April 2015

PIONEER

VOLUME IX | APR 2015 | ISSUE 6

THEPIONEER.GATECH.EDU

RESEARCH Find out more about Dr. Kemp’s immunoengineering research.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

By Sarah Gonzales Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

From the Editor in Chief PIONEER Greetings all, The semester is quickly winding down to a whirlwind close with yet-to-becompleted projects looming large, and finals to be studied (read: crammed) for. But, within a few short weeks, the summer shall be upon and students off on internships across the country, studying abroad in a different country, traveling and taking time off – or staying on campus to take classes, again. Regardless of plans, we at the Pioneer wish all of you the best of luck during these last couple of weeks – so stay strong, stay diligent, and stay hungry as we embark on this final stretch.

For the past month, the Pioneer staff has been busy assembling a new issue to close out the academic year. Featured in this issue, we have a trio of spotlights for your reading pleasure. The first is a Research Spotlight, featuring the work being done in Dr. Melissa Kemp’s lab with regards to immunoengineeing and the modeling techniques being worked on her in lab to develop a more thorough understanding of cell and immune responses. The second is a Faculty Spotlight featuring Dr. Joe LeDoux, one of the department’s most involved professors in undergraduate studies, and the third is a Graduate Spotlight featuring Yogi Patel, a Ph.D. candidate under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Butera. In addition, we also have a Learning Commons article talking about the newly opened Podcast Studio (be sure to check it out when you get a chance!) and a frontlines report from the ninth annual American Student Medical Association conference here at Georgia Tech.

For more regular updates on the happenings of the biotechnology community, feel free to like our Facebook page at facebook.com/gtpioneer, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/pioneergt and take a glance at more online content at thepioneer.gatech.edu. If you would like, you can also reach us by e-mail at thepioneer@gatech.edu. Thank you for your continual support, and we hope you enjoy this issue!

Until Next Time, Jonathan Austin Editor-in-Chief Pioneer

Established 2007

EDITOR IN CHIEF Jonathan Austin

FACULTY SPONSOR Barbara Fasse, Ph.D. OPERATIONS SECRETARY TREASURER PUBLIC RELATIONS

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Tino Zhang Sameer Mishra

Hee Su Lee Maithili Appalwar

Lim WEBMASTERS Arthur Shehab Attia

Kelsey Williams

STAFF WRITERS Abhinaya Uthayakumar Akanksha Bhatia Shanzeh Farooqui Sarah Gonzales Brandon Holt Ann Johnson Yinglin Li Andrew McNair Alaap Murali Dhara Patel Tanvi Rao Erik Sampayo Linda Tian Nadiya Zafar

EDITORS Catherine Chou

Nader Abdullahi Andrew Akers Sruti Bheri Alexis Blazier Julie Chow Hardika Dhir Elizabeth Johnson Amanda Klinker Meera Nathan Likhit Nayak Melanie Yoshimura

Enhanced immune responses by skin vaccination with influenza subunit vaccine in young hosts Dimitrios G. Koutsonanos, E. Stein Esser, Sean R. McMaster, Priya Kalluri, Jeong-Woo Lee, Mark R. Prausnitz, Ioanna Skountzou, Timothy L. Denning, Richard W. Compans Vaccine.

How would you like your yearly flu vaccine? Shot? Mist? Or Sticker? Recent developments from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Tech and from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory may soon make this the question du jour from your local physician. The vaccine sticker, more formally known as microneedle patches (MN), has been shown to be especially effective in vaccinating the young, who are most at risk of complications from the flu. In their study using young mice, MN administration was found to be more effective than the standard Intramuscular vaccination, leading to higher numbers of influenza-specific antibody secreting cells.

Microneedles, having the benefit for ease of delivery and substantially less biohazardous waste, may even increase compliance rates in vaccination, keeping up that ever important herd immunity. Stickers to the rescue!

Engineering as a new frontier for translational medicine Shu Chien, Rashid Bashir, Roobert M. Nerem, Roderic Pettigrew Science Translational Medicine.

