AIMBE
Fellowbook News
AIMBE Fellowbook collects news stories highlighting the members of the AIMBE College of Fellows. Read the latest stories, jump to the College Directory, or search below to find the newest research, awards, announcements and more for the leaders of the medical and biological engineering community.
Algorithms Designed to Study Language Can Predict Immune “Escape” Mutations for HIV, Influenza, and SARS-CoV-2
Bonnie Berger | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | January 15, 2021By bridging the conceptual divide between human language and viral evolution, MIT researchers have developed a powerful new computational tool for predicting the mutations that allow viruses to “escape” human immunity or vaccines. Its use could negate the need for high-throughput experimental techniques that are currently employed to identify potential mutations that could allow a […]
Discovery of a new approach to inhibiting a highly treatment-refractory liver cancer
Dan Duda | Via EurekAlert | January 12, 2021Reprogramming the rich connective tissue microenvironment of a liver cancer known as intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) inhibits its progression and resistance to standard chemotherapy in animal models, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found. This new treatment for a disease with extremely poor outcomes uses antibodies to block placental growth factor (PlGF), a member of […]
COVID’s Collateral Damage: Germicidal UV Lamps Can Damage Corneas
Jean-Marie Parel | Via Scitech Daily | January 7, 2021In a paper published in the journal of Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, physicians from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine reported that several patients using germicidal lamps in an attempt to sanitize against the coronavirus, developed painful inflammation of the cornea, a condition called photokeratitis. These consumer-available […]
Nanodroplets and ultrasound ‘drills’ prove effective at tackling tough blood clots
Paul Dayton | Via Phys.org | January 7, 2021Engineering researchers have developed a new technique for eliminating particularly tough blood clots, using engineered nanodroplets and an ultrasound “drill” to break up the clots from the inside out. The technique has not yet gone through clinical testing. In vitro testing has shown promising results. Specifically, the new approach is designed to treat retracted blood […]
Bone Fracture Risk May Increase When Critical Enzymatic Processes Decline
Deepak Vashishth | Via Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | January 5, 2021A loss of enzymatic processes within the body can increase a person’s risk of bone fracture. This new insight was recently published in eLife by an international team of scientists and engineers led by Deepak Vashishth, the director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Enzymatic processes are essential […]
Based on genes, nearly everyone is likely to have an atypical response to at least one drug
Russ Altman | Via Stanford University | January 4, 2021Every drug, from morphine to ibuprofen, has a standard dose — a sort of one-size-fits all recommendation. But a new study suggests that when it comes to drug doses, “one size fits all” rarely applies. Stanford Medicine professor Russ Altman, MD, PhD, and a team of scientists found that almost everyone (99.5% of individuals) is […]
High-Throughput Mitochondria Transfer Device Developed
Eric Chiou | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | December 31, 2020Researchers from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center say have developed a simple, high-throughput method for transferring isolated mitochondria and their associated mitochondrial DNA into mammalian cells. This approach enables researchers to tailor a key genetic component of cells, to study and potentially treat debilitating diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. The team […]
Ameer Receives Clemson Award for Contributions to the Literature
Guillermo Ameer | Via Northwestern University | December 23, 2020Northwestern Engineering’s Guillermo Ameer has been named the recipient of the 2021 Clemson Award for Contributions to the Literature from the Society for Biomaterials. The Clemson Award for Contributions to the Literature is given to someone who has made significant contributions to the literature on the science or technology of biomaterials. The importance of the […]
Wolfgang Fink Named VP of Prognostics and Health Management Society
Wolfgang Fink | Via University of Arizona | December 23, 2020The Prognostics and Health Management Society has elected Wolfgang Fink, electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering professor and inaugural Edward & Maria Keonjian Endowed Chair in the College of Engineering, as the organization’s vice president. Founded in 2009, the PHM Society is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the discipline of PHM, which draws from […]
Small molecule restores muscle strength, boosts endurance in old mice, study finds
Helen Blau | Via Stanford University | December 10, 2020Blocking the activity of a single protein in old mice for one month restores mass and strength to the animals’ withered muscles and helps them run longer on a treadmill, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Conversely, increasing the expression of the protein in young mice causes their […]
New CRISPR-based test for COVID-19 uses a smartphone camera
Daniel Fletcher | Via Science Daily | December 4, 2020Imagine swabbing your nostrils, putting the swab in a device, and getting a read-out on your phone in 15 to 30 minutes that tells you if you are infected with the COVID-19 virus. This has been the vision for a team of scientists at Gladstone Institutes, University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), and University of […]
Bahram Javidi Developing Rapid COVID-19 Testing
Bahram Javidi | Via University of Connecticut | December 3, 2020The COVID-19 pandemic has caused rapid changes across the globe in nearly every facet of life. Now, University of Connecticut professor of engineering Bahram Javidi is developing a low-cost, portable COVID-19 testing instrument to test for the virus just as quickly. Through support from the Office of the Vice President for Research’s COVID-19 Research Seed […]
CRISPR Screening IDs Factors for Turning Stem Cells into Neurons
Charles Gersbach | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | December 2, 2020Genetic reprogramming can help stem cells mature into desired cell types, but it is often kludgy, which is to say, clumsy and inefficient—or worse, inexact. It may produce cells that don’t mature quite as much as they should, or that fail to represent the exact right subtype. These shortcomings may be avoided if more elegant […]
City of Hope developed cancer-killing virus: activates immune system against colon cancer
Yuman Fong | Via Science Codex | December 1, 2020A cancer-killing virus that City of Hope scientists developed could one day improve the immune system’s ability to eradicate tumors in colon cancer patients, reports a new study in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The preclinical research is a first step to showing that City of Hope’s oncolytic virus […]
Rethinking Hair Dye: A Natural New Process
Nathan Gianneschi | Via Medical Daily | November 30, 2020Whether we buy it at a drugstore or at a salon, hair dye can make a big difference in how we feel about our appearance—but how safe is it? There are ongoing questions about whether or not hair dye increases cancer risks, with at least two studies linking permanent hair dye with increased likelihood of […]
Fink Receives PHM Society’s Inaugural Scott Clements MVP Award
Wolfgang Fink | Via University of Arizona | November 30, 2020University of Arizona biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering professor Wolfgang Fink received the inaugural Scott Clements Most Valuable Person Award at the Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) Society’s 12th annual conference. The Scott Clements MVP Award recognizes individuals who have contributed to community engagement, cross-sector initiatives and other support of the PHM Society. […]
Study Reveals Connection Between Gut Bacteria and Vitamin D Levels
Rob Knight | Via UC San Diego | November 30, 2020Our gut microbiomes — the many bacteria, viruses and other microbes living in our digestive tracts — play important roles in our health and risk for disease in ways that are only beginning to be recognized. University of California San Diego researchers and collaborators recently demonstrated in older men that the makeup of a person’s […]
Combination therapy might improve outcomes in treatment-resistant liver cancer
Dan Duda | Via Massachusetts General Hospital | November 30, 2020A combination cancer therapy that is effective against treatment-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by inhibiting tumor growth and increasing survival has been identified by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). In a paper published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, the investigators describe how the dual therapy — which combines the multikinase inhibitor drug regorafenib […]
Imaging method reveals a “symphony of cellular activities”
Ed Boyden | Via MIT | November 23, 2020Within a single cell, thousands of molecules, such as proteins, ions, and other signaling molecules, work together to perform all kinds of functions — absorbing nutrients, storing memories, and differentiating into specific tissues, among many others. Deciphering these molecules, and all of their interactions, is a monumental task. Over the past 20 years, scientists have […]