James F. Antaki, PhD is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University, with adjunct appointments at Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh. Prof. Antaki’s research in the field of mechanical circulatory support over the past 30 years has contributed to the development of several heart-assist devices used clinically, including the Heartmate-II, Novacor, Ventrassist, TandemHeart, and Levacor. In 1997, his team completed the development of the world’s first magnetically- levitated axial flow blood pump, the Streamliner. Prof. Antaki holds over 20 patents and has over 200 archival publications. His current research involves the development of circulatory support systems for children, modeling and simulation of thrombosis in artificial organs, decision support tools for end-stage heart failure, physiological-control algorithms for optimizing cardiac recovery, a blood purification system for treating malaria, a point of care assay for chronic heart failure, and a system for aqueous immersion surgery. He is also developing methods to heighten the involvement of physicians and patients in innovation and design of new medical devices.