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.
Vitamin C Might Reverse Stress-induced Driver of Breast Cancer, Study Says
Quentin Liu | Via Breast Cancer News | March 18, 2019Chronic stress and the consequent release of the stress hormone epinephrine may help breast cancer cells grow by helping them get more energy, a study in mice shows. This effect might be reversed through treatment with vitamin C, researchers report. The study, “Stress-induced epinephrine enhances lactate dehydrogenase A and promotes breast cancer stem-like cells,” was […]
Drug could alleviate side effects of chemo for breast cancer patients
Joseph Wu | Via Stanford University | March 14, 2019Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have demonstrated a method of forecasting which breast cancer patients will suffer heart problems from a commonly used chemotherapy drug. The researchers also found that a class of medications already approved by the Food and Drug Administration may mitigate these side effects. “We could use this method […]
Chad A. Mirkin to Receive Prestigious Perkin Medal
Chad Mirkin | Via Northwestern University | March 14, 2019Northwestern University’s Chad A. Mirkin, a world-renowned chemist and nanoscience expert, will receive the 2019 Perkin Medal from The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI), America Group. The award is widely considered as “the highest honor in American industrial chemistry.” Mirkin is the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts & […]
Myoscience Announces Data Demonstrating iovera Therapy is an Effective Alternative to Opioids for Pain Relief Following Knee Replacement Surgery
William Mihalko | Via The Associated Press | March 12, 2019Myoscience, Inc., a medical device company dedicated to relieving pain through targeted therapies, today announced clinical trial results demonstrating that iovera° therapy significantly reduced the use of opioids following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery (primary endpoint) and significantly reduced pain in a prospective, randomized study. Preliminary results will be presented tomorrow in the Innovation Theater […]
New optical imaging system could be deployed to find tiny tumors
Paula Hammond | Via MIT | March 7, 2019Many types of cancer could be more easily treated if they were detected at an earlier stage. MIT researchers have now developed an imaging system, named “DOLPHIN,” which could enable them to find tiny tumors, as small as a couple of hundred cells, deep within the body. In a new study, the researchers used their […]
High-speed, 3D microscope captures stunning videos of fruit fly nerve cells in action
Elizabeth Hillman | Via EurekAlert | March 7, 2019Columbia engineers and neuroscientists have joined forces to create 3D videos of individual nerve cells moving, stretching and switching on inside fruit fly larvae as they move. Data gleaned from these videos reveals how nerve cells called proprioceptive neurons work together to help the body sense where it is in space. To accomplish this feat, […]
Tissue model reveals how RNA will act on the liver
Sangeeta Bhatia | Via MIT | March 5, 2019Novel therapies based on a process known as RNA interference (RNAi) hold great promise for treating a variety of diseases by blocking specific genes in a patient’s cells. Many of the earliest RNAi treatments have focused on diseases of the liver, because RNA-carrying particles tend to accumulate in that organ. MIT researchers have now shown […]
“Antibody-like” T Cell Receptors May Be New Potential Treatment for Cytomegalovirus (#CMV) and Brain Tumors
Jennifer Maynard | Via The University of Texas at Austin | March 4, 2019Texas ChE Professor Jennifer Maynard and her research team have engineered “antibody-like” T cell receptors that can specifically stick to cells infected with cytomegalovirus, or CMV, a virus that causes lifelong infection in more than half of all adults by age 40. These receptors represent a new potential treatment option, could aid the development of […]
Spider silk could be used as robotic muscle
Markus Buehler | Via MIT | March 1, 2019Spider silk, already known as one of the strongest materials for its weight, turns out to have another unusual property that might lead to new kinds of artificial muscles or robotic actuators, researchers have found. The resilient fibers, the team discovered, respond very strongly to changes in humidity. Above a certain level of relative humidity […]
Polymer heart valves may improve outcomes, reduce costs
