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.
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 […]
Engineered yeast could expand biofuels’ reach
Gregory Stephanopoulos | Via MIT | June 25, 2021Boosting production of biofuels such as ethanol could be an important step toward reducing global consumption of fossil fuels. However, ethanol production is limited in large part by its reliance on corn, which isn’t grown in large enough quantities to make up a significant portion of U.S. fuel needs. To try to expand biofuels’ potential […]
Inspired by Chinese finger traps, an annuloplasty ring that grows with the child
Jeffrey Karp | Via Boston Children's Hospital | June 23, 2021This post is part of a series on innovations to treat valvular disease in children. Read our prior posts on transcatheter valve replacement and an expandable prosthetic heart valve. Prosthetic annuloplasty rings have improved the durability of heart valve repairs in adults. Implanted at the perimeter of dilated, leaky valves, they help keep the valve […]
AI helps head off shock in pediatric sepsis patients
Raimond Winslow | Via AI in Healthcare | June 21, 2021Comparing four methods for predicting septic shock in children hospitalized with sepsis, Johns Hopkins researchers have found a newer machine-learning approach superior to an older one as well as to two conventional methods. The top performer, the open-source XGBoost (for eXtreme Gradient Boosting), supplied accurate early predictions that, in clinical practice, would have given critical-care […]
Resetting Travelers’ Circadian Clocks
Douglas Weber | Via Carnegie Mellon University | June 17, 2021The body’s circadian rhythms are sophisticated cycles that regulate essential functions that range from sleeping and waking to digestion and hormone production. When the brain’s master clock is disrupted — as with travel — physiological and mental processes bear the burden, causing a person to experience insomnia, gastrointestinal issues, impaired cognitive function and even a […]
Melina R. Kibbe Named Dean of UVA’s School of Medicine
Melina Kibbe | Via UVA Health | June 9, 2021The University of Virginia has named pioneering physician leader Melina R. Kibbe, MD, as 17th dean of the UVA School of Medicine and chief health affairs officer for UVA Health. Dr. Kibbe is an outstanding clinician, researcher and highly respected educator. She comes to UVA effective Sept. 15 from her role as the Colin G. […]
The Patient Outcome Trajectory
Ron Schilling | Via AIMBE | June 8, 2021At RSNA 2013, Dr. Frandics Chan of Stanford University presented the 1st results that allowed radiologists to image “3D objects” directly, in open 3D space, as opposed to creating 3D information in their brain, by studying an array of 2D images [1]. The results, based on Interactive Mixed Reality (IMR) showed an improvement in workflow […]
Study of perception and memory in older adults will improve understanding of dementias
Xiaoping Hu | Via UC Riverside | June 7, 2021UC Riverside scientists will use a $2 million NIH grant to study the brain’s locus coeruleus UC Riverside has received a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Aging to study how the brain’s main norepinephrine production center regulates perception and memory in older adults. The results could improve noninvasive diagnoses and treatments for […]