Susan S. Margulies, Ph.D.

The U.S. National Science Foundation has selected Susan S. Margulies to head the Directorate for Engineering. She is the first biomedical engineer to lead the engineering directorate, which supports fundamental research in emerging and frontier basic research areas.

Since 2017, Margulies has been professor and chair of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, housed jointly at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Previously, she held positions as professor of bioengineering and neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania. She has won numerous awards and honors, including fellowships from the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Biomedical Engineering Society, as well as numerous other recognitions throughout her career. Margulies is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine… Continue reading.

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has elected Georgia Tech Professor Susan Margulies to its prestigious 2020 class. Election to NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. She is only the second person from Georgia Tech to receive the honor. The late Bob Nerem, founding director of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, is the other.

Margulies is the Wallace H. Coulter Professor and Chair in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, a shared department between the two schools. She is also a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Injury Biomechanics. Her research interests center around traumatic brain injury in children and ventilator-induced lung injury with a focus in these areas on prevention, intervention and treatments… Continue reading.

Four Georgia Institute of Technology faculty members have been elected as new members of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Marilyn Brown, Thomas Kurfess, Susan Margulies, and Alexander Shapiro join 83 other new NAE members for 2020 when they are formally inducted during a ceremony at the academy’s annual meeting on Oct. 4 in Washington, D.C.

Election of new NAE members, the culmination of a yearlong process, recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education… Continue reading.

Susan Margulies, Ph.D., named the Wallace H. Coulter Chair

Susan Margulies, Ph.D., has been named the Wallace H. Coulter Chair of the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Injury Biomechanics. Her appointments are effective August 1.

Margulies is currently professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

“Without a doubt, Susan is the very best person to lead the joint biomedical engineering department into the future,” said Gary S. May, dean of the College of Engineering. “She is an active researcher and highly regarded educator. Susan has the vision, scholarship, and experience in fields critical to the department that make her ideally suited and prepared to lead.”

As the new chair, Margulies will oversee a department that is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most prominent programs of its kind in both graduate and undergraduate education. Currently, U.S. News & World Report ranks the joint Georgia Tech/Emory biomedical engineering graduate program #3 in the United States and the undergraduate program #1. It is the largest BME department in the country, with 72 faculty at Georgia Tech and Emory and more than 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students.

“Dr. Margulies will be an outstanding addition and leader for our joint Department of Biomedical Engineering,” says David S. Stephens, MD, interim dean, Emory University School of Medicine and vice president for research, Woodruff Health Sciences Center. “Throughout her career, she has distinguished herself as an educator, scientist, mentor, and a national and international leader in the biomedical sciences, and I look forward to working with her in our many shared initiatives.”

The Coulter Department, which was launched in 1997, is a visionary partnership between a leading public engineering school and a highly respected private medical school. The department uses the latest engineering technologies, clinical insights and biological approaches to address unmet clinical challenges in pediatric bioengineering, immunoengineering, regenerative medicine, cardiovascular and neural engineering, imaging, and biomedical computing.

“I speak for all Wallace H. Coulter Department members in stating how delighted we are to welcome Susan Margulies as our incoming chair,” said Ross Ethier, interim chair, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Biomechanics and Mechanobiology. “Susan has a remarkable track record as a scholar, teacher, academic leader and role model. She brings a deep understanding of both engineering and medicine, and how they can work synergistically in the field of biomedical engineering for the benefit of patients and society. She will further strengthen the Emory-Georgia Tech relationship and will sustain the strong tradition of excellence and innovation that have characterized the Coulter Department since its establishment… Continue reading.

The Charlie Rose Brain Series, Year Three. In our fourth episode, we consider Sports-Induced Brain Trauma, focusing specifically on its effect on children. We are joined by Tori Belluci was an All-Met soccer player at Huntingtown High School in Maryland. She turned down a full scholarship to play soccer in college after she suffered her fifth concussion. Also joining us are Walter Koroshetz of the National Institutes of Health; Susan Margulies of the University of Pennsylvania; Thomas McCallister of the Indiana University School of Medicine; Dawn Comstock of the University of Colorado Anschutz; and Dr. Eric Kandel. He is a Nobel Laureate, a professor at Columbia University, and a Howard Hughes medical investigator. (Source: Bloomberg)

Susan S. Margulies, Professor and George H. Stephenson Term Chair of Bioengineering, has recently been awarded a $6.7 million, 5-year NIH/NINDS grant to conduct preclinical Cyclosporin A trials to treat pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI).  This multi-institutional, collaborative study is the first of its kind to use immature porcine models of TBI with developmental and morphological fidelity to children.  Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and acquired disability in childhood in the United States.  Every year more than 200,000 children in the U.S. sustain traumatic brain injuries, and five times more will die from brain injuries than from all forms of childhood cancer combined.  Despite its high incidence and financial toll, there currently are no specific pharmacological treatments for TBI in children.

A tumble down the stairs, a fall from a bike, a jerked arm or an abusive strike are all actions that can cause traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. One million children in the United States sustain TBIs annually, sending 165,000 children to the hospital. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, TBI is one of the leading causes of acquired disability and death in infants and children. It’s those horrific outcomes that Susan Margulies, professor of Bioengineering and Neurosurgery, is in the business of preventing.

"I first studied the different types of injuries in children at different ages and under various circumstances as a graduate student. I learned that there are gaps in our understanding of the biomechanics of pediatric injury and children’s tolerance to withstand forces of impact. When we become successful at determining the mechanism of injury, we can enhance diagnosis and treatment—an incredibly important goal," Margulies says.

Susan Margulies, Professor of Bioengineering, has been named a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society for her national and international contributions to Biomedical Engineering and for inspired leadership in BMES. Fellowship is conferred by the Board of Directors to Society members who demonstrate exceptional achievements and experience in the field of biomedical engineering, and a record of membership and participation in the Society.