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

Baudrul Mohammad Shahjalal

PhD Student

Baudrul joined the lab in August 2025 as a PhD student. His research focuses on imaging and quantifying the spatial distribution of glycosaminoglycans in the cornea and sclera.

bshahjal@go.olemiss.edu

Utsab Acharya

PhD Student

Utsab joined the lab in August 2025 as a PhD student. His research investigates how glycosaminoglycan degradation influences the biomechanics of the sclera and optic nerve head.

uacharya@go.olemiss.edu

Milan Rai

PhD Student

Milan joined the lab in August 2025 as a PhD student. His research focuses on investigating hemodynamics within the optic nerve head and examining its sensitivity to intraocular and cerebrospinal fluid pressures.

mrai1@go.olemiss.edu

Lydia Schwartz

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

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