A couple times a semester, a typical BME may ask themselves what in the world are they doing with their life. The Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience has kindly reminded us to take heart. We BMEs are exactly where we need to be, according to their investigations on the role of biomedical engineers in the rapidly expanding field of translational medicine. Since 2000 the National Institute of Health has steadily increased funding toward biomedical engineering research. Furthermore, they posit that the emergence of more MD-PhD programs and MS programs in Translational Medicine will create a paradigm shift in the education of physicians and biomedical engineers.

Pre-med and biomed may one day be the same degree which is heartening news to all the pre-med biomedical engineers currently in the Coulter Department.

LAYOUT EDITORS Joy Kim

Kevin Bai Candice Cheung Brandi Nevius Diane Nguyen Pearly Pandya Michelle Tourchak Yuyan Wang Yiran Zhao

PHOTOGRAPHERS Morgan Hinchey

INSIDE PIONEER SELECTED PUBLICATIONS…………………….………….…………..…………...…...….......3 IMPULSES..........................................................…….………………….…….…….……….....4 LEARNING COMMONS........………………..………………………..…..…...………...............5 INVENTURE..........................………………..………………………..…..…...………...............6 FACULTY SPOTLIGHT......................……………..…….……...……….….......…………........7

Dustin Blohm Wanda Chen Paige McQuade Anokhi Patel Maya Rajan Connor Sofia Hyunjun (Fred) Woo Jimmy Zhou

COLLABORATORS Karen Adams

Paul Fincannon Courtney Lucas Ferencik Sally Gerrish Vaibhav Gupta Melissa Kemp Joe Le Doux Yogi Patel

Dr. Joe Le Doux

EVENTS AND DEADLINES.....………………………….…..………………..……...……..........7 RESEARCH SERIES...........………….…......…………...…………..……….………..…..........8 Dr. Melissa Kemp

GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT......................................................................................................9 Yogi Patel

BIOTECH REVIEW............................................…….………………….…….….….………..10 That’s so BME....................................................................................................................10 HEALTH..............................………….…......…………...…………..……….………..….........11 BME ANSWERS.................................................................................................................11

A multicontrast approach for comprehensive imaging of substantia nigra Jason Langley, Daniel E. Huddleston, Xiangchaun Chem, Jan Sedlacik, Nishant Zachariah, Xiaoping Hu Neuroimage.

Say cheese! In a recent publication from the Langley lab, a new approach to taking pictures of the substantia nigra has been developed. It is hoped that the new method will allow for better visualization of possible degeneration and iron deposition in the area of the brain responsible for novelty processing and reward based learning. The process, which includes magnetization transfer imaging and susceptibility weighted imaging, leads to a more comprehensive picture of the substantia nigra. From that a better diagnostic tool for the progression of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders is on the way.

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IMPULSES

LEARNING COMMONS

IMPULSES

PODCASTS

def: a driving force or motivation; an impetus

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By Wanda Chen Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

JARAD HEIMER

5th Year, BME

“I want to go into industry, particularly cardiovascular devices. My little brother has severe heart problems – SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia) and a couple other things doctors aren’t sure about right now. That just kind of drove me towards this subset of BME … I want to go with something to make a patient’s life easier – his life easier – and try to help as many people as I can in general.”

5th Year, BME

POOJA MOHAPATRA

“I’m really excited to graduate but at the same time I’m really sad because I’m going to miss my roommate, all my friends, my advisors – I’m really going to miss this school … and I will miss BME, I think it was a good pick for me. I liked the faculty within the department a lot and the students.

Everyone started out so competitive in BMED 1300, out to kind of get each other, but it’s cool to see the transition to how everyone’s become so collaborative and willing to work with each other. That whole transition and being able to grow with my peers, I’m going to miss that a lot.”

DAVID NAMKOONG

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2nd Year, BME

“I’m interested in creating devices for sports and physical injury … I didn’t get into sports until my sophomore year of high school, when I started watching football and baseball. I noticed they seemed to have some protocol issues, how to handle severe injury, things like concussion testing or recovery from a MCL or ACL sprain. I’d like to delve into that and make devices or possibly medicine to help treat those injuries.”

