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.
Tumor Growth Slowed Down by Restricting Amino Acid Metabolism
Christian Metallo | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | August 13, 2020For optimal growth, tumors depend on the non-essential amino acids serine and glycine. Serine and glycine are biosynthetically linked and together, they provide the essential precursors for the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids that are critical to cancer cell growth, as well as supporting tumor homeostasis. Over the last decade, scientists have learned […]
Artificial intelligence recognizes deteriorating photoreceptors
Daniel Rubin | Via EurekAlert | August 13, 2020A software based on artificial intelligence (AI), which was developed by researchers at the Eye Clinic of the University Hospital Bonn, Stanford University and University of Utah, enables the precise assessment of the progression of geographic atrophy (GA), a disease of the light sensitive retina caused by age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This innovative approach permits […]
U of T Engineering researchers develop cell injection technique that could help reverse vision loss
Molly Shoichet | Via University of Toronto | August 13, 2020U of T Engineering researchers have developed a new method of injecting healthy cells into damaged eyes. The technique could point the way toward new treatments with the potential to reverse forms of vision loss that are currently incurable. Around the world, millions of people live with vision loss due to conditions such as age-related […]
Genetic engineering shows how ‘foreign’ DNA impacts evolution
Bernhard Palsson | Via Science Board | August 11, 2020A new study has demonstrated that “foreign” DNA — DNA transferred horizontally into a species from a source other than a parent — can become functional over time and can impact an organism’s evolution and fitness, according to a paper published August 10 in Nature Ecology and Evolution. Horizontal gene transfer is the lateral exchange […]
Sheldon Weinbaum earns Presidential mentoring honor
Sheldon Weinbaum | Via The City College of New York | August 11, 2020Dr. Sheldon Weinbaum, Professor Emeritus in The City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering, is one of 12 recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) from the White House. The awards are America’s highest honor for mentors who work with underrepresented groups to develop fully the […]
New Vaccine Platform – With No Needles – Has Potential to Be More Effective With Fewer Side Effects
Joel Collier | Via SciTech Daily | August 7, 2020Study shows that peptide nanofibers induce immune response in lungs and lymph nodes without requiring adjuvants for efficacy, indicating promise for new vaccine development. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is shining a bright spotlight on vaccine development. As numerous vaccines race through clinical trials, physicians and researchers continue to work on developing new vaccine technologies to […]
UChicago awarded $20 million to host COVID-19 medical imaging center
Maryellen Giger | Via University of Chicago | August 7, 2020Two-year federal contract will support open-source database, enable AI-driven research A new center hosted at the University of Chicago—co-led by the largest medical imaging professional organizations in the country—will help tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by curating a massive database of medical images to help better understand and treat the disease. Led by Prof. Maryellen […]
How Thoughts Could Someday Control Electronic Prosthetics
Krishna Shenoy | Via AI Daily | August 6, 2020For many years, Stanford researchers have been working towards an advance in technology that could one day help people with paralysis regain use of their limbs, and allow amputees to use their thoughts to control the wireless prostheses and to interact with computers. The brain-computer interface is a device that is implanted beneath the skull […]
Clinical trial in a dish: A novel strategy for drug development in heart disease
Joseph Wu | Via Medical Xpress | July 30, 2020Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disease of the heart muscle that results in decreased function of the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber. This decreases the heart’s ability to pump blood, which can lead to irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), blood clots, heart failure, or sudden cardiac death. While there are several contributing factors to the development […]
Rena Bizios to receive BioMedSA Award for health care, bioscience innovation
Rena Bizios | Via University of Texas at San Antonio | July 29, 2020BioMedSA, the nonprofit corporation founded in 2005 to promote and grow San Antonio’s leading industry—health care and bioscience—will present its 2020 BioMedSA Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience to Rena Bizios, the Lutcher Brown Endowed Chair in UTSA’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. Bizios is a globally recognized educator and researcher who has made pioneering […]
