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.
Clunky CRISPR Flaunts Smooth Moves in Gene Regulation
Charles Gersbach | Via Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | September 24, 2019Sleek CRISPR systems get almost all the attention. They rely on single-protein nucleases instead of multiunit effectors, which are, presumably, too unwieldy for gene engineering applications. Yet CRISPR jumbles have been given a tumble by scientists at Duke University. Led by Charles Gersbach, PhD, the Rooney Family associate professor of biomedical engineering and Adrian Oliver, […]
Malawi study confirms lasting impact of life-saving technology
Rebecca Richards-Kortum | Via EurekAlert | September 20, 2019Malawi’s national adoption of affordable, rugged, neonatal CPAP technology as a part of routine hospital care resulted in sustained improvements in the survival of babies with respiratory illness, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics. Malawi, in southeast Africa, has the world’s highest preterm birth rate, with almost 1 in 5 babies born […]
Prostate-imaging camera captures molecular detail to detect cancer, study finds
Sam Gambhir | Via Stanford School of Medicine | September 20, 2019Getting a close look at the prostate is critical for detecting cancer, but its rather intimate positioning (just in front of the rectum) makes it difficult to image. Now, Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir, MD, PhD, professor and chair of radiology, thinks he has a solution: a newly devised hybrid camera. Traditionally, prostate cancer is detected via […]
Antibody “road block” enables fine-tuning for cardiac recovery, decreases risk of heart failure
David Merryman | Via Vanderbilt University | September 19, 2019More than one million Americans per year experience myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, as well as the healing and rebuilding phase that begins shortly thereafter – a complicated process which involves remodeling and repairing the heart. This process is known as the granulation phase and is critical for healing. But due to […]
BME Prof Paul Dayton receives 2019 W.R. Kenan Distinguished Professor Appointment
Paul Dayton | Via UNC and NC State | September 18, 2019This week the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost announced that BME Professor Paul Dayton is receiving a W.R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor appointment. Professor Dayton, a biomedical ultrasound engineer, is also Associate Chair at the UNC/ NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. Moreover, he is Professor in the UNC Eshelman School of […]
Suntanner, Heal Thyself: Exosome Therapy May Enable Better Repair of Sun, Age-Damaged Skin
Ke Cheng | Via NC State News | September 18, 2019In the future, you could be your very own fountain of youth – or at least your own skin repair reservoir. In a proof-of-concept study, researchers from North Carolina State University have shown that exosomes harvested from human skin cells are more effective at repairing sun-damaged skin cells in mice than popular retinol or stem […]
Novel Approach to Ultrasound Raises Possibility of New Medical Applications
Paul Dayton | Via NC State News | September 17, 2019A new ultrasound technique provides a non-invasive way of assessing bone structure on the microscale. Researchers hope to fine-tune the technique for use in assessing osteoporosis risk and treatment. Researchers have also demonstrated that a variation of the same technique can distinguish between tumors and healthy tissue in a study using laboratory rats… Continue reading.
New Polymer Heart Valve Implanted in First Patient
Morteza Gharib | Via Caltech | September 17, 2019The new Tria heart valve was created by Foldax® Inc., a Caltech startup cofounded by Mory Gharib, the Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioinspired Engineering in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science. Gharib and his team worked closely with Foldax lead designer Jason Beith in designing the new valve. It was implanted […]
Huge space hotel promises fake gravity and ‘supersized basketball’
Wolfgang Fink | Via NBC News | September 14, 2019For many people, getting away from it all means decamping to a cabin in the woods or a house by the beach. Soon there may be another option: lifting off to a hotel serenely orbiting high above the planet. Though space hotels have long belonged only to the world of make-believe, that’s about to change. […]
On-the-move cancer cells prefer a “comfort cruise,” follow predictable paths of least resistance
Cynthia Reinhart-King | Via Vanderbilt Engineering | September 13, 2019According to the researchers, migrating cancer cells decide which path in the body to travel based on how much energy it takes, opting to move through wider, easier to navigate spaces rather than smaller, confined spaces to reduce energy requirements during movement. These findings suggest energy expenditure and metabolism are significant factors within metastatic migration, […]
Modern medicine: Electrical bandage zaps wounds
Xudong Wang | Via KTVA | September 12, 2019Researchers have created a bandage-like device that can seal up wounds in a revolutionary way. This device could be the next big thing in modern medicine when it comes to healing acute and chronic wounds. We have electric cars, razors and now an electric bandage? Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have developed an electrode-dressed […]
Could an Extracellular Matrix Gel Rebuild MI-Damaged Hearts?
