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.
Karen Moxon Leads $36M Effort to Improve Recovery From Spinal Cord Injuries
Karen Moxon | Via UC Davis | September 30, 2020Engineers at the University of California, Davis, will lead a consortium of universities, biomedical startups and nonprofit organizations to develop interventions for spinal cord injuries that can be applied within days of injury to improve long-term outcomes. Karen Moxon, professor of biomedical engineering at UC Davis, will lead the five-year, $36 million contract as part […]
Prototype Graft, Designed to Replace Damaged Heart Vessels, Shows Promise in Cell Study
Ozan Akkus | Via NC State University | September 29, 2020In a proof-of-concept study, North Carolina State University researchers reported promising preclinical findings for a prototype of a vascular graft designed as a replacement for a damaged or blocked coronary artery, which supplies blood to the heart. The findings, which were made in partnership with researchers from Case Western Reserve University, are part of an […]
Meditation for mind-control
Bin He | Via Carnegie Mellon | September 28, 2020A brain-computer interface, or BCI, is an apparatus that allows an individual to control a machine or computer directly from their brain. Non-invasive means of control like electroencephalogram (EEG) readings taken through the skull are safe and convenient compared to more risky, invasive methods using a brain implant, but they take longer to learn and […]
Vannevar Bush Award Given to Roderic Pettigrew, Innovator in Biomedicine and Technology
Roderic Pettigrew | Via National Science Board | September 28, 2020On September 28, 2020, the National Science Board (NSB) announced that Roderic Pettigrew will receive its prestigious Vannevar Bush Award. The award honors science and technology leaders who have made substantial contributions to the welfare of the nation through public service in science, technology and public policy. “Roderic Pettigrew’s passion and creativity have spurred innovation […]
COVID test site differences, a fourth option in the works
Rebecca Richards-Kortum | Via Rice University | September 24, 2020Rice’s Crisis Management Team plans to add a fourth and more rapid COVID-19 testing option on the Rice campus. Currently there are three sites that provide daily testing for asymptomatic students, staff and faculty who spend time on campus. All three of these current sites (Abercrombie Engineering Laboratory, East Gym in the Tudor Fieldhouse and […]
Exploring novel gene therapy approaches to treat ocular disease
Jordan Green | Via Ophthalmology Times | September 24, 2020Nanoparticles have been used to deliver gene therapy to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in mice and rats. As reported in ScienceDaily, the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) investigators used a uniquely engineered large molecule that facilitated compaction of large bundles of therapeutic DNA to be delivered into the ocular cells. This approach does not depend […]
Introducing COVID19questions.org
Lucila Ohno-Machado | Via UC San Diego Health | September 17, 2020As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there is an urgent need to determine who is at greatest risk for severe disease, better understand how the disease and treatments evolve, and predict the need for resources. But to get there, researchers and clinicians need more data about what patients have experienced so far, and what factors are […]
Bone Cancer Treatment Potentially Improved by Soy
Susmita Bose | Via Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News | September 16, 2020Soy is widely studied for its estrogenic and anti-estrogenic effects on the body. It has been linked to a reduced risk of breast cancer and recurrence, improved heart and bone health, as well as the reduced risk of other cancers. Now researchers at Washington State University (WSU) see the potential of soy when it comes […]
Farach-Carson, Young win grant to study possible treatment for xerostomia
Cindy Farach-Carson | Via UT Health Science Center | September 14, 2020The OMS Foundation has awarded a $75,000 grant to UTHealth School of Dentistry at Houston for development of stem cell therapy for xerostomia (severe dry mouth) using minor salivary glands. Professor Mary (Cindy) Farach-Carson, PhD, director of clinical and translational research, is the study’s principal investigator, with Simon Young, DDS, MD, PhD, assistant professor in […]
Add human-genome produced RNA to the list of cell surface molecules
Sheng Zhong | Via UCSD | September 10, 2020Bioengineers at UC San Diego have shown that human-genome produced RNA is present on the surface of human cells, suggesting a more expanded role for RNA in cell-to-cell and cell-to-environment interactions than previously thought. This new type of membrane-associated extracellular RNA (maxRNA) is found in human cells that are not undergoing cell death, shedding light […]
A new kind of prosthetics
