The Department of Medical Engineering is proud to officially welcome Dr. Meisam Asgari, who joined our faculty in 2024 as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Asgari brings with him a dynamic portfolio of interdisciplinary research and academic excellence that promises to enrich our department and inspire our students.
Dr. Asgari’s academic journey is marked by a strong international foundation and a consistent trajectory of innovation in mechanical and biomedical engineering. He completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at McGill University in 2015, followed by prestigious postdoctoral fellowships at McGill and Northwestern University. His work as an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern from 2018 to 2020 positioned him at the cutting edge of biomedical engineering research in North America.
His research focuses on biomechanics and structure-property-function relationships and toughening mechanisms in biological tissues, with particular emphasis on cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, aneurysms, and aortic calcification. Dr. Asgari's innovative work includes the development of active vascular grafts designed to mimic the body’s natural arterial responses—an effort that holds significant promise for the future of vascular surgery and patient care.
Image "Multiscale images of the human aorta's extracellular matrix (ECM), showing collagen fiber organization across the intima, media, and adventitia layers. Second harmonic microscopy reveals fiber alignment under mechanical load, while atomic force microscopy highlights individual collagen fibrils and their D-banding, a marker of tissue strain. The geometric metrics extracted from the images of healthy vs disease cases (atherosclerosis, aneurysm, vascular calcification) are used to identify disease implications on the tissue at small scale.
Beyond the vascular system, Dr. Asgari’s research dives deep into nature’s own engineering marvels, such as the multi-scale structural and mechanical properties of crustacean exoskeletons. His studies on structural and mechanical gradients in small-scale biological materials provide vital insight for biomimetic design, with applications spanning both medicine and materials science.
An active member of several professional societies—including the American Heart Association (AHA), Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), Society of Engineering Science (SES), and the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS).
Dr. Asgari remains deeply engaged with the broader scientific community. He also serves as an editorial board member of Nature Scientific Reports.
At USF, Dr. Asgari is already making an impact in the classroom. This year, he is teaching a range of courses including Transport Phenomena in Biomedical Engineering, Biomechanics, and Advanced Mechanics of Biological Materials, while also mentoring students in undergraduate and graduate research.
Dr. Asgari’s several awards—such as our USF Multi-User Research Capital Investment Internal Award (MuRCIA), the NSERC and FRQNT Postdoctoral Fellowships, and the McGill Engineering International Tuition Award—underscore his commitment to academic excellence and his contributions to the field.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Meisam Asgari to our community. We are excited for the insight, innovation, and inspiration he brings to the Department of Medical Engineering.