Karen Christman | Via Medpage Yoday | September 11, 2019For MI survivors with moderate left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, an injectable biomaterial designed to mimic healthy extracellular matrix (ECM) was found to be safe in a phase I study. Billed as a potential new approach to heart failure, VentriGel is an ECM hydrogel made from decellularized porcine myocardium and delivered by transendocardial injection using a […]
Anaerobically Stored Red Blood Cells May Improve Transfusion Outcomes in Hemorrhagic Shock
Pedro Cabrales | Via News Wise | September 3, 2019Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) stored anaerobically – in the absence of oxygen – is a promising technique to improve resuscitation from hemorrhagic shock, according to animal studies reported in SHOCK®: Injury, Inflammation, and Sepsis: Laboratory and Clinical Approaches, Official Journal of the Shock Society. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by […]
Sitting Tall
Rory Cooper | Via Inventors Digest | September 1, 2019Rory Cooper struggled to contain hi pinballing emotions from the podium in Seoul, South Korea, while the world watched. The man always in motion had arrived in an almost unthinkable way. Cooper had won the bronze medal in the 4-by-400-meter wheelchair relay at the 1988 Paralympic Games, his participation the culmination of an impossible dream […]
Biomaterials Smarten up with CRISPR
James Collins | Via Lab Manager | August 23, 2019The CRISPR-Cas system has become the go-to tool for researchers who study genes in an ever-growing list of organisms, and is being used to develop new gene therapies that potentially can correct a defect at a single nucleotide position of the vast reaches of the genome. It is also being harnessed in ongoing diagnostic approaches […]
A Rapid Method for Label-Free Enrichment of Rare Trophoblast Cells from Cervical Samples
Anubhav Tripathi | Via Nature | August 20, 2019Abstract: Extravillous trophoblasts (EVTs) have the potential to provide the entire fetal genome for prenatal testing. Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of EVTs in the cervical canal and the ability to retrieve a small quantity of these cells by cervical sampling. However, these small quantities of trophoblasts are far outnumbered by the population of […]
NYU Tandon startup paves the way for pesticide-free cannabis, wine grapes, and other high-value crops
Jin Kim Montclare | Via EurekAlert | August 20, 2019Brooklyn Bioscience, a startup company commercializing university research to detoxify a common and dangerous class of pesticides, recently received another round of funding – this time in the form of a $250,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The New York University School of Engineering team behind Brooklyn Bioscience is engineering proteins to remediate and […]
Suit up with a robot to walk and run more easily
Conor Walsh | Via Science Daily | August 15, 2019Researchers in academic and industry labs have previously developed robotic devices for rehabilitation and other areas of life that can either assist walking or running, but no untethered portable device could efficiently do both. Assisting walking and running with a single device is challenging because of the fundamentally different biomechanics of the two gaits. However, […]
Penn Bioengineering Faculty Member Paul Ducheyne Receives the European Society for Biomaterials’ International Award
Paul Ducheyne | Via University of Pennsylvania Department of Bioengineering | August 15, 2019We would like to congratulate Paul Ducheyne, Ph.D., a Professor in the Bioengineering Department and a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery Research at Penn, on being selected for the International Award by the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB). The International Award is one of the ESB’s highest honors, recognizing scientists who have spent the majority of […]