Samhita Vasu

Samhita Vasu graduated from Johns Hopkins Engineering on a Hodson Trust Scholarship with a BS in biomedical engineering in May 2024.  She is interested in the use of microphysiological systems, medical device design, data science, and signal processing to help understand, diagnose, and treat life-threatening diseases.  At Johns Hopkins, she worked on heart-on-chip assays for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) drug screening, as well as on the use of engineered heart tissues to study mitochondrial dysfunction in DMD; she also studied the neurodevelopmental outcomes of renal anhydramnios fetal therapy.  Besides, she worked in Stanford’s Cardiac MRI Research Group to study cardiac MRI texture analysis for better tracking of the disease progression of DMD.  As an intern for NASA Ames Research Center, she developed a spaceflight environmental data visualization tool for the Rodent Research missions to the International Space Station.  Apart from research, Samhita was involved in the Johns Hopkins’ Biomedical Engineering Design Teams program, through which she designed, built, and validated various medical devices and solutions.  One such project involved building a flexible arthroscope to increase visualization to the posterior compartment of the knee.  Another project involved building a more precise shave biopsy device to prevent melanoma transection.  She also led a team to develop a generative AI, image-based medical information translation solution for patients with low English proficiency.  Samhita was the first author of an article titled “Biomaterials-based Approaches for Cardiac Regeneration” and was also awarded the Dr. Stanley Hellerstein Memorial Travel Award.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a debilitating condition that impacts around 140 million people in India.  Fifty per cent of patients with CKD in India are first seen by a healthcare professional when their disease has progressed to the extent of kidney failure.  Given India’s low physician-to-patient ratio, at-home monitoring can expedite diagnosis and improve treatment.  In her Fulbright-Nehru project, Samhita is working with CKD specialists to design and validate a saliva-based creatinine sensor that can measure kidney function at home.  The goal is to develop a working device that helps catch CKD symptoms early in at-risk patients.