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.
MIT’s Tiny Technologies Go to Washington
Ana Jaklenec | Via MIT | December 4, 2023Cancer nanomedicine showcased at the White House Demo Day On November 7, a team from the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine showed a Washington D.C. audience several examples of how nanotechnologies developed at MIT can transform the detection and treatment of cancer and other diseases. The team was one of 40 innovative groups featured at […]
U of T Engineering researchers develop new method for engineering soft connective tissue
Craig Simmons | Via University of Toronto | December 1, 2023A team of researchers at the University of Toronto, led by Professor Craig Simmons (BME, MIE), have described a novel method for engineering soft connective tissues with mechanical properties resembling those of native tissues. This finding, published in Advanced Functional Materials, has promising implications in the generation of more realistic tissues and organs for regenerative medicine. […]
Spatial Biology: How It’s Transforming Single-Cell Genomics
Rong Fan | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | November 28, 2023A GEN-led panel conversation on spatial biology technology highlights the importance of community—not just among cells, but also among scientists When the sober-minded describe spatial biology, they use words such as fledgling, growing, and maybe even exciting. But perhaps more enthusiasm—and words such as revolutionary and transformative—are in order. Yes, the basic idea behind spatial […]
A new way to see the activity inside a living cell
Edward Boyden | Via MIT News | November 28, 2023Using fluorescent labels that switch on and off, MIT engineers can study how molecules in a cell interact to control the cell’s behavior. Living cells are bombarded with many kinds of incoming molecular signal that influence their behavior. Being able to measure those signals and how cells respond to them through downstream molecular signaling networks […]
Paul Ducheyne Honored with 2023 ISCM Hironobu Oonishi Memorial Award
Paul Ducheyne | Via Penn Bioengineering | November 15, 2023Paul Ducheyne, Professor Emeritus in Bioengineering and Orthopaedic Surgery Research, has won the 2023 Hironobu Oonishi Memorial Award from the International Society for Ceramics in Medicine (ISCM). This award, the ISCM’s top honor, will only be awarded ten times in total, with previous honorees hailing from Japan and France and focusing on clinical research and […]
New ‘Patch’ Uses Natural Body Motion to Fix Disc Herniation
Robert Mauck | Via Penn Medicine | November 15, 2023The tension-activated repair patch used in animal trials plugs holes in discs in the spine like car tire patches and could prevent further disease progression A new biologic “patch” that is activated by a person’s natural motion could be the key to fixing herniated discs in people’s backs, according to researchers at the Perelman School […]
Yeast engineering leads to new frontiers in jasmonate biosynthesis
Jay Keasling | Via Phys.org | November 15, 2023A research team led by Prof. Luo Xiaozhou from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Prof. Jay D. Keasling from the University of California, Berkeley, has developed an engineered yeast to produce vital plant hormones known as jasmonates, including jasmonic acid and its derivatives, methyl jasmonate […]
CRISPR High-Throughput Screening Identifies Master Regulator That Could Enhance Cancer T-Cell Therapy
Charles Gersbach | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | November 9, 2023Researchers at Duke University have adapted CRISPR technologies to enable high-throughput screening of gene function in human immune cells, and discovered that a single master regulator of the genome can be used to reprogram a network of thousands of genes in T cells and greatly enhance cancer cell killing. The master regulator transcription factor (TF) […]
Brain imaging identifies biomarkers of mental illness
Yihong Yang | Via Medical Xpress | November 9, 2023Research and treatment of psychiatric disorders are stymied by a lack of biomarkers—objective biological or physiological markers that can help diagnose, track, predict, and treat diseases. In a new study, researchers use a very large dataset to identify predictive brain imaging-based biomarkers of mental illness in adolescents. The work appears in Biological Psychiatry. Traditionally, psychiatric […]
Take Aim: The Five Hottest Problems in Electrical Engineering
Wolfgang Fink | Via Online Engineering Programs | November 8, 2023“Wherever there’s a will, there’s a way. That’s engineering.” Deidra R. Hodges, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Florida International University Electrical engineering is a rich field with challenges for tomorrow’s engineers. Sitting at one of the most interesting crossroads of science and technology, its territory stretches across microelectronics, energy […]
