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.
Accomplished biomedical engineer, academic leader named Brown School of Engineering dean
Tejal Desai | Via Brown University | January 12, 2022Tejal Desai, a professor and researcher who has led academic programs at the University of California San Francisco, Boston University and elsewhere, will work to expand collaborative engineering research and teaching. Tejal Desai, an accomplished biomedical engineer and academic leader who earned a bachelor’s degree with Brown’s Class of 1994, has been appointed the next […]
Dr. Sangtae Kim to Lead Verseon’s New AI and Data-Science Initiative as CTO
Sangtae Kim | Via PR Newswire | January 12, 2022Verseon is pleased to announce the appointment of its new CTO, Dr. Sangtae (Sang) Kim. Sang, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, will spearhead expansion of the company’s data-science and AI initiatives. He will also maintain his current role at Purdue as Distinguished Professor and Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of the […]
Using predictive computer modeling to look for ways to stop potentially deadly infection
Jason Papin | Via CBS19 NEWS | January 12, 2022Researchers are using an advanced computer modeling system to understand how a potentially deadly infection can cause problems for hospitalized patients. The University of Virginia researchers are looking at C. difficile by using a form of predictive computer modeling called GENREs. According to a release, this could help speed the development of new treatments for […]
Tuan Vo-Dinh: The 2022 SPIE President’s Award
Tuan Vo-Dinh | Via SPIE | January 11, 2022A pioneer in biomedical optical imaging, Tuan Vo-Dinh’s research has focused on the development of advanced technologies for the protection of the environment and the improvement of human health. His research activities involve nano-biophotonics, nanosensors, laser spectroscopy, molecular imaging, medical diagnostics, cancer detection, chemical sensors, biosensors, and biochips. He has invented numerous non-invasive life-saving devices […]
Alex Vitkin: The 2022 SPIE G.G. Stokes Award in Optical Polarization
Alex Vitkin | Via SPIE | January 11, 2022Alex Vitkin’s current positions as a professor of medical biophysics and radiation oncology at the University of Toronto, senior scientist in biophysics and bioimaging at the Ontario Cancer Institute, and radiation physicist at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre showcase his leading role in the field of biomedical engineering and medical physics in general, and in […]
Method for delivering immune system-stimulating drugs may enhance cancer immunotherapy
Darrell Irvine | Via MIT | January 10, 2022Stimulating the body’s immune system to attack tumors is a promising way to treat cancer. Scientists are working on two complementary strategies to achieve that: taking off the brakes that tumors put on the immune system; and “stepping on the gas,” or delivering molecules that jumpstart immune cells. However, when jumpstarting the immune system, researchers […]
Groundbreaking Discovery: VGH–NYCU Research Team Successfully Uses Silk Fibroin to Convert Quiescent Cardiomyocytes to Pacemaker Cells
Tze-Wen Chung | Via Nat'l Yang Ming Chiao Tung Univ. | December 22, 2021More than 40,000 people in Taiwan have cardiac pacemaker implants. Scientists in Taiwan discovered a silk fibroin (SF) that converts quiescent cardiomyocytes into pacemaker cells that can beat on their own, thereby restoring the heart’s beating. This groundbreaking discovery was published in the renowned journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. The sinoatrial node fires at a normal […]
Simultaneous Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza Viruses at the Point-of-Care
Hugh Fan | Via University of Florida | December 17, 2021With co-circulation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza viruses during the ongoing pandemic and future flu seasons, it is desirable to have an ability to detect these two viruses simultaneously at the point-of-care (POC) for appropriate clinical care and quarantine procedures. To address the need, Hugh Fan and his colleagues have […]
U-M researchers develop method to observe cancer cells’ potential to metastasize in the body
Shuichi Takayama | Via University of Michigan | December 16, 2021When cancer cells metastasize, they morph, becoming missile-shaped in order to penetrate into other tissues throughout the body. In fact, to travel throughout the body, metastatic cancer cells must change their phenotypes—their physical characteristics. This change allows stationary, epithelial cells which compose the barriers of our organs and our skin, to morph into mesenchymal cells, […]
Tulane professor elected to National Academy of Inventors
Chenzhong Li | Via Tulane University | December 16, 2021Tulane University professor Chenzhong Li, PhD, has been named a 2021 fellow by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), an honor that is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors. Li, professor of Biomedical Engineering and Biochemistry at Tulane University School of Medicine and the School of Science and Engineering, leads advances in […]
Skin Sensing Made Easier: Improved Methods Facilitate Monitoring of Body Movement and Health
Ali Khademhosseini | Via Terasaki Institute | December 15, 2021From wide-ranging body movements as minute as a pulse to the various movements of joints, muscles and limbs, wearable pressure sensors placed directly on the skin may be used in myriad ways to monitor health. Other types of skin sensors can monitor health indicators through measurement of sweat and temperature on the skin’s surface. These […]
It’s hard to repair existing heart damage. Could nanoparticles help?
