The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering has announced the induction of Keith Roper, associate professor and holder of the Charles W. Oxford Endowed Professorship in Emerging Technologies, to its College of Fellows. A formal induction ceremony was held during the institute’s 2014 Annual Meeting at the National Academy of Sciences Great Hall in Washington, D.C., on March 24.

Roper was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows, which recognized him for leadership that led to the development of several different types of vaccines, as well as patents for a new approach to polymerase chain reaction, a process used in DNA analysis.

The AIMBE College of Fellows is comprised of the top 2 percent of medical and biological engineers in the country. The most accomplished and distinguished engineering and medical school chairs, research directors, professors, innovators, and successful entrepreneurs, comprise the College of Fellows.

“Our department is very pleased by this recognition of one of our faculty members. Through both research and mentoring of students, Dr. Roper has made significant contributions to several fields, including medicine and nanotechnology, and he’s very deserving of this honor.”

Roper is currently serving as program director in the Engineering, Education, and Centers Division of the Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation. At the U of A, he directs the Nano-Bio Photonics lab, which focuses on the interactions among particles and waves on the nanoscale in order to design nanoscale architectures with enhanced performance in biosensing, solar energy, optoelectronics, microthermalfluidics, spectroscopy, diagnostics and therapeutics. Roper’s research has led to 49 peer-reviewed publications, 47 invited lectures, three U.S. patents, one European patent, five patent applications, one viral and three bacterial vaccine products, six process documents, and more than 100 presentations and process equipment designs.