More Impulses can be found on our facebook page www.facebook.com/gtpioneer

By Akanksha Bhatia Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

he BME Department has a new exciting component to offer to students and faculty due to the efforts of the Learning Commons – The Podcast Studio! This studio will serve as an innovative way for students to teach other, for faculty to experiment with flipped classrooms, and for the BME community to share stories about their adventures and journeys. Dr. Joseph LeDoux, faculty lead of the Learning Commons, and Malavika Sanghvi, an early student pioneer of the program, volunteered their time to offer more insight into this venture.

The genesis of the podcast studio began with a desire expressed by the students for more information about the faculty, the careers, and the future of undergraduates in BME. Dr. LeDoux credits the conception of the studio to a thorough brainstorming session in which students and faculty created a matrix of scenarios and needs that different groups of people within BME could have. Per Malavika, the goal was to create something which could work in sync with the “ultimate motto” of the learning commons, “facilitating collaboration at different levels within the department” - hence, the conception of the podcast studio.

Dr. LeDoux hopes for the podcast to be a movement within BME. He believes “stories are the best way to learn” and sees the podcast as the best medium by which to convey this idea. Malavika mentioned a lack of awareness amongst students about available resources and she hopes that through the “memorable and informative stories” provided by the podcast that this gap can be amended.

The podcast studio also creates leadership opportunities as the program is looking for founders to kick-start this initiative. Dr. LeDoux describes these students as ‘intrepreneurs’ (an entrepreneur in their department). He believes the podcast will be crucial in addressing the need to define BME, the available opportunities in the field, and the chance to learn about professors and their work in the field. Since this is a podcast, anyone will be able to subscribe and thus Dr. LeDoux hopes that this podcast will also gain traction outside of Georgia Tech and foster a whole BME community. A few podcast examples that Malavika envisions are “Behind-the-scenes @ Inventure”, “A Day in the Life of a Tech Alum” and “An Interview with a Faculty Member”.

Usage of the studio is expected to function like the room reservation concept for the CULC and will be open for anyone for use. The studio is located on the fourth floor of Whitaker and is equipped with two microphones, mixers, headphones, macs, a tablet that captures anything written on its screen, Go-Pro cameras, and voice recorders – basically everything needed to capture high quality sound! Currently, a sophisticated website along the lines of “This American Life” is needed to upload the podcasts so that anybody can listen to them (developers are welcome to help!).

There are no requirements for joining the team, so those who are interested can apply by emailing either Malavika or Dr. LeDoux. While there will be standard leadership roles, Dr. LeDoux envisions the team as being a scrum team (everyone is at the same level hence there is no hierarchy). The team is currently in search of copy editors, sound engineers, reporters, hosts, and managers and is not major-restricted to just BME so please feel free to apply.

Dr. LeDoux hopes that one day the studio will be overbooked! The Pioneer hopes to help him achieve that dream and encourages students and faculty to help this initiative gain traction.

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INVENTURE

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

CDSORT

DR. LE DOUX

By Akanksha Bhatia Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department It takes the urban poor population in America at least two weeks to get results from an HIV test. When asked about the severity of this delay, Vaibhav replied, “At the end of the day, urban populations with unstable testing environments or issues at home could not promptly see their results and that was a huge, huge issue”. Further complicating the issue, a majority of this population frequently does not maintain a steady phone number or address making it difficult for medical facilities to return the testing results, as the location where an individual is treated depends on their CD4 count.

Vaibhav Gupta is part of the CDSort team which has devised a point-of-care device for measuring CD4. (Photo: Maya Rajan)

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his past semester, the Pioneer was fortunate to be able to interview a semi-finalist team for the Inventure Prize, CDSort.

The team, consisting of fourth-year Vaibhav Gupta, fifthyear Alec Clifford and recent graduates Ashley Hardy and Alex Lovett, had devised a point-of-care device for measuring CD4, also known as T-helper cells. Tests for CD4 cell counts are usually used to provide an indirect method of measuring the strength of an immune system, particularly for HIV/AIDs diagnosis.

