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.
Scientists uncover COVID’s weakness
Jiayu Liao | Via University of California | September 21, 2023In a new paper published in the journal Viruses, the UC Riverside research team describes an important discovery. The protein in COVID that enables the virus to make copies of itself, called N, requires the help of human cells to perform its job. Genetic instructions in our cells are transcribed from DNA to messenger RNA, […]
Going with the flow: Emory’s Hanjoong Jo’s new approach to heart disease
Hanjoong Jo | Via Emory University | September 20, 2023If you’ve ever watched floating leaves as they glide down a meandering stream, you’ve probably noticed the little eddies that build up when the water bends around a sharp corner, creating turbulence in contrast to the stream’s more placid center. Look a little closer and you’ll see how complicated those disturbed flows can be, stressing […]
DNA Computer Can Do Math, May Have Clinical and Diagnostic Potential
Chunhai Fan | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | September 13, 2023Ground has been broken on developing “computers” made of DNA. Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China demonstrated that they could build DNA integrated circuits (DICs) for general-purpose, meaning that the integrated circuits allow software programming and are not fixed to perform a certain function. These general-purpose DICs were shown to be capable of […]
Merryman, Lindsley make headway in drug development to cure pulmonary arterial hypertension
David Merryman | Via Vanderbilt University | September 13, 2023Research led by David Merryman, a professor of biomedical engineering, pharmacology and medicine who holds the Walters Family Chair, has resulted in the development of VU6047534, a new drug that treats pulmonary arterial hypertension—a type of high blood pressure that affects arteries in the lungs and in the heart—without serious neurological side effects. Merryman conducted […]
Virtual drug quiets noise in heart tissue images
Guy Genin | Via Washington University in St. Louis | September 11, 2023Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a new computational approach to removing movement in images of expanding and contracting heart cells and tissues. By computationally removing movement, the algorithm mimics a drug’s action in stopping the heart, without compromising cellular structure or tissue contractility. Results of the research, led by Nathaniel Huebsch, […]
AI tool helps optimize antibody medicines
Peter Tessier | Via University of Michigan | September 11, 2023Antibody treatments may be able to activate the immune system to fight diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and colorectal cancer, but they are less effective when they bind with themselves and other molecules that aren’t markers of disease. Now, new machine-learning algorithms developed at the University of Michigan can highlight problem areas in antibodies that make […]
Bioengineers Make Substantial Advances with Saliva-Based THC Sensor
Shalini Prasad | Via University of Texas at Dallas | September 8, 2023University of Texas at Dallas researchers have developed a hand-held rapid saliva test that can measure the level of THC, the major active component in marijuana, with 94% accuracy. The device, called CannibiSenS, also can distinguish between THC and CBD, a component of the cannabis plant that does not cause a psychoactive effect and is […]
The cactus chemist: Dr. Norma Alcantar
Norma Alcantar | Via USPTO | September 5, 2023Among the typical things you’d expect to find in a chemical engineer’s office — honorary awards, patent plaques, and books like “Environmental Analytical Chemistry” and “Introducing Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics” — Dr. Norma Alcantar’s office at the University of South Florida (USF) also showcases her love of life and teaching with books like “Intentional Integrity,” a […]
A low-cost, eco-friendly COVID test
Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez | Via University of Pennsylvania | September 1, 2023César de la Fuente and a team of Penn engineers work on creative ways to create faster and cheaper testing for COVID-19. Their latest innovation incorporates speed and cost-effectiveness with eco-friendly materials. When it comes to COVID-19 testing, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, are the “gold standard” for diagnostic testing. However, these tests are hampered […]
Enhanced Tumor Modeling Using Laponite Bioinks for 3D Bioprinting
