Alessandro Bellofiore

Alessandro Bellofiore, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at San José State University (SJSU), where he has served since 2014. He holds a PhD and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Universitá Federico II di Napoli, Italy. His research integrates experimental fluid mechanics, cardiovascular engineering, and biomedical device design, with a focus on mechanical heart valve optimization, pulmonary hypertension mechanisms, and point-of-care diagnostics for chronic kidney disease.

• Education:
  • M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Universitá Federico II di Napoli, Italy
  • Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Universitá Federico II di Napoli, Italy
• Professional Appointments:
  • Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, SJSU (2020–current)
  • Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, SJSU (2014–2020)
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, National University of Ireland, Galway (2008–2011)

Research Interests: His work emphasizes fluid dynamics of biomedical devices, hemodynamics in cardiovascular systems, and wearable medical technologies. Key projects include:

• Developing anticoagulant-free mechanical heart valves via high-resolution PIV analysis.
• Investigating right ventricular-vascular coupling in pulmonary hypertension using MRI and animal models.
• Designing smartphone-integrated microfluidic platforms for chronic kidney disease (CKD) monitoring using machine learning.

Awards:

• Instructor Award, University of Wisconsin-Madison Students (2013)
• Combustion Institute Travel Award (2006)

Advising & Grants:

• Principal Investigator: NSF MRI grant for high-speed PIV instrumentation.
• Co-Investigator: Wavelet Health device performance testing grant.
• Advises over 20 undergraduate and graduate students in experimental and computational biomedical engineering.

Labs & Teams: Leads the CardioLab at SJSU, focusing on cardiovascular fluid mechanics and translational biomedical technologies. Collaborates with institutions like UW-Madison and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital (UK).