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.
Destroying Senescent Stem Cells in the Brain Enhances Cognitive Function in Mice
David Kaplan | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | January 21, 2022In vivo studies headed by researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, have demonstrated that destroying senescent cells in the aging stem cell niche enhances hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive function in mice. “Our results provide further support for the notion that excessive senescence is a driving factor behind aging, and even late-life reduction […]
Strategies to minimize heterogeneity and optimize clinical trials in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS): Insights from mathematical modelling
Rakesh Jain | Via Science Direct | January 20, 2022We demonstrate that modelling of COVID-19 pathobiology can suggest biomarkers that predict optimal response to a given immunomodulatory treatment. Mathematical modelling thus constitutes a novel adjunct to predictive enrichment and may aid in the reduction of heterogeneity in critical care trials… Continue reading.
Renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system inhibitors and survival in patients with hypertension treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors
Rakesh Jain | Via Science Direct | January 20, 2022In this large retrospective study, patients with hypertension who were concomitantly taking a RAAS inhibitor during ICI therapy had better overall survival. This benefit was primarily noted among patients with gastrointestinal and genitourinary cancers. Prospective randomized trials are warranted to further evaluate and specify the benefit of RAAS inhibitors in patients with cancer who receive […]
UCLA’s Virtual Histology Could Eliminate Need for Invasive Biopsies for Some Skin Conditions and Cancers
Aydogan Ozcan | Via Dark Daily | January 19, 2022What effect would elimination of tissue biopsies have on dermatopathology and clinical laboratory revenue? Quite a lot. Dermatologists alone account for a significant portion of skin biopsies sent to dermatopathologists. Thus, any new technology that can “eliminate the need for invasive skin biopsies” would greatly reduce the number of histopathological referrals and reduce revenue to […]
Researchers pilot ‘itty bitty’ device for earlier ovarian cancer detection
Jennifer Barton | Via University of Arizona | January 18, 2022Due to a lack of effective screening and diagnostic tools, more than three-fourths of ovarian cancer cases are not found until the cancer is in an advanced stage. As a result, fewer than half of all women with ovarian cancer survive more than five years after diagnosis. Jennifer Barton, director of the University of Arizona […]
Nanotherapy offers new hope for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes
Guillermo Ameer | Via Northwestern University | January 17, 2022Individuals living with Type 1 diabetes must carefully follow prescribed insulin regimens every day, receiving injections of the hormone via syringe, insulin pump or some other device. And without viable long-term treatments, this course of treatment is a lifelong sentence. Pancreatic islets control insulin production when blood sugar levels change, and in Type 1 diabetes, […]
UT Southwestern develops nanotherapeutic to ward off liver cancer
Andrew Wang | Via UT Southwestern Medical Center | January 14, 2022Physician researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed an innovative nanotherapeutic drug that prevents cancer from spreading to the liver in mice. The new liver-specific microRNA drug, developed by a team led by Andrew Wang, M.D., is a promising candidate for drug companies that developed messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines for COVID-19, because of similarities […]
Mathematical model may help improve treatments and clinical trials of patients with COVID-19 and other illnesses
Rakesh Jain | Via Massachusetts General Hospital | January 14, 2022A mathematical model revealed that the optimal time to initiate immune-modulating therapy in COVID-19 differed according to patients’ medical history and risk factors. Different patients also required different types of immunomodulation for optimal therapy. Certain biological markers that differed based on patient characteristics determined optimal treatment initiation time, and these markers pointed to particular biologic […]
Nanostructures get complex with electron equivalents
Chad Mirkin | Via University of Michigan | January 13, 2022Complex crystals that mimic metals—including a structure for which there is no natural equivalent—can be achieved with a new approach to guiding nanoparticle self-assembly. Rather than just nanoparticles that serve as “atom equivalents,” the crystals produced and interpreted by Northwestern University, University of Michigan and Argonne National Laboratory rely on even smaller particles that simulate […]
Two antibodies synergize in triple whammy to pediatric cancers, study finds
Heike Daldrup-Link | Via Stanford Medicine | January 13, 2022A combination of anti-cancer antibodies produced a powerfully synergistic response in two hard-to-treat pediatric cancers, according to a new study, in mice, led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The results, which published online Jan. 13 in Nature Medicine, provide hope for better treatments of neuroblastoma, a cancer affecting young children that […]
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 […]