Low-dose CT screening can catch lung cancer early – but most people overlook it
Denise Aberle | Via UCLA Health | November 8, 2023CT was shown to be the first and most effective way of reducing lung cancer mortality,’ says UCLA Health’s Dr. Denise Aberle. Most people at greatest risk of lung cancer are overlooking a non-invasive screening that can detect cases early, when treatment can best save lives. November marks Lung Cancer Awareness Month and UCLA Health […]
Anesthesia technology precisely controls unconsciousness in animal tests
Emery Brown | Via MIT | November 7, 2023An advanced closed-loop anesthesia delivery system that monitors brain state to tailor propofol dose and achieve exactly the desired level of unconsciousness could reduce post-op side effects. If anesthesiologists had a rigorous means to manage dosing, they could deliver less medicine, maintaining exactly the right depth of unconsciousness while reducing postoperative cognitive side effects in […]
Dr. Marvin Slepian Named Biomedical Engineering Society Fellow
Marvin Slepian | Via University of Arizona | November 6, 2023Marvin J. Slepian, MD, JD, Regents’ Professor of Medicine, Medical Imaging and Surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and Biomedical Engineering at the UArizona College of Engineering, has been named a 2023 Biomedical Engineering Society(link is external) Fellow. “Being selected as Fellow in BMES is a major honor for which […]
Kevin Tracey receives 2023 Hans Wigzell Research Foundation’s Science Prize
Kevin Tracey | Via The Feinstein Institutes | November 1, 2023The award recognizes the Feinstein Institutes’ president and CEO for his groundbreaking discoveries in vagus nerve stimulation, the inflammatory reflex and bioelectronic medicine The Hans Wigzell Research Foundation today announced that Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, is the recipient of the 2023 Hans Wigzell Research […]
Gold particles and light could melt venous malformations away
Dan Kohane | Via Boston Children’s Hospital | October 31, 2023Venous malformations — tissues made up largely of abnormally shaped veins — are often difficult to treat, especially when located in sensitive areas like the eyes, face, and genitourinary organs. In the worst cases, the lesions are disfiguring and can crush or obstruct surrounding tissues, cause bleeding and clotting, interfere with breathing or vision, or […]
Improving Nanotherapeutic Vaccine Delivery
Chad Mirkin | Via Northwestern University | October 30, 2023Northwestern Medicine scientists have developed a more effective way of creating nanotherapeutic vaccines and medicines, according to a study published in ACS Nano. “Over the last decade, spherical nucleic acid, or SNA, technology has emerged as a broad therapeutic platform for a wide variety of diseases, including cancer and other illnesses,” said Chad Mirkin, PhD, […]
Engineered Nanoparticles Target Various Biological Targets
Liangfang Zhang | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | October 30, 2023Engineers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have developed modular nanoparticles that can be easily customized to target different biological entities such as tumors, viruses, or toxins. The surface of the nanoparticles is engineered to host any biological molecules of choice, making it possible to tailor the nanoparticles for a wide array of […]
White House honors CCNY legends Myriam Sarachik and Sheldon Weinbaum
Sheldon Weinbaum | Via The City College of New York | October 25, 2023President Joe Biden has awarded the National Medal of Science to Myriam Sarachik (posthumously) and Sheldon Weinbaum, two of the most distinguished researchers and educators of their generation who, collectively, spent more than a century on faculty at The City College of New York. They were among nine recipients of the medal honored at the […]
Developing New Approaches for Spinal Cord Injury
Samuel Stupp | Via Northwestern Medicine | October 25, 2023Northwestern Medicine scientists have developed a molecular “scaffold” capable of enhancing electrical activity and growth in neurons, which may prove useful in treating spinal cord injuries, according to recent results published in ACS Nano. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, 17,730 new spinal cord injuries are diagnosed each year, and an estimated […]
Giant sloths and woolly mammoths: Mining past creatures’ DNA for future antibiotics
Cesar de la Fuente | Via statnews | October 25, 2023Cesar de la Fuente believes the next breakthrough antibiotic might come from animals that have been dead for thousands of years. Since 2021, his lab here at the University of Pennsylvania has built algorithms to trawl genetic databases for protein fragments, called peptides, with microbe-squashing properties. They started with human DNA. But more recently, he’s […]