New Biomedical Endowed Chair

"Prof Knisley brings the leadership that we need to augment our biomedical research assets with the formal education modules. We are increasing our faculty numbers and planning more labs with his help"

Oktay Baysal
Dean of the Batten College

For Stephen Knisley, coming to Old Dominion University from his leadership position at two North Carolina schools came down to a host of advantages of being here.

Knisley, Batten Endowed Chair in Biomedical Engineering, and a professor of mechanical engineering, joined the university recently after running a joint graduate program between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.  His research has focused largely on the heart, specifically cardiac electrophysiology and how electrical stimulation can restore the ability to pump blood after a heart attack.

"When the ventricles go into fibrillation, the person will die in a few minutes unless something is done quickly," Knisley said.