Axel Krieger PhD ’08, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering, focuses on the development of novel tools, image guidance, and robot-control techniques for medical robotics. He is a member of the Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics.

He leads a team of students, scientists, and engineers in the research and development of robotic tools and laparoscopic devices. Projects include the development of a surgical robot called smart tissue autonomous robot (STAR) and the use of 3D printing for surgical planning and patient-specific implants.

An inventor, Krieger has more than 20 patents and patent applications. Licensees of his patents include medical device start-ups Activ Surgical and PeriCor, as well as industry leaders such as Siemens, Philips, and Intuitive Surgical.

Before joining Johns Hopkins in 2020, Krieger was an assistant professor at the University of Maryland and a research professor and program lead for smart tools at the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Hospital. He spent several years as a product leader at Sentinelle Medical Inc and Hologic Inc., developing devices and software systems from concept to FDA approval and market introduction.

Krieger completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany and his doctorate at Johns Hopkins, where he pioneered an MRI guided prostate biopsy robot used in more than 50 patient procedures at three hospitals.