Jana Kainerstorfer
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Courtesy Appointment, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Jana Kainerstorfer is the principal investigator of the Biophotonics Lab at Carnegie Mellon in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. She received her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Vienna, Austria, in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD in 2010.
Kainerstorfer has an extensive background in optical imaging, with an emphasis on near-infrared spectroscopy and imaging. She has particular experience in developing instruments as well as data analysis of optical data. Her lab’s research focus is based on optical imaging for clinical applications with emphasis spanning two primary areas: instrument and measurement protocol development of non-invasive optical imaging which can yield biomarkers for disease diagnostics and monitoring; and translation of such imaging tools to answer clinical questions where microvascular imaging can be of use for understanding a pathophysiology or monitoring of disease.
Biomedical Optics for Monitoring Disease
Non-Invasive Monitoring of the Brain Using Near-Infrared Light
Novel Strategies for Sensing and Stimulating the Brain Noninvasively and Precisely
Education
2010 Ph.D., Physics, University of Vienna
2007 MS, Physics, University of Vienna
Affiliations
Media mentions
CMU Engineering
Better than a hole in the head
Intracranial pressure sensing is the burgeoning focus of Jana Kainerstorfer’s biomedical optics lab, and her team is working to create noninvasive ICP sensing alternatives.
CMU Engineering
Grant boosts respiratory support for lung disease patients
An interdisciplinary team led by Keith Cook has been awarded $8.7 million dollars from the U.S. Army to create and integrate new technologies to sustain permanent at-home artificial lung support.
US Army CDMRP
Army grant bolsters ongoing artificial organ research
BME’s Keith Cook, Jana Kainerstorfer, and Howie Choset, along with colleagues at Vanderbilt University and Cornell University, have been awarded an $8.7 million grant from the US Army CDMRP program. The group is working to create and integrate technologies that enable artificial lungs to transition from temporary support in the ICU to permanent support at home.
BME/ECE faculty proposal selected for Facebook research grant
BME’s Jana Kainerstorfer and Sossena Wood and ECE’s Pulkit Grover have received a research ground from Facebook’s Engineering Approaches to Responsible Neural Interface Design program. Their research is focused on racially inclusive optical technology.
CMU Engineering
Wearable tech aids freedivers, cardiac patients
Carnegie Mellon University researchers are part of an international team working on wearable biomedical technology that will enhance freediver safety, as well as provide fresh treatment insights for cardiac patients.
Kainerstorfer presents at SPIE Photonics West Conference
BME’s Jana Kainerstorfer spoke at this year’s SPIE Photonics West Conference in February in San Francisco. Kainerstorfer presented her research on intracranial pressure and neurovascular coupling in the Neurotechnologies Plenary Session.
Singularity Hub features ECE/BME joint DARPA project
Singularity Hub featured BME and ECE researchers’ project recently funded by DARPA, in which they are using ultrasound waves to pinpoint light interaction in targeted brain regions, then measuring brain waves through a wearable “hat.”
College of Engineering names 2019 faculty award winners
The College of Engineering has announced the winners of the 2019 faculty awards. They include: Alan McGaughey, Paulina Jaramillo, Jana Kainerstorfer, Reeja Jayan, Carmel Majidi, Jonathan Malen, and Vijayakumar Bhagavatula.
CMU Engineering
Wearable system to sense and stimulate the brain
A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon is starting a project to design and implement a high-resolution, noninvasive neural interface that can be used as a wearable device.
Kainerstorfer invited to speak at 2019 GAFOE symposium
BME’s Jana Kainerstorfer has been invited to speak at 2019 German-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, to be held in March 2019.
CMU Engineering
Shining a light on intracranial pressure
Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Jana Kainerstorfer and her Ph.D. student Alexander Ruesch, in collaboration with Matthew Smith from the University of Pittsburgh, have been developing an alternative, non-invasive way for doctors to measure and monitor intracranial pressure using an approach based on near infrared spectroscopy.
StatNews
Kainerstorfer competing in STAT Madness
BME professor Jana Kainerstorfer's groundbreaking breast cancer lesion monitor research has caught the eye of STAT Madness, a bracket-style competition to find the best biomedical innovation of 2017.