Taimoor Qazi, Assistant Professor at the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, received the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award from the Purdue College of Engineering. This award is given to faculty by students in recognition of their exceptional mentoring activities.

Mentoring trainees at all academic levels is at the core of Qazi’s research vision. His laboratory comprises 1 postdoctoral fellow, 2 PhD students, and 9 undergraduate students. Their research projects tackle a range of challenges in the field of biomaterials and tissue regeneration. The interdisciplinary nature of Qazi’s research program attracts students with diverse interests and training backgrounds, including materials science, cell biology, veterinary medicine, and biotechnology.

Earlier this year, Qazi was recognized as a Rising Star by the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials after the publication of an original research article co-authored by several undergraduate students, some of whom Qazi had been mentoring since starting his lab at Purdue in the Fall of 2022. The paper, “Granular Hydrogels Improve Myogenic Invasion and Repair after Volumetric Muscle Loss,” focuses on regenerating critically injured skeletal muscles using injectable hydrogels. These hydrogels are capable of flowing to evenly fill large tissue defects and provide a spacious environment for new cells and tissue to grow. First authors Gabrielle Tanner and Leia Schiltz spent the summer of 2023 as Purdue Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) scholars in Qazi’s lab, where they performed mentored research projects that ultimately led to the new findings reported in the publication. BME undergraduate students Niharika Narra and Elizabeth Grivetti have also been part of peer-reviewed publications led by Qazi.

Performing research in Qazi’s lab prepares undergraduate students for future careers in academic or industrial research. Tanner and Nikki Kulkarni, another of Dr. Qazi’s undergraduate SURF students, presented their findings at the Annual Meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) in Seattle in 2023. Kulkarni graduated from the BME program in 2023 and went on to pursue graduate studies in biomedical engineering at Duke University. Tanner, meanwhile, will take up a Research and Development position at Eli Lilly and Company.

“Simply, the rapid research progress from Qazi’s lab is remarkable, highlighting his exceptional mentorship,” said Young Kim, associate head for research. “Professor Qazi exemplifies the Weldon School’s culture by working with undergraduate students to conduct world-class research.”