Matthew Tirrell | Via University of Chicago | December 9, 2021Vascular diseases can lead to heart attack or stroke. But many treatments for these diseases target systemic risk factors, such as reducing blood pressure and cholesterol, rather than directly repairing existing damaged blood vessels. A new targeted nanomedicine treatment developed at the University of Chicago has shown promise in reducing vascular damage caused by atherosclerosis […]
COVID-19 can infect the inner ear – Scope Blog
Lee Gehrke | Via Stanford University | December 1, 2021Early into the pandemic, Konstantina Stankovic, MD, PhD, an inner ear researcher, and otolaryngologist, was surprised when she began seeing patients exposed to COVID-19 in her Massachusetts clinic complaining of hearing loss, ringing in the ears known as tinnitus, and dizziness, which often starts in the inner ear. Sure, everyone had heard about other odd […]
We Might Not Know Half of What’s in Our Cells, New AI Technique Reveals
Trey Ideker | Via UC San Diego | November 24, 2021Most human diseases can be traced to malfunctioning parts of a cell — a tumor is able to grow because a gene wasn’t accurately translated into a particular protein or a metabolic disease arises because mitochondria aren’t firing properly, for example. But to understand what parts of a cell can go wrong in a disease, […]
Ultrashort-pulse lasers kill bacterial superbugs, spores
Samuel Achilefu | Via Washington University in St. Louis | November 23, 2021Life-threatening bacteria are becoming ever more resistant to antibiotics, making the search for alternatives to antibiotics an increasingly urgent challenge. For certain applications, one alternative may be a special type of laser. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that lasers that emit ultrashort pulses of light can kill multidrug-resistant […]
Fink Discusses Climate Change-Fighting Robots with KOLD
Wolfgang Fink | Via University of Arizona | November 21, 2021ECE professor Wolfgang Fink and assistant professor of architecture Jonathan Bean are finalists in the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Envelope Retrofit Opportunities for Building Optimization Technologies Prize,” or E-ROBOT Prize. Fink and Bean created wall-EIFS, a robot that can retrofit buildings by installing insulation, thus cutting down carbon emissions. The researchers recently discussed their research […]
A Stunning 3D Map Of Blood Vessels And Cells In A Mouse Skull Could Help Scientists Make New Bones
Warren Grayson | Via India Education Diary | November 19, 2021Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists have used glowing chemicals and other techniques to create a 3D map of the blood vessels and self-renewing “stem” cells that line and penetrate a mouse skull. The map provides precise locations of blood vessels and stem cells that scientists could eventually use to repair wounds and generate new bone and […]
New imaging technology may reduce need for skin biopsies
Aydogan Ozcan | Via Medical Xpress | November 18, 2021Instead of surgically removing a sample of skin, sending it to a lab and waiting several days for results, your dermatologist takes pictures of a suspicious-looking lesion and quickly produces a detailed, microscopic image of the skin. This could become routine in clinics, the result of a new “virtual histology” technology being developed by researchers […]
New imaging technology could buy time for pancreatic cancer patients
Marvin Doyley | Via University of Rochester | November 18, 2021The insidiousness of pancreatic cancer is how it develops without showing any definitive symptoms. In most cases, by the time it is diagnosed, it is beyond cure. And yet, for 10 to 20 percent of patients, pancreatic cancer is caught soon enough, before it has metastasized. This provides surgeons a narrow window of time to […]