CDSort is based upon a technique called Flow Cytometry and another called the Coulter Principle to count CD4 by using an antibody that attaches itself to cells. The issue with counting CD4 is picking up the trace; thus, the team created a “home-made” microscope and associated software to resolve this issue. In the end, this solution was created with the intent to help people get information about their HIV progression in a timely manner.

This led team CDSort to create a quicker treatment method, which in turn earned them a chance to complete through the semi-final round in the Inventure Prize. In competing, Vaibhav explained that - while the prospect of obtaining a patent was alluring - the group was driven by both the chance to experience the world of innovation, as judges rigorously evaluated their idea and its feasibility, and the opportunity to bring their product to the masses.

At the same time, Vaibhav felt that the amount of support CDsort gained during the competitive experience greatly depended upon how much help was given by those from who the group sought assistance. In fact, CDsort’s project advisor was crucial in securing the team critical resources, putting them in contact with the Center for AIDS Research in Atlanta and even personally contributing funds to the project.

When asked for advice that he would give to other innovators, Vaibhav emphasized the importance of doing something about which one can be enthusiastic and passionate. He also stressed the importance of staying humble as pride can prevent acceptance of feedback from others and even the acknowledgement of the flaws in an idea.

Finally, Vaibhav encouraged the utilization of on-campus resources such as Startup Exchange, professors, and research labs, especially for those interested in innovation. He further suggested BME students use Georgia Tech’s partnership with Emory and to also take advantage of the advising staff, notably Paul Fincannon and Sally Gerrish, who were a constant source of motivation and encouragement for team CDSort. Team CDSort would like to thank everyone who has supported the project during competition; we at the Pioneer wish them all the best as they continue to develop their product.

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By Brandon Holt Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

t the forefront of undergraduate BME education here at Georgia Tech stands a professor by the name of Dr. Le Doux. Many of you may have already taken a class under him, but, after sitting down and having the chance to talk with him, it turns out there is plenty more to Dr. Le Doux than meets the eye both inside and outside of the classroom.

His wife of 26 years is a science teacher at Decatur High School, and together they have two children. The youngest of the two just began his studies at Georgia State with a major in music composition (playing the saxophone, among many other instruments). The eldest is a recent graduate of Georgia Tech and is now working for Microsoft. Dr. Le Doux became a running man in his forties and quickly worked his way up the ladder; he recently just completed a half-marathon and, in fact, competed in the Boston Marathon in 2009. As many might know, Le Doux is heavily involved with the joint BME-AE study abroad program in Limerick, Ireland and he is already signed up to participate in a 10k-run this coming summer.

Dr. Le Doux found the start of his career in the Navy - for which his father had previously served - performing entry-level desk jobs working with submarines and nuclear reactors. He then went on to grad school after which he began research on gene therapy and regenerative medicine, a passion he still maintains and eagerly follows. Recently, however, an underlying interest he has long maintained in the process of human thought, understanding, and the intraindividual transfer of information and knowledge has led him to now follow a calling in understanding the mechanics of teaching. As such, Le Doux thoroughly cares about the quality of his students’ growth in his classes and wants to better understand what goes into the development and refinement of an individual’s problem solving skills. In fact, Le Doux is now receiving grants from the National Science Foundation to conduct studies on what makes somebody a good problem solver.

Dr. Le Doux with plaques and medals from races including the Boston Marathon. (Photo: Dustin Blohm)

All of these passions are indicative of Dr. Le Doux’s continual commitment to understanding the world around him; for him, there are no afterhours. Even with this dedication to his work, he is still able to maintain and foster a close and loving relationship with his family. In the end, Le Doux is an exemplar, committed to teaching, discovery, and passions outside of academia, and has come to represent the caliber of BME faculty here at Georgia Tech.