Danny Bluestein | Via Plastics Today | February 26, 2019Defective aortic heart valves typically can be replaced with a mechanical or animal-tissue-based valve. Both options have drawbacks: In most cases, patients with a mechanical valve will need to take blood thinners for the rest of their lives to prevent blood clots, while tissue valves have a limited lifespan, requiring younger patients to undergo replacement […]
Oxygen-tracking method could improve diabetes treatment
Daniel Anderson | Via MIT | February 25, 2019Transplanting pancreatic islet cells into patients with diabetes is a promising alternative to the daily insulin injections that many of these patients now require. These cells could act as a bioartificial pancreas, monitoring blood glucose levels and secreting insulin when needed. For this kind of transplantation to be successful, scientists need to make sure that […]
Oxygen-tracking method could improve diabetes treatment
Robert Langer | Via MIT | February 25, 2019Transplanting pancreatic islet cells into patients with diabetes is a promising alternative to the daily insulin injections that many of these patients now require. These cells could act as a bioartificial pancreas, monitoring blood glucose levels and secreting insulin when needed. For this kind of transplantation to be successful, scientists need to make sure that […]
New biomaterial could improve bone grafting
Craig Duvall | Via Vanderbilt | February 25, 2019A new biomaterial-based bone graft extender created by Vanderbilt and U.S. Army researchers has the potential to improve treatment of critical orthopedic conditions. While a graft using a patient’s own bone – typically from the pelvis or femur – for re-implantation is considered the standard technique to repair, replace or regenerate bone tissue, limitations exist… […]
Thomas Jefferson University: Making precision medicine a reality
Isidore Rigoutsos | Via IBM | February 15, 2019Tejal Desai Named Director of UCSF Health Innovation Via Engineering Program
Tejal Desai | Via UCSF | February 15, 2019A new initiative at UC San Francisco will bring together engineers to tackle some of the most urgent challenges in health. The Health Innovation Via Engineering (HIVE) program will be led by Tejal Desai, PhD, the chair of the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, a joint department of the UCSF Schools of Pharmacy and […]
Dawn Elliott honored by Orthopaedic Research Society
Dawn Elliott | Via University of Delaware | February 15, 2019Some professors shine most brightly in the lab. Others are particularly excellent mentors, inspiring students and other faculty members to reach new heights in their careers. Then, there are those who excel at both. Dawn Elliott, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware, is being recognized as one of those […]
Case Western Reserve researchers observe waves ‘leap’ across cut in brain tissue; ‘ephaptic coupling’ said to be producing self-propagating waves unknown until now
Dominique Durand | Via Case Western Reserve | February 14, 2019Biomedical engineering researchers at Case Western Reserve University say they have identified a previously unidentified form of neural communication, a discovery that could help scientists better understand neural activity surrounding specific brain processes and brain disorders. “We don’t know yet the ‘So what?’ part of this discovery entirely,” said lead researcher Dominique Durand, the Elmer […]
Medical Research Powered by Data
Isidore Rigoutsos | Via HPCwire | February 14, 2019“We’re all the same, but we’re unique as well. In that uniqueness lies all of the answers….” Mark Tykocinski, MD, Provost, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Thomas Jefferson University Getting the answers to what causes some people to develop diseases and not others is driving the groundbreaking medical research being conducted by the Computational […]
AI predicts common childhood ailments better than some physicians
Kang Zhang | Via AI in Healthcare | February 13, 2019Researchers in China have developed an AI-based natural language processing algorithm which processes free text from physician notes in electronic health records (EHRs) to predict common ailments in a pediatric population. The algorithm outperformed junior physicians in diagnosing some illnesses. Their findings were published in Nature. “AI-based methods have emerged as powerful tools to transform […]
Elizabeth Hillman’s Magic Microscopes: Seeing Inside the Brain
Elizabeth Hillman | Via Columbia University | February 11, 2019Biomedical Engineer Elizabeth Hillman, PhD, a principal investigator at Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute, is inventing new kinds of microscopes that create 3D movies of life in action. Her microscopes are helping researchers see the brain in a whole new light. On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we hope that girls around the […]