Transforming Ideas into Impact
When Ross Beresford arrived at the University of Pittsburgh to begin his master’s degree program, he assumed he was simply building upon his undergraduate biology studies with another year of coursework.
“I came to Pitt in 2018 ready to dust off my physics textbooks and maybe understand what fluid dynamics is, but I quickly realized I was in for so much more than that.” Beresford said.
He didn’t expect to end up as CEO and co-founder of Respair, Inc, a Pittsburgh based medical device manufacturing company designing improved endotracheal tubes. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 12.1% of patients experienced endotracheal intubation for mechanical ventilation while hospitalized, and while critical for intensive care units worldwide, endotracheal tubes frequently cause ventilator assisted pneumonia (VAP) due to a design that hasn’t been changed in decades.
“The current tubes that doctors use haven't changed for about 45 years, with an inflatable balloon to seal the airway and stop bacteria from getting in your lungs and making you sick.” Beresford said. “But it doesn't do a very good job of that, because the balloon can crease in the airway, allowing dangerous fluids to sneak around it and make patients sick.”
Beresford is one of many Pitt Bioengineering students, faculty, and alumni translating research into biomedical solutions. From startups developing better detection of aneurysms and treatments for peripheral nerve injuries to collaborative research that bridges engineering and clinical needs, Pitt Bioengineering is a hub for turning ideas into impact.
The ‘BioE’cosystem
The momentum behind this innovation begins with dedicated researchers who have pushed bioengineering from concept to clinic. Take Harvey Borovetz for example: the distinguished professor of bioengineering and former department chair is a pioneer in the development of artificial heart transplantation. Featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for the 40th anniversary of the first artificial heart implanted in Pittsburgh, Borovetz helped guide the clinical translation of ventricular assist devices, which launched UPMC as one of the most successful and innovative mechanical heart programs in the country.
Today, Borovetz is one of many experienced professors teaching in the MS in Medical Product Engineering (MS-MPE) program, the same program that Beresford entered in 2018. A professional master's degree that prepares engineers to translate medical technologies from concept to clinical use, the MS-MPE program guides students through the full medical product development process, from identifying unmet clinical needs to designing, prototyping, testing, and navigating regulatory and commercialization pathways.
“Our professors always pushed us to be curious and to ask the questions: What do people need this device to do? Who will be using it? Why will it matter to them?” Beresford said. “That mindset forces you to confront your own assumptions and biases to make sure you’re building the right product.”
MS-MPE students work directly with bioengineering professors, UPMC clinicians, and industry mentors to develop solutions rooted in real patient and provider challenges. Many projects lead to patents, continued product development, or startup ventures like Respair, Inc., which began as an in-class project supported by clinical mentorship.
ROI: Research of Impact
Innovation is also seen across the department among research groups that have spent years in the lab refining their expertise before moving toward commercialization. David Vorp, professor of bioengineering and senior associate dean for research and facilities at the Swanson School of Engineering, co-founded Aneurisk, Inc. in 2023 to improve assessment of aortic aneurysms and currently serves as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer.
“Clinicians typically assess aneurysm rupture risk by measuring their diameter, a one-size-fits-all method that overlooks patient-specific differences in vessel shape, tissue strength, and other potentially important factors” Vorp said. “No two aneurysms are alike, and diameter alone doesn’t really reflect the true mechanics of rupture risk.”
Aneurisk’s technology provides a more personalized approach to rupture risk assessment by creating 3D models of the aneurysm, evaluating morphological parameters, estimating wall stress and strength distributions, and integrating patient clinical data through machine learning. Early testing and validation suggest this AI-based method can outperform diameter-only assessment and better guide decisions about whether a patient needs surgical intervention.
“My entire career has been focused on understanding aneurysms as mechanical systems.” Vorp said. “The dream was always to develop a tool that clinicians could use to better predict who is at risk. It took thirty years, but now we finally have the platform and the environment to make that possible.”
To move the technology toward clinical use, the company turned to Micah Guffey (BioE MS-MPE ‘23), now Aneurisk’s Chief Operating Officer. With Guffey’s assistance and an experienced scientific advisory board spanning both academia and industry, Aneurisk is now preparing its first product for FDA submission, with the goal of achieving clearance in 2026.
“It is really exciting to see Aneurisk take the substantial background work that had already been done in the Vorp Lab and to actually be involved in moving it toward commercialization and clinical impact,” Guffey said. “I didn’t think I’d end up in this role at first, but to help take something from the research space into a product that could be useful clinically is what made me want to stay and be part of this.”
Like Aneurisk, Inc., Swan NeuroTech, founded by Kacey Marra, professor of plastic surgery and bioengineering, is also transforming decades of laboratory research into life-changing tools. Her company is developing solutions to improve peripheral nerve regeneration following traumatic injury, tumor removal, or surgical complications.
“There are only a handful of nerve repair products on the market, so it's not a big field at all.” Marra said. “And these injuries can result in lifelong loss of function without treatment.”
Swan NeuroTech’s initial products include a nerve wrap designed to reduce scarring and speed healing after nerves are sutured, and a nerve guide for short gaps. Its most advanced technology, a drug-releasing nerve conduit, has successfully bridged two-inch nerve gaps in non-human primate models, far exceeding the two-centimeter limit of currently approved devices.
“Getting a product off the ground can be tedious, especially because it’s a whole new world outside of academia.” Marra said. “But I always tell my students to be persistent, patient, and passionate, and if you have those three p’s, just keep going.”
Respair, Inc., Aneurisk, Inc., and Swan NeuroTech are just a few examples of Pitt Bioengineering’s impact at large. Another Pitt-led startup, Renerva, Inc., was just cleared for its first-in-human FDA clinical trials, bringing their advanced nerve cap technology to patients to reduce chronic pain in amputees and prevent painful neuroma formation.
BioE faculty, students, and staff are advancing the field daily, whether it’s bioprinting revolutionary tissue models, creating magnetic biomaterials for drug delivery, developing diamond-based wireless electrodes to improve better treatments for neurological disorders, or developing prosthetics that can actually feel touch. Across these efforts, the focus remains the same: working together to create meaningful change, and for Beresford, that mindset shaped the course of his career.
“None of this was on my radar before I came to Pitt, so interacting with the research ecosystem and faculty here was really the inflection point that made all of this possible,” Beresford said. “What began as a napkin sketch in class has become a product, a company, and jobs for people in the region. It’s a very cool thing to see become real.”