People

Yi (Jason) Hua, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Hua is currently the director of The Vision Laboratory at the University of Mississippi. He has extensive expertise in biomechanics, specializing in both biosolids and biofluids. His research primarily focuses on the role of biomechanics in visual impairment and dysfunction caused by diseases and injuries that affect the eye, the brain, or the optic nerve connecting them. 

Dr. Hua's research methods include:

• • Computational modeling, which includes finite element analysis, meshfree methods, and computational fluid mechanics

  • Imaging techniques such as polarized light microscopy (PLM), light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), confocal microscopy, optical coherence tomography (OCT), laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI), and super-resolution ultrasound 

  • Image processing including segmentation, digital image correlation (DIC), and digital volume correlation (DVC)

  • Macro and micro-mechanical testing of tissues

  • Shock tube experiments

Dr. Hua's educational background includes a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Nantong University, China in 2008. He then obtained his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China in 2011. He completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2016, under the supervision of Prof. Linxia Gu, who is currently at Florida Tech.

From 2016 to 2023, Dr. Hua worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Ocular Biomechanics at the University of Pittsburgh, under the guidance of Prof. Ian Sigal. During this period, Dr. Hua received a fellowship from the BrightFocus Foundation to study blood flow and oxygenation in the optic nerve head located at the back of the eye.

After completing his postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Hua joined the University of Mississippi and established The Vision Laboratory.

yhua@olemiss.edu

Lydia Miller

Master's Student

Lydia joined the lab in May 2023 as an undergraduate research assistant. After earning her bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering in May 2024, she chose to continue her work in the lab while pursuing a Master’s degree in the same field. Lydia is currently focused on developing both generic and specimen-specific computational models to simulate the deformation of the lamina cribrosa collagen architecture under elevated intraocular pressure.

lnmille1@go.olemiss.edu

Christina Nguyen  

Christina joined the lab in March 2023. She is currently developing computational models to simulate whole-eye deformations in response to elevated intraocular pressure.

cmnguye1@go.olemiss.edu

Lindee Wilson

Lindee joined the lab in March 2023. She is currently developing computational models to simulate the deformations of the lamina cribrosa collagen architecture under elevated intraocular pressure.

lawilso8@go.olemiss.edu

Krish Patel

Krish joined the lab in May 2023. He is currently modeling blood flow and oxygen transport in the optic nerve head.

kpatel6@go.olemiss.edu

Isen Furr

Isen joined the lab in January 2024 and is currently working on adapting the Zeiss Axio Imager M1 in the GlyCORE Imaging Core for polarized light microscopy to visualize the collagen architecture in the sclera. Simultaneously, he is developing an inflation chamber to simulate the deformation of the posterior sclera under elevated intraocular pressure in an ex vivo setting.

irfurr@go.olemiss.edu

Katelyn Watson

Katelyn joined the lab in May 2024. She is currently developing a finite element model of a mouse head to study blast-induced traumatic brain injury and the resulting visual dysfunction.

krwatso2@go.olemiss.edu

Luke Habeeb

Luke joined the lab in May 2024. His research focuses on characterizing structural and biomechanical changes in the cornea following photochemical cross-linking.

ldhabeeb@go.olemiss.edu

Aarzu Joshi

Aarzu joined the lab in January 2025. Her research focuses on understanding the hemodynamics of the optic nerve head and its relationship with intraocular pressure and cerebrospinal fluid pressure.

ajoshi4@go.olemiss.edu

Quinn Johnson

Quinn joined the lab in April 2025. His research focuses on both the quantitative and qualitative analysis of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the sclera.

qrjohnso@go.olemiss.edu

Dylan Dexter

Dylan joined the lab in April 2025. His research focuses on using light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) to image the collagen architecture within the lamina cribrosa of the optic nerve head.

dsdexte1@go.olemiss.edu