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.
Open-access database could speed up repurposing of old drugs as new treatments
Vassily Hatzimanikatis | Via News-Medical.Net | August 3, 2021Researchers have created a new open-access database of information on drug candidates and how they are metabolized by the body, which could help speed up the repurposing of old drugs as new treatments. There is an urgent need for more effective treatments for many conditions, including COVID-19, cancer and malaria. But the process of developing […]
Artificial intelligence algorithm developed to assess metastatic potential in skin cancers
Gaudenz Danuser | Via UT Southwestern Medical Center | August 3, 2021Using artificial intelligence (AI), researchers from UT Southwestern have developed a way to accurately predict which skin cancers are highly metastatic. The findings, published as the July cover article of Cell Systems, show the potential for AI-based tools to revolutionize pathology for cancer and a variety of other diseases. “We now have a general framework […]
Morton H. Friedman, a Founding Fellow
Morton H. Friedman | Via AIMBE | August 2, 2021Morton H. Friedman, Ph.D., is a Consulting Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at George Washington University. Most recently, he served the GW School of Engineering and Applied Science as Special Assistant to the Dean for Biomedical Engineering Program Development, leading to the formation of a BME Department at GW in 2015. He came […]
3D visualization and quantification of bioplastic PHA in a living bacterial cell
Sang Yup Lee | Via Science Daily | July 28, 2021A research team at KAIST has observed how bioplastic granule is being accumulated in living bacteria cells through 3D holographic microscopy. Their 3D imaging and quantitative analysis of the bioplastic ‘polyhydroxyalkanoate’ (PHA) via optical diffraction tomography provides insights into biosynthesizing sustainable substitutes for petroleum-based plastics. The bio-degradable polyester polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is being touted as an […]
Take two: Integrating neuronal perspectives for richer results
Byron Yu | Via Carnegie Mellon University | July 23, 2021Every brain function, from standing up to deciding what to have for dinner, involves neurons interacting. Studies focused on neuronal interactions extend across domains in neuroscience, primarily using the approaches of spike count correlation or dimensionality reduction. Pioneering research from Carnegie Mellon University has identified a way to bridge these approaches, resulting in a richer […]
Locascio Nominated to Return to NIST as Director
Laurie Locascio | Via American Institute of Physics | July 22, 2021President Biden announced on July 16 that he is nominating Laurie Locascio to be director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a $1 billion agency within the Commerce Department. Locascio spent most of her career at NIST, joining as a bioengineering researcher in 1986 and ultimately taking on a series of senior leadership […]
Dynamic heart model mimics hemodynamic loads, advances engineered heart tissue technology
Adam Feinberg | Via Carnegie Mellon University | July 16, 2021Efforts to understand cardiac disease progression and develop therapeutic tissues that can repair the human heart are just a few areas of focus for the Feinberg research groupOpens in new window at Carnegie Mellon University. The group’s latest dynamic model, created in partnership with collaborators in the Netherlands, mimics physiologic loads on engineering heart muscle […]
A noninvasive test to detect cancer cells and pinpoint their location
Sangeeta Bhatia | Via MIT | July 15, 2021Most of the tests that doctors use to diagnose cancer — such as mammography, colonoscopy, and CT scans — are based on imaging. More recently, researchers have also developed molecular diagnostics that can detect specific cancer-associated molecules that circulate in bodily fluids like blood or urine. MIT engineers have now created a new diagnostic nanoparticle […]
Life-saving snake venom
Kibret Mequanint | Via Western University | July 14, 2021Indiana Jones hates snakes. And he’s certainly not alone. The fear of snakes is so common it even has its own name: ophidiophobia. Kibret Mequanint doesn’t particularly like the slithery reptiles either (he actually hates them too) but the Western University bioengineer and his international collaborators have found a novel use for snake venom: a […]
Life-saving snake venom
Malcolm Xing | Via Western University | July 14, 2021Indiana Jones hates snakes. And he’s certainly not alone. The fear of snakes is so common it even has its own name: ophidiophobia. Kibret Mequanint doesn’t particularly like the slithery reptiles either (he actually hates them too) but the Western University bioengineer and his international collaborators have found a novel use for snake venom: a […]
