Atam P. Dhawan is the chief strategic innovation officer and senior vice provost for research at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), the executive director of NJIT’s Center for Translational Research, the executive director of the NJ PFAS Partnership Innovation Consortium and a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering. 

Dr. Dhawan has worked over four decades in promoting translational research and innovation validation for use-inspired applications for societal and economic impact. As the founder of the Center for Translational Research at NJIT, he has developed innovation ecosystems producing startup companies, industry-university partnerships, and more recently, a cross-institutional PFAS innovation consortium that brings together universities, government agencies, utilities, and industry across New Jersey. With NSF funding, he has developed an Accelerating Research Translation (ART) Network coordinating all NSF ART programs across the nation. 

In 2012, he founded NJIT’s Undergraduate Research and Innovation (URI) program which has funded, mentored and provided access to research and innovation opportunities to over 3,500 undergraduates with an annual funding of over $1.2 million.

He is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and an innovation ambassador for the Academy; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering; American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering. He serves on several boards, including the National Academy of Inventors Board of Directors, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board, R&D Council of NJ, and NIH Point-of-Care Research Network Advisory Board, which he chaired from 2019-2025. 

Dr. Dhawan is a recipient of numerous awards. His recent awards include the IEEE EMBS William J. Morlock Award in Excellence in Biomedical Technology (2021), and the New Jersey Innovate 100 Leaders Award (2024). His research expertise includes medical imaging and AI based diagnostic support systems. He has published more than 216 research articles and books and received more than $91 million in research grants and contracts as the PI or co-PI. His patents have been commercialized for screening of skin-lesions for diagnosis of skin-cancers and the treatment of spider vein diseases.