Rate My Professor James Abbas

James Abbas is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He earned his B.S. in bioelectrical engineering from Brown University, followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University. Abbas completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Before pursuing advanced studies, he taught secondary school mathematics and contributed to public health projects in Malawi as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. His academic career includes prior appointments at Arizona State University, where he served as an associate professor and director of the Center for Adaptive Neural Systems in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, and affiliations with Florida International University evident through patented technologies.

Abbas's research specializes in neural engineering applied to medical rehabilitation and exercise. His work involves designing neurotechnology, developing computational models, and conducting experimental evaluations of rehabilitation systems in human subjects, with applications in neuroprosthetics and global health technologies. He holds multiple patents, including the Self-Anchoring MEMS Intrafascicular Neural Electrode (2010), Fitting system for a neural-enabled limb prosthesis system (2014), Communication interface for sensory stimulation (2015), Modular multi-channel inline connector system (2016), Neural interface activity simulator (2017), Systems and methods for decoding intended motor commands from recorded neural signals (2017), Directional-specific extraneural recording device (2018), Systems and methods for advanced medical device placement and usage (2020), Non-invasive intraoral neurostimulation device for obstructive sleep apnea (2020), and Systems and methods for delivering focalized neurostimulation (2022). Abbas is a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (elected 2020) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation and Frontiers in Neuroengineering, as an associate editor for the IEEE EMBS and Neural Engineering Conferences, and as a member of the Steering Committee for the Data Resource Center of the NIH SPARC Initiative. Additional honors include 2019 Invited Faculty for the IEEE Brain Initiative Neurotech Entrepreneurs Workshop, 2019 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Nominee from Arizona State University Faculty Women’s Association, and 2012 Top Five Percent Faculty recognition from Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering for teaching excellence. His contributions have garnered over 2,970 citations on Google Scholar.