Julianna Simon, assistant professor of acoustics and of biomedical engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, has been awarded the R. Bruce Lindsay Award by the Acoustical Society of America. Credit: Jeff Xu/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.
Engineer receives Acoustical Society of America award for ultrasound work
March 1, 2023
By Sarah Small
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Julianna Simon, assistant professor of acoustics and of biomedical engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, has been awarded the R. Bruce Lindsay Award by the Acoustical Society of America (ASA).
Simon was recognized “for contributions to the understanding of ultrasound-induced mechanical bioeffects and their clinical applications,” according to the ASA site. The annual award is presented to one recipient, no more than 10 years post terminal degree, who is a member of ASA and who, “during a period of two or more years immediately preceding the award, has been active in the affairs of the Society and has contributed substantially, through published papers, to the advancement of theoretical or applied acoustics, or both.”
“Dr. Simon has made a significant research impact on the field of medical ultrasound, even though she is still a young faculty member,” said Victor Sparrow, United Technologies Corporation Professor of Acoustics, who wrote a letter of support for Simon’s nomination. “This is a primary reason why she is receiving this national award. All Penn Staters should be proud one of our faculty members is receiving this recognition.”
Simon received her bachelor of science in bioengineering from Washington State University in 2009 and her doctorate in bioengineering from the University of Washington in 2013. After finishing her doctorate, Simon received a National Space Biomedical Research Institute First Award Postdoctoral Fellowship to investigate kidney stone detection with ultrasound in spaceflight-mimicking environments.
In 2017, Simon joined Penn State. The goal of her lab, the Biomedical Acoustics Simon Lab, or BASiL, is to apply the fundamentals of acoustics to develop novel ultrasound diagnostics and therapeutics. Some of her current projects include understanding the how bubbles form around minerals indicative of disease, developing ultrasound therapies to treat tendon injuries and diagnosing and treating heterotopic ossification ¾ that is, bone forming in soft tissue where it should not exist. Simon earned a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2020 to study where bubbles form in tissues and how they are influenced by disease. She has co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and more than 200 abstracts for national and international conferences.
“I am honored and humbled to be a recipient of the prestigious R. Bruce Lindsay Award from the Acoustical Society of America,” Simon said. “I have been very fortunate to be able to work with amazing students, faculty and staff both here at Penn State and previously at the University of Washington who have helped make me the researcher I am today.”
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