EVENTS AND DEADLINES APR 21 Bioengineering Series Dr. Vladimir Muzykantov 11 AM — Petit Room 1128 MAY 12 Breakfast Club Seminar Dr. Matthew Torres 8:30 AM — Petit Room 1128

MAY 13 Regenerative Medicine Workshop Harbourtown Conference Center, Hilton Head MAY 17 BEINGS 2015 Biotech and the Ethical Imagination 8 AM — The Tabernacle

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RESEARCH

GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT

IMMUNOENGINEERING

YOGI PATEL

By Ann Johnson Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

By Andrew McNair Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

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n our conversation, Dr. Kemp prefaced discussion of her research with a quick description of an up-and-coming field dubbed ‘immunoengineering’ of which she and her colleagues are helping to explore. The basis of Immunoengineering is the usage of real-time cell modeling techniques to better understand the effect a particular cell process can have on overall cell function. For instance, at the Suddath Symposium, a gathering focused on bringing together immunoengineers for collaboration and sharing of ideas, Dr. Kemp presented her research on “Computational Approaches for Interrogating ROS/Calcium Crosstalk in T Cells.” This use of modeling techniques to better quantify and classify cell behavior can, in turn, lead to a wide variety of applications in health and disease research.

Dr. Kemp’s research focuses on the cell’s capacity to adapt to foreign presences in the body. In particular, Dr. Kemp tests the effects of reactive oxygen species, super oxides, free radicals, and many other variables to determine how well the protein circuitry in cells can seek peptides on the surface of foreign cells, bind to these cells, and interpret the signal being conveyed by the binding itself. Testing these cells in an experimental setting has proven difficult because they move around so much, so Dr. Kemp and her team have built custommade chips that serve as traps so the cells can be held still and

observed during experimentation. These chips are filled with elaborately detailed and delicate mazes cut specifically to trap the different cells Dr. Kemp’s lab works with. The information gathered from these traps allows a model to be built of how the proteins behave. The goal of these models is to build a greater understanding of how the extremely complex and diverse immune system works, an understanding that may be invaluable in the future development of techniques to battle autoimmune and infectious diseases.

After discussing how a desire to overcome weakness often leads to a person’s career goal choice, Dr. Kemp gave some tips to undergraduates interested in research. The most important qualities Dr. Kemp looks for in students who desire to work in her lab is a strong commitment to the work, the ability to prioritize, and a knack for time management. Our conversation ended on a lighter note with a fun tidbit about Dr. Kemp: though all of her work is based on computational modeling and simulations, she has a bit of trouble retaining phone numbers or any string of numbers of that ilk. Regardless, the research that Dr. Kemp and her colleagues are conducting in the field of immunoengineering today will surely help pave the way for innovative medical solutions in the future.

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ogi Patel says he doesn’t believe in luck, but considers himself lucky. Why? Because Mr. Patel – a Ph.D. student in the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience – has worked for the past several years in the lab of Dr. Robert Butera.

Patel says working with Dr. Butera gave him the opportunity to find out what type of research excites him and identify the direction in life that he wants to pursue after he finishes his Ph.D. Patel’s research spans a number of disciplines, and his experience is just as diverse – he has taught an undergraduate course for two and a half years, has taught various labs, and has even conducted research in fields outside of his thesis. And his work has not gone unnoticed: in November 2014, he received a Young Investigator Award at the BRAIN Grand Challenges Conference held by the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society in Washington, D.C. Patel is mainly interested in researching the autonomic functions of the brain and how the brain communicates with different organs – in particular, how the brain regulates the liver to raise or lower glucose levels. His research involves interfacing with peripheral nerves in order “to understand what the liver is doing at any given point.” Interestingly, Patel’s background is not in engineering at all; he attended Mercer University in Macon, where he studied biochemistry, math, and computer science. Why, then, pursue a Ph.D. in engineering? In Patel’s words, he was “trying to find a way to take the understanding of the life sciences world that I had … and then add engineering into it to come up with ways of getting things to be useful for the real world.”

Although he is passionate about his research of the brain, a topic he says will interest him for a lifetime, Patel has a vision of the future that does not just end in the lab: he wants to run his own medical device startup. Patel is a fellow in the Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results (TI:GER) program through the Scheller College of Business. His team, which consists of Emory law students, Tech MBA students, and himself, has come up with an innovative way of glucose monitoring for diabetic pets.