Interdisciplinary team researches potential treatments for intervertebral disc disease
Lori Setton | Via Washington University in St. Louis | July 13, 2021Intervertebral discs provide load support and motion between vertebrae in the spine, but when they start to break down and compress due to aging, disease or injury, a person experiences significant pain and reduced mobility. An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis found a way to deliver new cells to the […]
Bacchetta named chair of Thoracic Surgery
Matthew Bacchetta | Via Vanderbilt University Medical Center | July 13, 2021Matthew Bacchetta, MD, MBA, MA, associate professor of Thoracic Surgery, has assumed his new role as chair of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Department of Thoracic Surgery, as of July 2021. Bacchetta, an internationally renowned National Institutes of Health-funded investigator, joined the Section of Surgical Sciences in 2018. He was recruited to help expand both the […]
Opening Blood-Brain Barrier with Focused Ultrasound
Elisa Konofagou | Via Mirage News | July 10, 2021Ultrasound is typically synonymous with prenatal care, but soon an emerging platform called focused ultrasound could treat cancer. In a new clinical trial, oncologists Stergios Zacharoulis, MD, professor of pediatrics at Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, and Cheng-Chia Wu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology, are using a focused ultrasound technique developed […]
NAACP to Present Prestigious Spingarn Medal to UConn’s Dr. Cato T. Laurencin at 112th Annual Convention
Cato Laurencin | Via University of Connecticut | July 6, 2021Professor Cato T. Laurencin of the University of Connecticut is the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Spingarn Medal, the highest honor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). “This is the most iconic award of the NAACP,” says Laurencin, who serves as the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen […]
Director Lander, the time is now
Hana El-Samad | Via AAAS | July 2, 2021The Biden administration’s decision to elevate the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to a cabinet-level position is a win for science. Eric Lander, confirmed in May by the Senate, is now advising the president on the scientific, engineering, and technological policies of the US government. As Dr. Lander […]
Director Lander, the time is now
Lola Eniola-Adefeso | Via AAAS | July 2, 2021The Biden administration’s decision to elevate the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to a cabinet-level position is a win for science. Eric Lander, confirmed in May by the Senate, is now advising the president on the scientific, engineering, and technological policies of the US government. As Dr. Lander […]
NSF selects Susan S. Margulies to head the Engineering Directorate
Susan Margulies | Via NSF | July 1, 2021The U.S. National Science Foundation has selected Susan S. Margulies to head the Directorate for Engineering. She is the first biomedical engineer to lead the engineering directorate, which supports fundamental research in emerging and frontier basic research areas. Since 2017, Margulies has been professor and chair of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, […]
Synthetic biology circuits can respond within seconds
Bonnie Berger | Via MIT | July 1, 2021Synthetic biology offers a way to engineer cells to perform novel functions, such as glowing with fluorescent light when they detect a certain chemical. Usually, this is done by altering cells so they express genes that can be triggered by a certain input. However, there is often a long lag time between an event such […]
Rethinking Plastics
LaShanda Korley | Via University of Delaware | July 1, 2021UD scientists and collaborators issue urgent call to action on plastics pollution People lived without plastic until the last century or so, but most of us would find it hard to imagine how. Plastics now are everywhere in our lives, providing low-cost convenience and other benefits in countless applications. They can be shaped to almost […]
New face mask prototype can detect Covid-19 infection
James Collins | Via MIT | June 28, 2021Engineers at MIT and Harvard University have designed a novel face mask that can diagnose the wearer with Covid-19 within about 90 minutes. The masks are embedded with tiny, disposable sensors that can be fitted into other face masks and could also be adapted to detect other viruses. The sensors are based on freeze-dried cellular […]