-kind multimodal smart contact lens platform for monitoring post-traumatic stress disorder in real-world settings. The multi-institutional project brings together Principal Investigators Dr. Yangzhi Zhu of the Terasaki Institute, Dr. Nanthia Suthana of Duke University, and Dr. Ximin He of UCLA, combining complementary PTSD remains one of the most consequential and least objectively measurable neuropsychiatric conditions affecting individuals today. Current clinical tools depend on self-report and in-office assessment, which are unable to capture the real-time physiological and neural dynamics that drive the disorder. This gap represents a significant barrier to both scientific understanding and the development of more effective interventions. The NIH U01 award positions the Terasaki Institute to address that barrier directly, through a multimodal ocular bioelectronic platform designed for the complexity of daily human experience.
Los Angeles, CA – September 23, 2026 - A research team led by Dr. Yangzhi Zhu, Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), has developed a soft, reusable smart contact lens as part of its broader Ocular Library for the Analysis of Tear Biomarkers (OCULAB), a tear bioelectronics platform for noninvasive, longitudinal biochemical monitoring through the ocular surface and tear film. In this study, the platform was used to measure serotonin directly from tears as a proof-of-concept target for monitoring stress-related physiological changes.
Los Angeles, CA – September 21, 2026 - Dr. Johnson V. John, Assistant Professor at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, has been awarded an NIH R01 grant to lead development of a next-generation, immunomodulatory wound dressing platform designed to accelerate healing in chronic wounds. Dr. John and his research team are tackling a persistent clinical challenge: chronic wounds that resist healing because they become locked in a prolonged inflammatory state.