Five BME faculty members receive promotions

Five faculty members affiliated with the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at the University of Toronto have been promoted through the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, effective July 1, 2026. These promotions recognize their outstanding contributions to research, education, clinical innovation, and service across the biomedical engineering community. 

The following BME faculty members have received promotions: 

Promoted to Professor 

• Dr. Elaine Biddiss 

• Dr. Azadeh Kushki 

• Dr. Sara Vasconcelos 

• Dr. Jose Zariffa 

Promoted to Associate Professor 

• Dr. Luka Milosevic 

These promotions reflect the breadth and impact of research taking place across BME’s interdisciplinary community, spanning rehabilitation engineering, neuroengineering, developmental and behavioural health, regenerative medicine, and assistive technologies. 

Dr. Elaine Biddiss’s research uses a user-centred, participatory design approach to develop technologies in collaboration with children, families, clinicians, therapists, and researchers. Her work includes the development of gamified rehabilitation tools, interactive technologies that support social and emotional well-being, and artificial intelligence-based systems that help personalize rehabilitation and care. A key focus of her research is translating these innovations into clinical practice and home environments to improve access to therapy and support for children and families. 

Dr. Azadeh Kushki’s research focuses on advancing personalized health for children with neurodevelopmental differences and disabilities. Using data science and engineering approaches, her team studies how biological and environmental factors influence developmental trajectories, responses to interventions, and long-term outcomes. This work aims to support more individualized approaches to care for conditions such as autism and ADHD, recognizing the diversity of experiences and needs that exist within current diagnostic categories.

Dr. Sara Vasconcelos’s research focuses on developing vascularization strategies using human stem cells to support tissue regeneration, as well as creating vascularized human tissue models for studying cell biology and evaluating potential therapies. Through this work, she aims to develop innovative tools and platforms that advance regenerative medicine and improve treatments for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. 

Dr. Jose Zariffa’s research focuses on developing technologies that help restore function and improve rehabilitation outcomes following neurological injuries such as spinal cord injury and stroke. His team designs innovative tools to measure and track activity and neural function throughout the rehabilitation process, using this information to develop adaptive rehabilitation strategies and assistive technologies. Through advances in rehabilitation engineering, neural interfaces, and data-driven approaches, his work aims to improve recovery, independence, and quality of life for individuals living with neurological impairments. 

Dr. Luka Milosevic’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of deep brain stimulation and developing innovative approaches to neuromodulation for neurological disorders. His research combines advanced electrophysiological methods, brain-computer interfaces, and machine learning to study neural function and synaptic plasticity, with the goal of creating data-driven brain stimulation technologies that improve the diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions. 

"On behalf of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Drs. Elaine Biddiss, Azadeh Kushki, Sara Vasconcelos, Jose Zariffa, and Luka Milosevic on their well-deserved promotions. We are proud to celebrate this important milestone and look forward to their continued leadership and impact within our community and beyond." Says Professor Milos Popovic, Director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering.