VOLUME VIII |AUG/SEPT 2013 | ISSUE 1
THEPIONEER.GATECH.EDU
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COULTER DEPARTMENT’S NEWLY APPOINTED CHAIR
THE COULTER DEPARTMENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF GEORGIA TECH AND EMORY
Established 2007 Hello everyone! Welcome back for another action packed semester! Here at the Pioneer, we are currently finalizing the recruitment process as we expand our family of dedicated staff members. Be on the lookout for some exciting work from our new staff next issue. With big events like the GT Career Fair and the Biotechnology Career Fair just around the corner, we hope that everyone is marking up those résumés to make them as nice as they can be! There are a bunch of information sessions and career-oriented events coming up, so make sure to check out the Events and Deadlines section so that you stay on top of campus ongoings. In this issue of the Pioneer, we give a warm welcome to our new Department Chair, Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda, as we hear about his plans for the future of the Wallace H. Coulter Department. Additionally, we give some insight into working at a startup company in an article on Samirkumar Patel, the Director of Research at Clearside Biomedical. Our very own Marty Jacobson, Design Lab and Shop Instructor, also shares some tips on good computer aided design (CAD) practice. The new installment of our research series discusses neuroscience in the Biotechnology Quad and what skills would be helpful to succeed in the field. Also in this issue are some tips for our Pre-Health students in the biotechnology community. There is so much more content in this issue that you’ll just have to delve in to discover it all! For our returning readers, I’m sure you’ve noticed a major shift in the layout of our publication along with some new kinds of content. We’d love to hear from everyone about your thoughts of these new changes, so send us an email at thepioneer@gatech.edu. We have some exciting things planned for the semester, but need help from the entire biotechnology community to meet these goals, so help us give you the content you want. Send us juicy, thrilling article topics you would like to read about! Also, send us exciting, funny BME moments to make it into our BME Fractures column by submitting to the That’s So BME form on our website or by emailing: thatssobme@gmail.com. For more regular updates on the happenings of the biotechnology community, feel free to like our page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gtpioneer and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/ pioneergt. Additionally, take a glance at more online content on our site at thepioneer.gatech.edu. As always, feel free to contact us by e-mail at thepioneer@gatech.edu. With warm regards, Harish M. Srinimukesh Editor-in-Chief Pioneer
EDITOR IN CHIEF Harish Srinimukesh FACULTY SPONSOR Wendy Newstetter, Ph.D. OPERATIONS SECRETARY TREASURER PUBLIC RELATIONS
William Sessions Jaemin Sung Taufiq Dhana Alexandra Low
WEBMASTERS Sara Khalek
Taufiq Dhana Jaheda Khanam Felis (Doyeon) Koo Jimmy Nguyen Nafiz Sheikh Elizabeth Walker
STAFF WRITERS Steven Touchton Jr
Jonathan Austin Belane Gizaw Sarah Gonzales Shi Hui Yeonghoon (Robert) Joung Arun Kumar Nina Mohebbi Valeriya Popova Abigail Riddle Hifza Sakhi Guergana Terzieva Prateek Viswanathan Wells Yang Iva Zivojinovic
EDITORS Jackson Hair
Nader Abdullahi Arun Kumar Meera Nathan Fatiesa Sulejmani Kristen Weirich
LAYOUT EDITORS Marisa Casola
….
RECENT PUBLICATIONS…………………………………..……………………..…...….3 DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHT…….……………………………..…….……………....……4 Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda: Shaping the Future
PRE-HEALTH………………………………………………………………………….…….5 Start Over with the New Year
EVENTS AND DEADLINES…….…………………..……………...……….…………..…5 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT…..………………...…………………………………..…………....6 Dr. Samirkumar Patel: Starting Up a Biomedical Company
BMEANSWERS…………………….……………………………………….………..……..7 DESIGN TOOLBOX…………………………………………………………………….…..8 BAD VERSUS GOOD
GRADUATE STUDENT SPOTLIGHT……………………………………………….……9 Andrew Siefert
BIOTECHNOLOGY REVIEW……………………………………………………….…..10-11 Current News
RESEARCH GUIDE SERIES…………….……..…………………………………….......12 Neuroscience
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT…….……….……..…………………………………….……......13 Dr. Edward Botchwey
CAREER FAIR HIGHLIGHTS………….……..…………………………………........BACK
Joy Kim Candace Law Summer Lee Alexandra Low Nikita Nagpal Yingbo Shi
PHOTOGRAPHERS Jacob Khouri
Tashfia (Tishi) Chowdhury Henry Mei Rachel Moore Tuan Nguyen Jun Ha Park Alex Shao David Van Hyunjun Fred Woo
COLLABORATORS Karen Adams
Courtney Lucas Ferencik Paul Fincannon Sally Gerrish Martin Jacobson Jennifer Kimble Megan McDevitt Colleen Mitchell Adrianne Proeller Raja Schaar Shannon Sullivan
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Journal ACS Nano ACS Nano ACS Nano Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Article Title
Authors
Lin L, Xie Y, Wang S, Wu W, Niu S, Wen X, Wang ZL. Yang Y, Zhang H, Chen J, Single-Electrode-Based Sliding Triboelectric Nanogenerator for SelfJing Q, Zhou YS, Wen Powered Displacement Vector Sensor System. X, Wang ZL. G, Lin ZH, Lin L, Pulsed Nanogenerator with Huge Instantaneous Output Power Density. Cheng Du ZL, Wang ZL. Microscale Polymer Bottles Corked with a Phase-Change Material for Hyun DC, Lu P, Choi SI, Temperature-Controlled Release. Jeong U, Xia Y. Triboelectric Active Sensor Array for Self-Powered Static and Dynamic Pressure Detection and Tactile Imaging.
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
Overexpression of Catalase in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Prevents the Formation of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms.
Parastatidis I, Weiss D, Joseph G, Taylor WR.
Biology Letters
Rules to limp by: joint compensation conserves limb function after peripheral nerve injury.
Bauman JM, Chang YH.
Bioresource Technology
Simultaneous carbon removal, denitrification and power generation in a membrane-less microbial fuel cell.
Cell Signal
Plasma membrane Pdia3 and VDR interact to elicit rapid responses to 1Îą,25(OH)2D3.
Zhu G, Onodera T, Tandukar M, Pavlostathis SG. Chen J, Doroudi M, Cheung J, Grozier AL, Schwartz Z, Boyan BD.
Frontiers in Physiology Gait & Posture Journal of the American Chemical Society Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association Langmuir Medical Physics Nanomedicine
Differential transport function of lymphatic vessels in the rat tail model and the long-term effects of Indocyanine Green as assessed with near-infrared Weiler M, Dixon JB. imaging. Accuracy of force and center of pressure measures of the Wii Balance Bartlett HL, Ting LH, Board. Bingham JT. Transformation of pd nanocubes into octahedra with controlled sizes by Liu M, Zheng Y, Zhang L, maneuvering the rates of etching and regrowth. Guo L, Xia Y. Pathology imaging informatics for quantitative analysis of whole-slide images.
Kothari S, Phan JH, Stokes TH, Wang MD.
Copolymer-Mediated Synthesis of Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles in an Organic Solvent.
Lee JH, Shofner ML.
Q, Nanduri A, Yang J, Toward a planning scheme for emission guided radiation therapy (EGRT): FanYamamoto T, Loo B, FDG based tumor tracking in a metastatic breast cancer patient. Graves E, Zhu L, Mazin S. Computational nanomedicine: modeling of nanoparticle-mediated hyperthermal cancer therapy.
Kaddi CD, Phan JH, Wang MD.
Nanoscale
Block copolymer/ferroelectric nanoparticle nanocomposites.
Nucleic Acids Research
Receptor-mediated delivery of engineered nucleases for genome modification.
Nucleic Acids Research
CRISPR/Cas9 systems targeting β-globin and CCR5 genes have substantial off-target activity.
Pang X, He Y, Jiang B, Iocozzia J, Zhao L, Guo H, Liu J, Akinc M, Bowler N, Tan X, Lin Z. Chen Z, Jaafar L, Agyekum DG, Xiao H, Wade MF, Kumaran RI, Spector DL, Bao G, Porteus MH, Dynan WS, Meiler SE. Cradick TJ, Fine EJ, Antico CJ, Bao G.
PLOS ONE
Effects of a Foot Placement Constraint on Use of Motor Equivalence during Human Hopping.
Auyang AG, Chang YH.
Theranostics
Zhang Labeling Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells with Gold Nanocages for in Wang Y, Wang L, Wa vitro and in vivo Tracking by Two-Photon Microscopy and Photoacoustic YS,ng Y, Cai X, Zhang Microscopy. C, Wang LV, Xia Y.
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(Credit: Gary Meek)
Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
r. Ravi Bellamkonda is the newly appointed Chair of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Selected after a nationwide search, Bellamkonda succeeds Dr. Larry McIntire, who served as the department chair for ten years. Bellamkonda's passion for the future of the joint department really shines through. From the very beginning, Bellamkonda explains that he was always interested in both engineering and medicine. When he had to make a choice of which to pursue in high school, he chose engineering for one simple reason: biology, his mother said, involved drawing, and he couldn't draw. He was thrilled to discover biomedical engineering, a middle pathway that involved both callings. Experiencing research was "intoxicating," discloses Bellamkonda, "it just blew my mind that I, this little guy in a lab, could design an experiment to discover the answer to something nobody knew." Bellamkonda still finds time to devote to his research. The Neurological Biomaterials and Cancer Therapeutics Lab he runs focuses on brain electrode interfacing, repair and regeneration of nervous tissue and studying cancer tumor migration. Although he initially resisted holding administrative positions, or what other professors called "the dark side," concerned that it may detract from his research, Bellamkonda realized that a research perspective was crucial in administration. He could think that the administration was not his concern, but in order to conduct research, certain requirements− like an efficient infrastructure and a supportive research culture, had to be fulfilled. Over the years, Bellamkonda has held numerous offices, including Associate Vice President in the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research (EVPR), Vice President at Large for the American Institute for
Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and most recently, AIMBE's president-elect. Humbly, Bellamkonda considers himself fortunate to have been selected, even joking, "Many good things have come to me in spite of my efforts." He believes the Department to be a tool for shaping the future of biomedical engineering as a field. The special TechEmory joint department DNA, converged on leadership, commitment and belief, has allowed us to become one of the best departments in the world. The plans for department innovation include improving research, preserving the undergraduate experience by hiring new faculty members, and what Bellamkonda calls the 'Create Your Own Job' initiative. This is a new experience that Bellamkonda is currently hoping to make available to undergraduate students who are interested in entrepreneurship. Having developed an idea in one of their courses that fulfilled a previously unmet need, students may then be able to fundraise, start their own company, and work in that company for a semester to further improve their design and potentially make the product marketable. As a founding scientist of several start-ups, Bellamkonda hopes that a real experience in a mentored environment will allow students higher chances of success in their own start-up. If doctors are carrying around bags of recipes and selecting the proper recipe for each patient, biomedical engineers are the recipemakers. This recipe-maker, problem-solver atmosphere permeates the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, and allows us to shape the future of biomedical engineering itself. "We shape the world we live in," relates Bellamkonda, "and if you believe that, the possibilities of making the world better are endless."
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Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
elcome back to a new school year! A new year means a fresh start, a chance to do those things that you always meant to do but haven’t quite gotten to yet. Think about it as a clean slate. You have been given a chance to start everything over again. What would you do differently this time? What would you do the same? Whether you are a freshman just entering Georgia Tech or a senior in the middle of applications, here are some general tips to get you re-oriented for the new semester:
IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY OR TOO LATE TO DO ANYTHING.
Try for that internship or research position that you want. Even if you are a freshman, there are plenty of industry positions and research positions on campus that hire first year students. What they really care about is that you are passionate about the work that they are doing and willing to learn. Most positions will teach you what you need to know on the job. For upperclassmen, plenty of opportunities pop up throughout the year. Pay attention to all of the
3&4 9th Annual Resume Blitz 10am —3pm At the following locations: - Scheller College of Business - ISyE Atrium - Callaway Manufacturing Research Building Auditorium - Klaus Auditorium - Student Center 3rd floor
6 9th Annual Resume Blitz 10am — 3pm
emails that you receive from Sally and Paul. Many of the opportunities they offer are specifically looking for a BME student! Apply as early as possible, and apply to everything that interests you. Keep your options available.
DO NOT SLACK OFF TRYING TO GET INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL UNTIL YOU HAVE THE ACCEPTANCE LETTER IN YOUR HAND
While it may be really tempting to take a break during your fourth year as you wrap up applying to medical school and finish your interviews, medical school applications are a grueling process Moreover, you need to continue your extracurricular activities and maintain your GPA. If this is not your year, you need to have a reasonable chance to re-apply. Plus, you should always be prepared in case interviewers ask you what you will be doing your last year before matriculating to medical school. If you are lucky, you might get another interesting story to tell during the interview that will catch their attention and help them remember you. Continued on page 7.
11 GaP Seminar Series 12pm– Suddath Seminar Room 1128
"Prediction and Design in Chemical Evolution;"
8:30am — Suddath Seminar Room 1128
“The Loss of Cytokine-Glucocorticoid Feedback in Minority and Low-Income Pregnant Women;”
12 9th Annual Georgia Tech Biotech 9am— Whitehead Building at Emory Career Fair University 6th floor common room 1pm-MS&E Building 19 17 Bioengineering Seminar Series Integrated Cancer Research Seminar "The Emerging Role of Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers;" Series "Mass Spectrometry-Based Oncometabolomics 11am– Suddath Seminar Room 1128 for Diagnostic Applications;"
4pm — Suddath Seminar Room 1128
Career Services, Bill Moore Student 18 Success Center (Basement) 2013 Fall BIO Vendor Showcase
10 Breakfast Club Seminar Series
19 Emory University Physiology Seminar
19 Bioengineering Seminar Series “RNA and Protein - a match made in the Hadean;”
10am— IBB Atrium
11am– IBB 102 A&B
18 Grad Student Resumes for Industry 4:15pm— Success Center Clary Theater
25-28 BMES Annual Conference Seattle, Washington
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Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department iomedical Engineering graduates choose different career paths. Some choose to go to graduate school while others choose to enter industry by joining a large company. A small minority, however, follow a more difficult route by starting a new technology company. One such entrepreneur is Dr. Samirkumar Patel. Patel received his doctoral degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the drug delivery lab of Dr. Mark Prausnitz. His work in the field of ophthalmic drug delivery led to the development of a microneedle technology for the treatment of ocular diseases, and he is now a scientific founder of the company Clearside Biomedical. Starting a new technology company is an onerous task, and most startups fail within the first few years. According to a University of Tennessee research study, the percentage of startups that continue to operate in the education and health field after four Years is only 56%. Why do so many companies fail? Starting a company has no certainties and requires constantly making tough decisions without clear answers. Therefore, making good decisions is crucial for successfully operating a business. The first difficult decision that Patel encountered was whether to sell his intellectual rights to existing technology companies or start his own. Sometimes the technology requires a preexisting infrastructure or other unavailable technologies, necessitating that it be sold to another company. Retaining the rights to the technology, however, allows you to use it to start a business potentially yield a much greater financial return. Patel decided that starting a company was the better choice despite many others trying to dissuade him. When people start up a company, they always face the problem of choosing whom to recruit into the company. As quoted by Patel, “People matter.” In the case of established companies, the founders don’t actually need to work for the company as they let others do the grunt work. However with startups, the founders often have to do a bulk of the work for the company since they know the most about their idea. The supporting cast that startup companies bring in could be new employees or consultants. It is important that the people whom they bring in are those who have similar goals and vision for the company and can be trusted. The most challenging thing for a startup company is trust and alignment of goals for everyone involved. At the start of Clearside Medical, Patel hired two employees who didn’t have much background in ophthalmology but had plenty of experience in starting a company. Those people seem very excited about the project, and, as the months progressed, Patel began to realize that they weren’t very interested. Patel noticed an imbalance in their relationship with the company. These so-called experts were receiving access to a lot of useful information from the company, but they no longer contributed anything useful to it. That is when
DR.SAMIRKUMAR IS CURRENTLY WORKING AS THE DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH IN A STARTUP COMPANY CALLED CLEARSIDE BIOMEDICAL. THIS C O M PA N Y M A K E S B O T H DRUGS AND DEVICES TO HELP SPREAD THE DRUG IN THE BACK OF THE EYES. (Credit: Gary Meek)
Dr. Patel knew that something has to change. The company needed to find someone else and so they got in touch with contacts from the Advance Technology Development Center. With their help, Clearside Medical finally had the right person for each position. In a startup company, time is a very valuable asset and so it is very important that the person you hire matches the company’s goal. Aside from labor, capital is also a very important factor for starting a company. The founder needs to sell their idea to investors to get funding. Firstly, one needs to understand the total amount of money that is needed to be successful. There are three main funding sources that a founder could seek: a venture capital, a bank and a government grant. Dr. Patel wanted to move fast so he pursued venture capital funding. A venture capital fund is the fund that a company looks for outside capital to grow their business. A typical VC fund will be a professionally managed fund that has a few partners and junior level individuals who manage a pool of money raised from individual investors and institutional money. Starting up a company is definitely challenging. From raising funds to hiring people, it all requires successful decision-making. It is important that people know the purpose of the company. An entrepreneur needs to hold their initial mission and keep an open mind toward innovation. In this way, they could be successful. When things fail, they should learn about why things fail and try again. Clearside Biomedical has become a successful running company and the credit goes to its founders’ wise decision-making. For the students who are courageous, entrepreneurial and innovative, they could also think about starting their own business.
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MAKE SURE THAT MEDICAL SCHOOL IS STILL become an Emergency Medical Technician? It is hard to be 100% certain for such a big step, but the more you find out about where THE RIGHT PATH FOR YOU. Shadow another doctor or volunteer at another hospital. Try out an internship in another career that you have always been interested in. Medical school is expensive and long. You have already gone through nearly 17 years of school. Do you really want to go through another four at one of the toughest schools in the nation? Attending medical school is not an easy choice, and it is normal if you hesitate in pursuing that route. Explore all your options. If you want money, there are easier ways of getting it. If you want respect, there are plenty of professions that can get you that. If you really care about helping the sick and needy, why not
you stand, the easier it is to write your personal statement. If you need to, feel free to take a gap year. The average age of people that begin medical school is about 23-24 years old, and a gap year often increases the competitiveness of your application.
MAINTAIN YOUR SANITY
One of the worst things that can happen to a pre-med student is that he or she burns out, especially near the end of application season. Keep your health up by eating right and working out. Think about it this way: why should a medical school train you to be a doctor if it looks like you cannot even take care of yourself?
By ALPHA ETA MU BETA– The BME Secret Society
Is it a problem if I was not able to take BMED 1000 my first semester? Not at all. Plenty of people take BMED 1000 their second semester or later. In fact, only about half the declared BMEs can take BMED 1000 their first semester. BMED 1000 is only a pre-requisite for BME classes, and non-BME classes will make up the bulk of your schedule your first year or two anyway. Most people don’t really start taking a lot of BME classes until later in their sophomore or junior year, so you won’t be hung up if you can’t take BMED 1000 immediately. You’ll also still be able to take plenty of classes together with your friends who took BMED 1000 their first semester. You won’t get left behind.
What are some really good BME clubs for freshmen to join? Almost all BME clubs are open to freshmen and are great ways to meet other students, faculty, and staff. The general organization that most BMEs join is BMES (Biomedical Engineering Society) which is our largest organization. If you are interested in more specific things, BROS (Biomedical Research and Opportunities Society) is great for helping freshmen learn about research opportunities on campus and how to get into a lab that you’re interested in. The Pioneer is a great way to practice your writing, editing, or photography. You also get to meet faculty and leaders in the BME field which is awesome. We also have great community service organizations like EWH (Engineering World Health) which goes to MedShare at least once or twice a month.
I found an organization that I am interested in joining. Is it too late for me to join in the middle of the semester? Most of the time, no. Many of the clubs at Georgia Tech do a lot of their active recruitment in the beginning of the semester, but unless there is an application process to get into that organization, they hardly ever just stop recruiting members. Most of the BME clubs are open to
anybody. All you have to do is sign up and pay your dues. They will accept members at almost any time of the year. However, organizations like the Pioneer require new members to go through an application process, so you can only join near the beginning of each semester. It’s important to stay on top of deadlines for these organizations.
I’m struggling in a class. What are some good ways to get help? The academic office is always great. Paul can often help hook you up with a tutor if it is for a BME specific class. Sometimes this involves you and the tutor coming to an arrangement about pay, but there are other options that are free. Get in contact with some of the upper classmen in any BME organization, and they will often be willing to help or will know someone that can help you. For non-BME core classes, Georgia Tech has several programs like one-on-one tutoring which can give students more in depth help. Of course, going to see your TA and your professor during their office hours is a must if you are struggling in a class. It is a great way to network for a potential letter of recommendation in the future, and nobody should know your class’ material better than those that are trying to teach it to you.
What are some awesome things to do around campus that don’t require driving? Atlanta is an awesome city with tons of great foods and events to go to. Centennial Park is walking distance away and is often the site of races and concerts. Tech Square also hosts several great events throughout the year like Taste of Atlanta and MomoCon. If you travel east a little bit more, Peachtree Street has a good chain of restaurants including the Vortex which you have to go to at least once while you are in Atlanta. If you want to go out a little farther, Marta can often take you to great places like the Aquarium, the Georgia Dome, and the Coca-Cola Museum. Piedmont Park is also a great place to visit and is not too far from campus. However, wherever you go, remember to always travel in groups, and try not to be out on the street when it’s late.
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Design Instructor in the Coulter Department In anticipation of this semester’s model building and prototyping stages, I would like to point out a few common problems present in the vast majority of CAD files submitted for printing. Better CAD means quicker access to printed parts and more useful prototypes. Pay attention to these tips to improve your projects and heighten your team’s credibility during presentations. For this example, I’ll be using a generic syringe pump box with details similar to those found in many submissions from senior design teams.
Anatomy of a Bad CAD Model Walls are too thin. They must be at least .050” / 1.5mm, otherwise the part will fail or be too weak to be useful.
Syringe receptacle and the main box are made in one piece. This might be easy to make in SolidWorks, but it is virtually impossible to make in reality. What is this tube? For one thing, it cannot successfully be 3D printed, because it is too small. Also, it does not test the concept because it is imaginary and could not exist like this in a real device.
The syringe receptacle is not rounded. The user should be able to tell where the syringe goes by the shape of the receptacle. Also, it will function better if it conforms.
All corners are square; nothing is drafted or radiused. This results in the part that prints poorly and is not durable.
Strange details such as this retaining bracket should be revised. Design something simpler and stronger.
Luer-Lock details are modeled, simplistically, directly into the 3D part, when a real Luer-Lock fitting could have been purchased for $5.75 from Amazon.
A Better Take on the Same Model This design is not exactly how it would be designed for production, but it is a much more useful prototype, and it looks much more professional. Take a close look at the revisions to this part. 1. The walls are thicker, but not excessively thick. 2. The walls are drafted 3 degrees, and everything has a significant fillet, which improves print quality and strength. 3. Any thin (<.050”) features have been eliminated. 4. Any excessively long features have been eliminated. Long means 3 times the component’s thickness or diameter. 5. An actual Luer-Lock fitting was used, and the unfeasible 3D-printed tube was replaced with actual rubber tubing from McMaster. 6. A reinforcing boss and rubber sleeve were added where the tube passes through the wall. 7. A lip was added to allow the use of a cover. 8. The syringe cradle was reduced to a much simpler, more userfriendly design.
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Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department master’s degrees are in Mechanical Engineering and were completed at Michigan State University (MSU). While at MSU, Siefert was able to participate in undergraduate research as a senior, and this experience ultimately inspired him to pursue his master’s where he worked with defense-oriented projects and saw the impact they had on people. The main takeaway he received from these projects was the realization that he actually wanted to work in a field with a more direct impact on people and their lives. Siefert describes bioengineering as “holding a ton of different fields and research opportunities ANDREW SIEFERT, A GEORGIA TECH that really allow for more direct translation to BIOENGINEERING GRADUATE STUDENT people’s lives.” While Dr. Yoganathan’s lab studies a WORKING IN DR. YOGANATHAN’S LAB. variety of topics, Siefert’s particular field is (Credit: Jacob Khouri) the surgical repair of the heart’s mitral valve, one of the atrioventricular valves which ndrew Siefert is currently pursuing his control blood flow between the atria and the PhD in Bioengineering in Dr. ventricles. To describe the importance of his Yoganathan’s Cardiovascular Fluid research, Siefert compares it to Mechanics Laboratory in the Walter pharmaceutical trials: “In a typical H. Coulter Department of Biomedical pharmaceutical trial, patients [undergo] Engineering (BME) at Georgia Tech and randomized trials. One person might get a Emory University. Both his bachelor’s and certain dose of the drug while another might
By Alexandra Low
get a placebo; the results gained from both are equally important. However, the same can’t be true for heart surgery, given that a placebo surgery (no drug at all) would result in immediate morbidity and mortality.” As surgery is the preferred method for mitral valve repair, there is a pressing need to determine which method of repair is the best and why. When Siefert was choosing a school for his PhD, Georgia Tech stood out because of its “strong sense of community and the amount of people who are not only experts but are also willing to share information for the greater good of everyone.” He describes Georgia Tech as a place with “many opportunities and a lot of ways to [grow] both professionally and personally. Tech makes you more open to everything in general and there’s always something going on.” In his free time, Siefert leads a very active lifestyle. He enjoys running 5 and 10k’s, jet skiing and wakeboarding at Lake Allatoona, and camping. He has also started traveling quite a bit both domestically and internationally, recently returning home from Venice and Rome in Italy.
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Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
THE PORTABLE SENSOR MEASURES INCREASED LEVELS OF ACETONE ON THE BREATH– A GOOD INDICATOR OF WHEN THE BODY HAS BEGUN TO BREAK DOWN FAT. (Credit: Institute of Physics (IOP))
1) JAPANESE RESEARCHERS DEVELOP A BREATHALYZER THAT PROVIDES INSTANTANEOUS FAT BURNING UPDATES The instantaneous fat burning sensor was developed by a group of researchers from the NTT DOCOMO Research Laboratories in Japan and was presented in IOP Publishing's Journal of Breath Research on July 25, 2013. The device, measuring 10 cm in length and weighing 125g, works by detecting the presence of acetone when a person exhales. Acetone is used because it is produced in the blood during fat breakdown and is therefore exhaled by people when burning fat. The breathalyzer contains a pressure sensor for detecting these exhaled breaths as well as two additional semiconductor-based gas sensors for detecting acetone concentrations which can be detected in the range of 0.20 to 0.50 parts-per-million (ppm) and then transmitted to a smartphone using Bluetooth technology or a cable. Within ten seconds, the breathalyzer can provide instantaneous fat burning updates, making it a practical device for assessing lipid metabolism in individual dieting programs as well as in the management of diabetes. Source:http://www.sciencedaily.comreleases/2013/07/130724200213.htm
2) SCIENTISTS CREATE BLOOD VESSEL NETWORKS USING BLOOD-DERIVED HUMAN -INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS IN A HYDROGEL SCAFFOLD Researchers at Johns Hopkins University successfully created blood vessel networks using blood-derived, human-induced pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells were placed in a hydrogel scaffold containing chemical cues to induce their reorganization, thus creating structured blood vessel networks. This study was the first time that blood vessels were grown in a synthetic medium. An additional benefit
to this approach is that these vessels are less likely to be rejected by the patients’ immune systems as current approaches, since the stem cells used to construct the vessels were derived from the patients’ own cells. To take this feat a step further, the LAB-GROWN HUMAN BLOOD VESSEL NETWORKS also (RED) INCORPORATING INTO AND AROUND MOUSE researchers implanted their vesselNETWORKS (GREEN). (Credit: Gerecht lab) infused hydrogels into mice. After two weeks, these in-vitro-grown vessels had already integrated with the native murine vasculature and the hydrogel scaffold had begun to biodegrade as designed. The group’s next steps are to better understand the 3D structures that these vessels adopt as well as to determine if these vessels can help damaged tissues to recover by supplying blood to them. Nevertheless, their findings open doors for future applications of these vessels as effective treatment for patients suffering from burns, diabetic complications, and other conditions with paired vasculature function. Source:http://www.sciencedaily.comeleases/2013/07/130716161844.htm
3) NIH REACHES AGREEMENT WITH THE FAMILY OF LATE HENRIETTA LACKS REGARDING THE HELA CELL LINE The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has made an agreement with the family of late Henrietta Lacks regarding the HeLa cell line. During her treatment for cervical cancer at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951, doctors took tumor cells from Lacks without her prior consent or knowledge. Scientists kept her cancer cells alive and replicating in the lab even after her death. Her cells have been instrumental in studies yielding advances in cancer treatments, modern vaccines, and in vitro fertilization techniques, among numerous other medical applications for the past 60 years. Through the newly instituted controlled-access policy, biomedical researchers who agree to abide by the terms in the HeLa Genome Data Use Agreement will be able to apply for access to the full genome sequence data for the HeLa cell line. Proposals requesting access to the genome sequence data will be reviewed by a six-member working group, consisting of two representatives from the Lacks family as well as additional representatives from medical, scientific, and bioethics communities. As per the agreements, NIH-funded researchers will be required to deposit their full genome sequence data on HeLa cells in a single database. Source 1:http://www.sciencedaily.comreleases/2013/08/130807134010.htm
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which is substantially faster than the development of the neonatal heart which takes nine months of development as well as years of additional maturation to reach adult functioning levels. The goal of this technology is to be able to replace debilitated heart muscle as soon as heart attacks occur. Heart attacks cause portions of heart muscle to die, but these patches, grown from a patient’s own cells, may be able to replace the dead tissue, provided there is no reaction from the immune system. Development of the functioning 3D heart patch also serves as a potential platform for testing new heart disease drugs and therapies to better understand their response in natural heart tissues. Source 1:http://www.sciencedaily.comreleases/2013/05/130506132405htm
6) DUKE RESEARCHERS GIVE NATURE A HELPING HAND IN SPINAL DISC REGENERATION SCANNING ELECTRON MICROGRAPH (SEM) OF AN APOPTIC HELA CELL. (Credit: Tom Deerinck)
Source 2: http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2013/nih-07.htm
4) GEORGIA TECH ALUMNUS AND COLLEAGUES UNVEIL A NEW BIOTECH TOOL FOR GENOME DISCOVERY Researchers at Duke University unveiled a new tool for genome discovery in a study reported in Nature Methods on July 25, 2013. Their technology relies on an RNA-guided enzyme called Cas9. Bacteria typically employ Cas9 enzymes in their adaptive immune system as defense mechanisms against viral infections. The enzyme is used by the bacteria to cut out portions of viral DNA and insert it into their own genome, allowing for virus recognition of future infections. Dr. Charles Gersbach, an Assistant Professor at Duke University and an alumnus of the Georgia Institute of Technology, along with colleagues, altered this RNA-guided Cas9 enzyme to instead activate genes rather than cut out viral DNA. Their study not only shows application of this technique for expressing specific human genes, but also how to leverage this tool in modifying targets implicated in fighting inflammation and activating gene networks to make nerves, muscle cells, or stem cells. They even showed how to induce a gene to alleviate signs and symptoms of sickle cell disease. Gersbach plans to continue using this technique in applications for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. By giving scientists the ability to tinker with the genome, this technique also has the potential for gene therapy applications and for reprogramming adult cells and stem cells, making it possible, for example, to create neurons from skin cells. Source:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130725152138.htm.
