Shyni Varghese

Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science and Orthopaedics

Shyni Varghese has a triple appointment in the Duke departments of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, and Orthopaedic Surgery. She is the first MEDx Investigator.

A leader in the field of biomaterials and stem cells, Varghese will develop her research at Duke in three major areas:

  • Musculoskeletal tissue repair
  • Disease biophysics, and
  • Organ-on-a-chip technology


A new initiative of the Pratt School of Engineering and Duke School of Medicine, Duke MEDx seeks to enhance and form new collaborations between doctors and engineers.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Laszlo Ormandy Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
  • Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Affiliate of the Duke Regeneration Center

Contact Information

  • Email Address: shyni.varghese@duke.edu
  • Websites:

Education

  • Ph.D. National Chemical Laboratory (India), 2002

Research Interests

Musculoskeletal tissue repair, disease biophysics and organ-on-a-chip technology

Courses Taught

  • NEUROSCI 494: Research Independent Study 2
  • NEUROSCI 493: Research Independent Study 1
  • ME 592: Research Independent Study in Mechanical Engineering or Material Science
  • ME 591: Research Independent Study in Mechanical Engineering or Material Science
  • EGR 393: Research Projects in Engineering
  • BME 792: Continuation of Graduate Independent Study
  • BME 791: Graduate Independent Study
  • BME 590: Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering
  • BME 494: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 493: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 394: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Cottrill, Ethan, Zach Pennington, Nathan Sattah, Crystal Jing, Dave Salven, Eli Johnson, Max Downey, Shyni Varghese, Brett Rocos, and William Richardson. “Gene Therapy and Spinal Fusion: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Available Data.” World Neurosurg, April 5, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2024.03.174.
  • Price, Meghan J., Annee D. Nguyen, Corinne Haines, César D. Baëta, Jovita Byemerwa, Debarati Murkajee, Sandeep Artham, et al. “UDP-6-glucose dehydrogenase in hormonally responsive breast cancers.” BioRxiv, March 21, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.20.585919.
  • Hainline, Kelly M., Helena Freire Haddad, Anna Gilpin, Elizabeth J. Curvino, Shyni Varghese, and Joel H. Collier. “Active immunotherapy for C5a-mediated inflammation using adjuvant-free self-assembled peptide nanofibers.” Acta Biomater, March 5, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2024.02.042.
  • Natesh, Naveen R., Pankaj Mogha, Alan Chen, Scott J. Antonia, and Shyni Varghese. “Differential roles of normal and lung cancer-associated fibroblasts in microvascular network formation.” APL Bioeng 8, no. 1 (March 2024): 016120. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0188238.
  • Subramaniam, Shankar, Metin Akay, Mark A. Anastasio, Vasudev Bailey, David Boas, Paolo Bonato, Ashutosh Chilkoti, et al. “Grand Challenges at the Interface of Engineering and Medicine.” IEEE Open J Eng Med Biol 5 (2024): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1109/OJEMB.2024.3351717.