Sungyon Lee Awarded RIO Grant-in-Aid

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is pleased to announce that Professor Sungyon Lee has been awarded a RIO Grant-in-Aid from the University of Minnesota's Research and Innovation Office (RIO). The award supports 24 projects across the Twin Cities and Rochester campuses.

The RIO Grant-in-Aid program supports faculty-driven research initiatives across the University of Minnesota. These awards fund innovative projects that address important challenges and advance knowledge in a wide range of disciplines.

Lee's research addresses a critical challenge in neonatal medicine: treating respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm infants. RDS occurs due to a lack of lung surfactant and is typically treated with surfactant replacement therapy (SRT), which requires direct intubation and can cause medical complications in vulnerable infants.

To overcome these limitations, Lee proposes studying the use of aerosolized surfactant (micron-scale liquid droplets containing surfactant) as a non-invasive alternative. Working with a simplified microfluidic lung model, the research will investigate the transport of aerosolized surfactant and identify optimal parameters such as aerosol size to ensure uniform delivery. These findings will directly inform the development of a new clinical device to improve treatment outcomes for preterm infants.

This project brings together expertise from both engineering and medicine. Professor Lee leads the effort from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, collaborating with Dr. Kari Roberts from the Department of Pediatrics. This interdisciplinary partnership combines fundamental fluid mechanics research with clinical insights to develop practical solutions for vulnerable patients.

Speaking to the personal and professional significance of this award, Lee shares:

“I feel very excited and honored to work on an important problem that directly impacts preborn infants. My work in fluid mechanics tends to be very fundamental, and to apply my background to study a problem of clinical importance is a rare opportunity, afforded by this grant in aid program. On a personal note, I am a mom to a healthy toddler who was once a preterm baby and was cared for by an amazing pediatrics team, like Dr. Roberts. So, to be able to collaborate with Dr. Roberts and to support her work in helping children is an honor.”