The end goal is to apply this technology to humans – but that goal is extremely difficult to accomplish due to the FDA regulatory process and the capital needed to fund such a project.

Regardless, Patel is intent on continuing the project that began in the TI:GER competition and eventually translating it into a device for humans. In the meantime, Patel says the pet device will generate revenue so the product can eventually be developed for use in humans and give his team a better understanding of how the device works.

Dr. Melissa Kemp uses detailed microchips to study the movement and behavior of proteins in the immune system. (Photo: Maya Rajan)

In addition to continuing to modify and improve his team’s medical device, Patel wants to pursue a career in academia. He says there is a certain euphoria he experiences when teaching and is

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“obsessed with the way that research works in a lab environment.”

This obsession translated into mentoring undergraduates who are interested in research; to date, he has mentored around 11 students. Patel wants to teach at the post-graduate level at a place like Georgia Tech or Emory, both R01 institutions. R01 institutions receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), thus allowing Patel to continue his work in research while teaching.

Patel’s many interests are not purely confined to the world of bioengineering, however. He says if you want to find him outside the lab, he will probably be biking or working on open source software and hardware development. Although most people might consider the latter work, Patel has “fallen in love” with the open source world and considers it a relaxing pastime. Patel is also passionate about reading biographies and autobiographies in order to understand how people think; in fact, he has read the Steve Jobs biography at least six times.

Reflecting on his accomplished academic and business career, Patel offers the following advice to students: “Really focus on what you are learning at any given point … not necessarily ‘What am I memorizing?’ or ‘What am I doing?,’ but ‘What am I learning?’” He says that everything you learn in your undergraduate education, even the things you believe you’ll never use again, will come up somewhere in your career. So the key is to actively engage with the material you are learning and relate it to all of your other knowledge.

For individuals interested in entering the startup world, Patel says there are two key elements one has to master to be successful. First, “accept that you know nothing about the world besides what your product is” – in other words, don’t lock yourself into one interpretation of your device or end user. Second, Patel offers a revision of the popular Steve Jobs quote, “Stay hungry, stay foolish”. “In the startup world,” according to Patel, “you literally have to starve.” In order to succeed, you must work tirelessly in order to turn your product into something with the potential to change the world.

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PRE-HEALTH

RACING AGAINST HIV

AMSA PRE-HEALTH CONFERENCE

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By Catherine Chou Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

headstart has been developed in the race against HIV mutation at the Rockefeller University in New York.

Seventeen HIV patients were injected in the first human study of 3BNC117, an antibody that proved to reduce HIV levels 300-fold in patients who received 30 mg per kilogram of weight. 3BNC117 works by binding primary sites on the virus’ shell, aptly named CD4 binding sites after the CD4 cells that the HIV attacks then manipulates to make copies of itself . Normally, CD4 or T-cells are a type of white blood cell that triggers the body’s immune response to foreign bodies such as viruses or bacteria. With the 3BNC117 antibody, the site on the virus initially used to take over healthy CD4s is now inhibited by 3BNC117, essentially “neutralizing” the HIV. If merely inhibiting the CD4 site can stop HIV, then why has antibody therapy with 3BNC117’s yet to be been deemed a permanent cure?

The kicker in using any antibody is that virus mutation is a very real problem. Antibodies that should have the same neutralizing effect as 3BNC117’s are in fact produced by the body; however, the time it takes for the body to naturally produce these antibodies is sufficient for the virus to develop resistance. In other words, the race between producing antibodies and mutating viruses makes the creation of antibodies a continuous process. Luckily, the benefit of 3BNC117 lies in its ability to stop not one, not two but 195 of 237 HIV strains at the same time, lowering the number of viruses that can mutate and multiply . At the same time, 3BNC117 will likely be used alongside HIV medications or other neutralizing bodies that will work collectively to delay this virus proliferation and transfiguration, as the virus could easily cultivate resistance to a single antibody used alone.

BME ANSWERS

In the long run, this successful human research study could have enormous effects. The process was relatively straightforward: researchers took and cloned 3BNC117’s, which are naturally produced in more than one in ten people infected with HIV, then injected study subjects with varying doses . No side effects were apparent; the control group did not have adverse reactions either.