Ali Khademhosseini | Via Terasaki Institute | August 25, 2023Scientists from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) have developed a nanoengineered bioink with improved bonding and cross-linking capabilities for 3D bioprinting of tumor models. A key component of this bioink is Laponite, highly charged, disk-shaped, crystalline nanoparticles. As explained in their recent paper in Biofabrication, these nanoparticles were shown to enhance the biological […]
Engineered Proteins Take On Cancer’s Epigenome
Karmella Haynes | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | August 24, 2023In addition to characterizing the genetic basis for different cancers, scientists are increasingly interested in the role of the epigenome in tumor development, and possible therapies that can target genes repressed by chemically modifying chromatin in cancer. Part of what makes the epigenome an attractive target is the possibility of hitting a system of proteins […]
UT Dallas researchers help determine soil health for farmers
Shalini Prasad | Via spectrumlocalnews | August 24, 2023Ameer Wins 2023 Excellence in Biomaterials Science Award
Guillermo Ameer | Via northwestern | August 23, 2023The award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the science of biomaterials Northwestern Engineering’s Guillermo A. Ameer has been elected the winner of the 2023 Excellence in Biomaterials Science Award, an honor given by the Surfaces in Biomaterials Foundation (SIBF). The award, the highest given by the foundation, recognizes an individual who […]
AI Can Now Design Proteins That Behave Like Biological ‘Transistors’
David Baker | Via Singularity Hub | August 22, 2023We often think of proteins as immutable 3D sculptures. That’s not quite right. Many proteins are transformers that twist and change their shapes depending on biological needs. One configuration may propagate damaging signals from a stroke or heart attack. Another may block the resulting molecular cascade and limit harm. In a way, proteins act like […]
Biomedical engineers Michael King, Cynthia Reinhart-King to join Rice faculty
Mike King | Via Rice University | August 22, 2023Two national leaders in the biomedical engineering field, Michael King and Cynthia Reinhart-King, whose research programs have advanced the understanding and treatment of cancer and other diseases, will join the Rice University faculty next year. “Both are established leaders in bioengineering,” said Gang Bao, department chair and Foyt Family Professor of Bioengineering (BIOE) at Rice. […]
Biomedical engineers Michael King, Cynthia Reinhart-King to join Rice faculty
Cindy Reinhart-King | Via Rice University | August 22, 2023Two national leaders in the biomedical engineering field, Michael King and Cynthia Reinhart-King, whose research programs have advanced the understanding and treatment of cancer and other diseases, will join the Rice University faculty next year. “Both are established leaders in bioengineering,” said Gang Bao, department chair and Foyt Family Professor of Bioengineering (BIOE) at Rice. […]
Dan G. DUDA, DMD, PhD, was elected a member of the Academia Europaea.
Dan Duda | Via | August 19, 2023Dan G. DUDA, DMD, PhD, was elected a member of the Academia Europaea. Dr. Duda is the director of Translational Research in GI Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. The Academia Europaea is the only academy with individual members from the Council of Europe states and other nations […]
Institutions with strong engineering operations are more efficient in producing patents, researchers find
Rob Gourdie | Via Bioengineer.org | August 14, 2023When it comes to translational medicine, Robert Gourdie is among the 2 percent of “super-producers,” National Institutes of Health-funded scientists at U.S. biomedical institutions who hold 10 or more issued patents. When it comes to translational medicine, Robert Gourdie is among the 2 percent of “super-producers,” National Institutes of Health-funded scientists at U.S. biomedical institutions […]
Deep learning unlocks personalised cancer therapy
Rachel Karchin | Via Design Products & Applications | August 14, 2023Engineers and cancer researchers have harnessed the power of machine learning technology to predict immune-boosting proteins. Machine learning technology developed by a team of Johns Hopkins engineers and cancer researchers can accurately predict cancer-related protein fragments that may trigger an immune system response. If validated in clinical trials, the technology could help scientists overcome a […]
Transforming flies into degradable plastics
Karen Wooley | Via R&D World | August 14, 2023Imagine using insects as a source of chemicals to make plastics that can biodegrade later — with the help of that very same type of bug. That concept is closer to reality than you might expect. Today, researchers will describe their progress to date, including isolation and purification of insect-derived chemicals and their conversion into […]