Rapid antibody development yields possible treatment for yellow fever
Ram Sasisekharan | Via MIT | July 29, 2020Yellow fever, a hemorrhagic disease that is common in South America and sub-Saharan Africa, infects about 200,000 people per year and causes an estimated 30,000 deaths. While there is a vaccine for yellow fever, it can’t be given to some people because of the risk of side effects, and there are no approved treatments for […]
Study Results from the UCSF Ci2 Suggest Deep Learning Methods Can Help Grade ACL Injuries
Sharmila Majumdar | Via UCSF | July 29, 2020Injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are very common, and ACL injuries increase the risk of developing post-traumatic knee osteoarthritis and total knee replacement (TKR). At present, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the most effective imaging modality for distinguishing structural properties of the ACL in relation to adjacent musculoskeletal structures. Several multi-grading scoring systems […]
Label-Free Autofluorescence Imaging Method Differentiates Between Active, and Off-Duty T Cells
Melissa Skala | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | July 28, 2020Researchers headed by a team at the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison, and the Morgridge Institute for Research, have developed a novel label-free imaging technique that exploits autofluorescence in cells to differentiate between active and off-duty T cells, at the single cell level. They suggest the technology, known as autofluorescence lifetime imaging, could be used to […]
Researchers Identify MicroRNA That Shows Promise for Hair Regrowth
Ke Cheng | Via NC State University | July 27, 2020Researchers from North Carolina State University have identified a microRNA (miRNA) that could promote hair regeneration. This miRNA – miR-218-5p – plays an important role in regulating the pathway involved in follicle regeneration, and could be a candidate for future drug development. Hair growth depends on the health of dermal papillae (DP) cells, which regulate […]
UArizona Aims to Provide Rapid Tests for Exposure to Biothreats, Including COVID-19
Frederic Zenhausern | Via University of Arizona | July 27, 2020Thanks to a U.S. Department of Defense contract for as much as $9.5 million, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and partners aim to develop a portable device to easily and accurately detects biological threats, including the virus that causes COVID-19. To better protect those serving on the front lines of battlefields […]
Drug Delivery Nanoparticles Given Neurotransmitter “Passports” to Cross Blood-Brain Barrier
Qiaobing Xu | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | July 27, 2020Biomedical engineers at Tufts University School of Engineering have developed tiny lipid-based nanoparticles that incorporate neurotransmitters, which can help to carry drugs, large molecules, and even gene editing proteins across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and into the brain in mice. The researchers believe the new neurotransmitter-derived lipidoids—or NT-lipidoids—could overcome many of the current limitations encountered […]
Amazentis Launches Timeline™ powered by Mitopure™ A Breakthrough in Cellular Nutrition
Patrick Aebischer | Via Business Wire | July 27, 2020Pioneering life sciences company, Amazentis, today announces new clinical findings and the commercial launch of Timeline Cellular Nutrition in the United States. After a decade of research by leading scientists and medical doctors, Timeline Nutrition is the first brand to offer Mitopure™, a highly pure form of Urolithin A proven to help counter age-associated cellular […]
Engineering Better Medicine for Public Health Crises and the Future
Roderic Pettigrew | Via National Academy of Medicine | July 27, 2020When my brother told me he had been diagnosed with COVID-19, I was scared. My memory immediately jumped to visions of his childhood struggles with asthma, which he described as having an ever-tightening chain around his chest. I thought of intubated COVID-19 patients at so many hospitals across the nation, and all of the patients […]
Researchers to examine relation of dysfunctional brain hubs to mental disorders
Nanyin Zhang | Via Penn State News | July 24, 2020The National Institutes of Health awarded Penn State researchers a $1.85 million grant to develop a new way to test if dysfunctions in certain areas of the brain lead to mental health complications and brain disorders. If successful, the research could lead to better mental health treatments. Like the internet, the brain is a highly […]
In Cell Studies, Seaweed Extract Outperforms Remdesivir in Blocking COVID-19 Virus
Jonathan Dordick | Via News Wise | July 24, 2020Heparin, a common anitcoagulent, could also form basis of a viral trap for SARS-CoV-2 In a test of antiviral effectiveness against the virus that causes COVID-19, an extract from edible seaweeds substantially outperformed remdesivir, the current standard antiviral used to combat the disease. Heparin, a common blood thinner, and a heparin variant stripped of its […]