The simplicity of the treatment could pave its way as a vaccine for a person yet to be exposed to HIV, an “emergency” response for someone recently exposed or for infants born to HIV+ mothers, or even as a treatment for those whose HIV has already become resistant to existing medications3. Another potential solution could be finding how to speed up the body’s production of 3BNC117’s, eliminating the need for the injections used in the Rockefeller study.

Nevertheless, the study marks an immense breakthrough for HIV/ AIDS research, and the possibilities for where the researchers may go next are endless.

1.http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/09/trial-brings-researchers-closer-toan-antibody-treatment-for-hiv 2.https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/just-diagnosed-with-hiv-aids/understand-yourtest-results/cd4-count/ 3.http://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2015/04/09/first-hiv-immunotherapy-treatmentin-humans-proves-successful/ 4.http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14411.html

By ALPHA ETA MU BETA - The BME Honors Society

What are some good ways to prepare for BMED 2210 over the summer since now I have to take it before taking the old BMED 1300?

BMED 2210 is all about learning how to think like an engineer. That means understanding a problem, extracting the useful information from it, constructing an approach for tackling the problem, using a systematic method to solve it, and evaluating your result in the appropriate context. Pretty much all engineers learn these same basic skills and BMED 2210 does it in the context of biomedical relevance (fluid flow in the body, production of a drug, etc). Having a solid foundation in analytical problem solving, the basic sciences (biology, chemistry, physics), and math (algebra and calculus) will serve you well as you learn different problem solving techniques. More importantly, come in with an open mind and being willing to change the way you think. One of the hard things about BMED 2210 and similar classes is that they challenge you to think differently about problem solving than you may have in the past. If you come in and put in the effort to learn the strategies, you will do well and position yourself to succeed in upper division classes.

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By Dhara Patel Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

his past March, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) chapter here at Georgia Tech held its ninth annual prehealth conference. Amongst the many events at the conference, some highlights were the opening remarks and keynote, panels with admissions counselors and current students, and a pre-health fair with a number of companies and colleges.

The day began with attendees being treated to breakfast followed by a quick journey over to the Klaus Auditorium to the an inspiring keynote speech. The conference’s keynote speaker, Dr. Montogomery Rice, currently serves as the President of the Morehouse School of Medicine and is the first woman in the history of the school to occupy this role.

In her speech, Dr. Rice talked about her journey as a minority student who decided to choose medicine as her career during her final year of college. The stories she shared helped students to begin thinking about their own potential careers in medicine, serving as a segue into the conference’s first workshop session.

The first workshop session consisisted of three parts: a panel with medical school admissions representatives, a panel discussing dual medical degrees, and a session about the role of women in healthcare.

The discussions here proved to be a very valuable resource as they allowed students a small glimpse into the future whether it was the the application process, the different tracks that can be chosen, or the gender ratio (something that I think for which Tech has already prepared us).

THAT’S SO BME...

The subsequent sessions, contrary to the first, allowed attendees the chance to learn more about the healthcare field itself and the different opportunities it could provide. Discussions at these sessions involved learning about the experiences of students currently in medical school, the operation of startups in the medical field, and the modern culture of medicine. All these discussions provided students a number of perspectives on the medical world including some, such as the startup scene or disciplines such as optometry or dentistry, that many would never have initially considered.

Finally, after a networking lunch, the tail-end of the conference allowed students the chance to roam freely and talk with different school and companies at the health fair. Among the various booths were representatives from companies like Kaplan and medical schools such as Emory and Mercer. Parallel to the ongoings at the fair, students also were given to opportunity to listen to (or participate in) a mock medical school admissions interview or to learn how to stitch sutures on pig feet.

As a pre-med student here at Tech, I can say with confidence that the AMSA Pre-Health conference proved to be a valuable opportunity to learn more about the field that I want to enter someday. For any students who might be interested in pursuing a career in medicine or healthcare, I would definitely recommend attending next year’s conference.

BY: Diane Nguyen and Michelle Tourchak