Dustin Tyler | Via ABC 12, Gray Media Group | September 9, 2020There are nearly two million people in the United States who are living with a loss of a limb. The causes vary … from vascular disease to cancer and trauma. And it’s estimated half of all amputees with powered prosthesis don’t use them. They don’t like how they feel or that they cannot feel. Now […]
Markers may predict patient response to immune therapy of cancer
Rakesh Jain | Via EurekAlert | September 7, 2020For many individuals with different types of cancer, immune checkpoint inhibitors can effectively boost their immune system to fight their disease, but not all patients benefit from these medications. Now a team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) has developed an approach to help identify potential clinical markers […]
First Demonstration of Neuro Therapeutic Tropane Alkaloids Produced in Yeast
Christina Smolke | Via Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News | September 3, 2020Researchers report the first successful microbial biosynthesis of the tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine, a class of neuromuscular blockers naturally found in plants in the nightshade family. Describing a first-in-class fermentation-based approach for producing complex molecules, the paper lays the foundation for a controlled, flexible, cell-based manufacturing platform for essential medicines that currently rely on […]
Blood test detects common cancer types 4 years before current screening methods
Kun Zhang | Via Healio | September 3, 2020A novel blood-based assay demonstrated the ability to detect five cancer types up to 4 years earlier than current screening methods, according to study results published in Nature Communications. The noninvasive PanSeer test (Singlera Genomics), which is based on DNA methylation, detected stomach, esophageal, colorectal, lung and liver cancer in 91% of asymptomatic individuals who […]
Predictive placentas: Using artificial intelligence to protect mothers’ future pregnancies
Philip LeDuc | Via EurekAlert | September 2, 2020After a baby is born, doctors sometimes examine the placenta–the organ that links the mother to the baby–for features that indicate health risks in any future pregnancies. Unfortunately, this is a time-consuming process that must be performed by a specialist, so most placentas go unexamined after the birth. A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon […]
Scientists use two powerful immunotherapies to eradicate solid tumors
Yuman Fong | Via Science Daily | September 2, 2020City of Hope scientists have combined two potent immunotherapies — an oncolytic virus and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy — to target and eradicate solid tumors that are otherwise difficult to treat with CAR T therapy alone, according to a new Science Translational Medicine study. In preclinical research that could lead to a […]
Scientists Show How Brain Flexibility Emerges in Infants
Weili Lin | Via UNC Healthcare | August 31, 2020Cognitive flexibility, which refers to the brain’s ability to switch between mental processes in response to external stimuli and different task demands, seems to begin developing during the first two years of life, which is much earlier than previously thought. UNC BRIC researchers led by Weili Lin, PhD, used magnetic resonance imaging techniques to show […]
Scientists Show How Brain Flexibility Emerges in Infants
Dinggang Shen | Via UNC Healthcare | August 31, 2020Cognitive flexibility, which refers to the brain’s ability to switch between mental processes in response to external stimuli and different task demands, seems to begin developing during the first two years of life, which is much earlier than previously thought. UNC BRIC researchers led by Weili Lin, PhD, used magnetic resonance imaging techniques to show […]
Physiological Test for Autism Proves Effective Independent of Co-occurring Conditions
Juergen Hahn | Via Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | August 28, 2020Model developed at Rensselaer predicts diagnosis despite the presence of other medical conditions Developing a physiological test for diagnosing autism spectrum disorder (ASD), one that measures certain components in the blood, has the potential to be a paradigm shift for diagnosing ASD. However, the large heterogeneity of how ASD affects individuals has long been viewed […]
Neuroimaging experts are using AI to establish imaging biomarkers for brain disorders
Vince Calhoun | Via Health Imaging | August 26, 2020Neuroimaging experts at Georgia State University are using artificial intelligence to map the distinct brain patterns of various mental illnesses.
The project is being led by Vince Calhoun, PhD, director of the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science, and Sergey Plis, director of machine learning at the TReNDS center. Using various datasets, they plan to develop multi-modal biomarkers to help diagnose mental health disorders such as schizophrenia and depression