Scott L. Diamond, Ph.D.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the pending induction of Scott L. Diamond, Ph.D., Arthur E. Humphrey Professor and Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Professor of Bioengineering; Director, Penn Center for Molecular Discovery, Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, to its College of Fellows. Dr. Diamond was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows For contributions in mechanobiology, high throughput drug discovery, gene therapy and blood systems biology.

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering professor Scott Diamond is conducting research that has captivated the interest of the United States Army. He works on creating extremely detailed descriptions of an individual’s blood makeup.

“Ideally, your blood is a liquid until you need it to clot, and these two properties sometimes fight with each other,” Diamond said. “If someone is tipped either way, they are at a risk.”

The Army analyzes the best way to treat traumas like gunshot or explosion wounds, and Diamond’s research could be instrumental in giving doctors a better understanding of how to best care for a wounded soldier.

“The clinician can say ‘this patient’s blood looks fine; they are not at risk,’ and this allows them to focus more on the surgery,” Diamond said. “But if the patient is at risk, that could suggest the use of certain blood products.”

The future of this field, in which biological and engineering techniques mingle, is bright, especially in the realm of personalized medical care.

“I see the opportunity to do very complex and rapid analyses of blood samples bedside,” Diamond said. “So the clinician can get the information right when he or she needs to make a decision.”