MU[I]3 Lab Members
Principal Investigator
Carl Herickhoff, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Herickhoff joined UofM's BME department in 2020, leaving Stanford Radiology after 5+ years as an ultrasound research engineer and deputy director of the Radiological Sciences Lab (RSL). He completed his Ph.D. at Duke University (advisor: Stephen W. Smith) in 2011, and worked in industry as an ultrasound R&D engineer at Philips for multiple years before returning to academia to join Jeremy Dahl's research lab. Dr. Herickhoff's research focuses on novel ultrasound imaging devices and systems to enable diagnosis and/or treatment in specific clinical applications. His current ultrasound research interests include transducer array design and fabrication, transcranial ultrasound, super-resolution functional neuroimaging, machine-learning enhanced waveform-inversion imaging techniques, and elasticity and flow imaging.
Current Trainees
Kashta Dozier-Muhammad - Ph.D. graduate student
Kastha is a 3rd-year Ph.D. student from Savannah, GA, who earned his B.S. in ME from Alabama A&M in 2021 and his M.S. in BME from the UofM in 2023. Kashta was awarded the prestigious James E. West Fellowship from the Acoustical Society of America for 2022-2024. His current research efforts involve developing optimized algorithms for diverging-wave imaging and microbubble localization, for application in transcranial functional flow imaging and cardiac imaging. Kashta also contributes on projects involving the design, fabrication, characterization, and application of unique ultrasound transducer array configurations and capabilities. His work ultimately aims to advance innovative biomedical ultrasound technologies to aid in early detection, treatment, and prevention of cancer.
Simone Ferguson - Ph.D. graduate student
Simone is a 1st-year Ph.D. student from Nashville, TN, who earned her B.S. in EE from Tennessee State in 2023. Her research focuses on the development of new ultrasound technologies that can enhance medical imaging and adequate diagnosis. Her work work involves combining computer programming, system integration, and 3D ultrasound imaging to build an efficient autonomous ultrasound system. Our goal is to improve patient welfare for the betterment of society.
Yavin Alwis - Medical student researcher
Yavin is a 3rd-year medical student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) interested in Radiology, who has worked with the lab since summer 2022. His research involves developing novel applications of diagnostic ultrasound, with focus on integrating ultrasound imaging with computer vision and robotics to create a unified autonomous ultrasound system. Through these efforts, we hope to create a product that will ultimately lead to increased accessibility of diagnostic ultrasound for preventative care.
Helena Sanders - M.S. student
Helena is a 1st-year M.S. student from Memphis, TN, who earned her B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from UT-Knoxville in 2023. She aims to leverage her strong background in physics to help develop new clinical technologies and ultimately pursue medical school and a career in Radiology or Radiation Oncology. Her current research involves optimization of harmonic chirp generation and detection, as well as microbubble localization for super-resolution imaging.
Taylor Christian - Accelerated M.S. student
Taylor is an Accelerated Bachelor's-to-Master's (ABM) BME student from Spokane Valley, WA. She works part-time at West Cancer Center as a QA specialist in the radiation oncology department, and also works weekends as an EMT for LifeCare. Her current research focuses on using Field II to simulate and characterized ultrasound signal propagation to inform design of a transcranial array probe.
Vincent Chenier - Accelerated M.S. student
Vincent is an Accelerated Bachelor's-to-Master's (ABM) BME student from Timmins, Ontario, Canada. He is the captain of the Cross-Country team as well as a member of the Track and Field team at the University of Memphis. His current research focuses on mechanical and system design for transducer characterization and swept multistatic synthetic aperture acquisitions. These efforts will ultimately aid development of a large-scale ultrasound body scanner capable of imaging complete volumetric cross-sectional regions of the torso.
Estefania Guerrero - Accelerated M.S. student
Estefania is currently an Accelerated Bachelor's-to-Master's (ABM) BME student from Venezuela. She volunteers as a medical interpreter at a local free clinic, and she is the President of Best Buddies and Vice President for Roaring for the Youth at UofM. Her research is focused on simulating acoustic propagation through inhomogeneous tissue geometries using the hybrid angular spectrum (HAS) method. These efforts will help reconstruct detailed 3D models of the temporal skull, to inform custom array probe design and identify ideal acoustic windows for transcranial ultrasound.
Farraday Johnson - Undergraduate student (senior)
Farraday is a senior Biomedical Engineering major from Covington, TN. She is the President of the National Society of Black Engineers and the Vice President of the National Panhellenic Council. She is also a Blue Cross Blue Shield Power of We Scholar. Her research utilizing ultrasound to detect ischemic strokes aims assist diagnoses and treatment and improve patient outcomes.
Justice Jefferson - Undergraduate student (sophomore)
I am a sophomore Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Memphis. I aim to absorb information and gain skills to assist research in ultrasound imaging technology as I work with others in the lab, and I aspire to lead my own research project in the coming months.
Dr. Herickhoff's Past Trainees/Mentees
Omar Yunis, M.S. (2020-2022, Memphis - Master's student)
Arsenii Telichko, Ph.D. (2016-2020, Stanford - Post-doctoral fellow)
Yurim Lee (2019, Stanford - RSL REU student)
Stefan Melendez (2018, Stanford - RSL REU student)
Junhong Lin (2018, Stanford - International undergraduate intern)
Marcus Pan, M.S. (2016-2017, Stanford - Master's student)
Alex Toews (2017, Stanford - Graduate research rotation)
Nathan Staffa, M.S. (2016, Stanford - Undergrad summer research student)
Valerie Perez, Ph.D. (2016, Stanford - Undergrad summer research student)
Matthew Morgan, Ph.D. (2014-2015, Duke and Stanford - Undergrad summer research student)