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CASIT in the News
The Center for Advanced Surgical & Interventional Technology (CASIT) unites leaders in medicine, engineering, data science, and behavioral research to invent technologies that optimize patient outcomes. The center's work spans digital health, telemedicine, next-generation surgical technologies, wearable diagnostics, and immersive surgical simulation training. Below is a curated collection of recent stories highlighting the center’s latest news and advances.
December 4, 2025
CASIT AI scientist, Mohammad Rouzi, has been selected as a 1st Runner-Up for the prestigious 2025 Peter Sheehan Young Innovator Award. This national distinction underscores our growing leadership in digital health innovation and our commitment to improving care for individuals living with chronic conditions, including diabetes.
Mohammad’s abstract, “AI-Guided Digital Coaching for Offloading Adherence in Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients,” presents a promising approach that leverages artificial intelligence to support patients with one of the most challenging aspects of diabetic foot ulcer management: maintaining long-term adherence to offloading. His work illustrates how digital coaching tools and intelligent monitoring can empower patients, enhance healing outcomes, and reduce the burden of preventable complications.
This achievement reflects the strength of a cross-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration jointly led by UCLA Health and the USC Keck School of Medicine. The project is supported by NIH NIDDK, the PhRMA Foundation, and the NSF IUCRC C2SHIP center, whose commitment to innovation has been instrumental in advancing this research.
November 5, 2025
Researchers from the UCLA Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT) were recently recognized for their outstanding contributions at two major international conferences, underscoring the center’s leadership in advancing digital health and medical innovation. All awardees are trainees under the mentorship of Dr. Bijan Najafi, Professor of Surgery and Research Director at CASIT.
Dr. Aminreza Khandan, Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA CASIT, received the Young Investigator Award—the most prestigious honor of the meeting—at the 25th Interdisciplinary Conference on the Diabetic Foot (DFCon) and the Annual Conference of the American Limb Preservation Society (ALPS), held October 23–25, 2025, in Anaheim, California. His award-winning abstract, “Predictors of Dropout in Wound Care Studies: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial of an Offloading Study,” offers novel insights into improving adherence and engagement in clinical wound care research.
At the IEEE-EMBS International Conference on Body Sensor Networks (BSN 2025), CASIT researchers also achieved top honors in the clinical poster category. Mohammad Dehghan Rouzi, Research Staff at CASIT, and Alireza Rahimi, UCLA undergraduate volunteer at CASIT, received the 1st and 2nd Place Audience Choice Awards, respectively. Their presentations—“Speech Biomarkers from a Motor-Cognitive Dual-Task Detect Early Cognitive Decline in Older Adults” and “Interactive, Self-Administered Home-Based Exercise Program for Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Dementia: Initial Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial”—reflect CASIT’s cutting-edge research in digital therapeutics and AI-driven cognitive assessment.
In addition, Dr. Bijan Najafi received an Appreciation Award from the Korean Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine (KARM) for his special invited lecture, “Enhancing Resilience in Aging: Digital Health Approaches to Geriatric Rehabilitation,” delivered at the 53rd Annual Meeting and International Conference of the Korean Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine, held October 24–25, 2025, in Seoul, Korea.
These accomplishments collectively highlight UCLA CASIT’s ongoing commitment to pioneering interdisciplinary research and fostering global partnerships that bridge engineering, medicine, and technology—advancing patient care, promoting healthy aging, and shaping the future of decentralized healthcare.
UCLA’s CASIT joins national effort to advance in-home healthcare
March 14, 2025
UCLA Health Newsroom
UCLA’s Center for Advanced Surgical & Interventional Technology (CASIT) is partnering with over two dozen academic and industry leaders to establish a Center to Stream Healthcare in Place (C2SHIP) hub at UCLA. Led by CASIT Research Director Dr. Bijan Najafi, the initiative is supported by a $4 million NSF grant. It unites UCLA faculty to advance in-home healthcare through wearable technology, AI-driven analytics, and remote monitoring.
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