5) DUKE RESEARCHERS GROW A 3-D HUMAN “HEART PATCH” MIMICKING THE ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE NATURAL HEART MUSCLE Duke researchers induced pluripotent human embryonic stem cells to become cardiomyocytes, heart muscle cells. Their research was published in the journal Biomaterials and supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Careful manipulation of the 3D environment for cell growth allowed these cardiomyocytes to reach high levels of electrical and mechanical maturation. This rate of functional maturation is crucial for applications of the patch. Growing the patch in the lab takes five to six weeks starting from pluripotent stem cells,
Researchers at Duke University have developed new biomaterials to aid in spinal disc regeneration. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the researchers designed a gel consisting of a chemically modified form of the protein laminin-111 as well as two polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels that attach to the modified laminin. Individually, these substances exist as liquids, but together they adopt a gel-like state. The gel served as a carrying medium for delivering a booster shot of reparative cells. Specifically, the shot was delivered to the nucleus pulposus (NP) region found between spinal discs. The NP tissue serves as a shock absorber in the spine by distributing the pressure across the discs and aiding in spinal mobility. During the aging process, these soft, compressible discs become worn out and begin to break down, causing intense pain for patients suffering from spinal disc degeneration. These patients also display other symptoms such as herniated discs and osteoarthritis found in spinal stenosis. Duke researchers used a laminin-hydrogel mixture to deliver a booster shot of reparative cells in the intervertebral discs of rat tails. They tagged cells in this NP region of rat tails with a bioluminescent marker called luciferase to be able to track the locations of these cells. The reparative cells were then delivered using this lamininDIAGRAM OF INJECTION SITE. hydrogel medium in a (Credit: Aubrey Francisco) liquid state. This medium began to solidify after five minutes and was completely set after 20 minutes. Because the laminin-hydrogel mixture adopts a gellike state, it ensures that cells are confined to the area in which they are injected. Using imaging for the luciferase marker, these researchers showed that even 14 days after the injection of the cells, a significant amount of the cells were restricted to the area in which they were injected. Their findings show a substantial increase in the retention of cells as compared with other delivery approaches, such as delivery in a suspension medium, which results in 100% of the cells leaking out after three or four days. The researchers hope to adapt their techniques for larger regions found in human intervertebral discs, while inducing the cells to produce a matrix-arresting disc degeneration or to enhance tissue regeneration. Source:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130716120108.htm
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Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department s one of the oldest and certainly most complex fields, neuroscience can be traced as far back as the Egyptian era, when physicians studied the causes and symptoms of brain trauma through empirical observation. Neuroscience, the study of the nervous system, has expanded to become a multidisciplinary field, spanning as far as mathematics, linguistics and computer science. Neuroengineering, a subset of neuroscience and the biomedical engineering approach to the questions posed by the brain, is concerned primarily with understanding the processing and coding of the nervous system through a variety of engineering techniques, including signal processing and computational modeling. The neuroengineering jackpot, the regeneration of neural tissue and augmentation of human functions by creating a link between the nervous system and artificial devices, has been a major focus of the field since advances in electrophysiology and molecular biology made the goals feasible. The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University boasts nine professors invested in the field of neuroscience, each with their own unique perspective and approach to its challenges. Collectively known as the NeuroLab, this group of over eighty people works in four primary areas: sensorimotor integration, computational dynamics, interfacing technologies, and repair and regeneration. The LaPlaca lab, for example, works specifically on neural injury biomechanics and repair. Of particular interest is traumatic brain injury, for which
(Credit: LaPlaca Lab)
lab members are modeling the behavior of cells that undergo mechanical insult in order to develop criteria for cell behavior based on cellular properties. On a larger scale, the Ting lab is working on
(Credit: Ting Lab)
developing caregiver robots capable of providing motor assistance to humans. Currently, that work centers around a robot partnering with a human in a 'box step' and adjusting robot behavior so it may adapt its movement to the motor skill level of its partner. Because of the variety of neuroengineering applications, there is not one roadmap for success. As with any other discipline, tailoring oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience to his desired path is important. Cell culture is a must for studying interfacing technologies and repair and regeneration studies. For sensorimotor integration and computational dynamics, knowledge of electrical engineering principles is necessary. Fortunately, these are skills that can be acquired on the job or in the classroom. ECE 2026, Introduction to Signal Processing, covers the basics of filtering, frequency response, and Fourier transforms, placing emphasis on computerbased processing, which is useful if you wish to be involved in computational dynamics. Repair and regeneration relies on principles first learned in Introduction to Biomechanics (BMED 3400), which studies the biomechanics of materials and rigid-body dynamics. With one hundred billion neurons and one hundred trillion synapses in the brain alone, there is so much left to discover. What was once considered science fiction is quickly becoming reality, and whether undergraduate students are looking to model the neural response to traumatic brain injury, create new biomaterials to repair brain cells, or box step with robots, neuroscience can make it happen.
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Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
DR. EDWARD BOTCHWEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN WALLACE H. COULTER DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AT GEORGIA TECH (Credit: June Park)
he newest addition to the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, Associate Professor Edward Botchwey III, PhD, brings a unique approach to translational research. Raised in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Botchwey initially displayed interest in mathematics rather than engineering. He attended the University of Maryland at College Park where he majored in Mathematics, and it was not until he attended a summer research program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in biochemical engineering that he began to focus on biomedical engineering. While there, he worked in a lab that pioneered some of the earliest work in biomaterials through their research with biodegradable polymers as tissue substitutes. After a year and a half of working in the lab at MIT, Botchwey moved with the lab to the University of Pennsylvania where he obtained his Ph.D. in bioengineering and continued to do research in musculoskeletal regeneration and repair. At the University of Pennsylvania, Botchwey worked on creating scaffolds used to grow cells. However, the scaffolds suffered from a mass transport problem in which an insufficient amount of oxygen and nutrients were reaching cells located far within the scaffolding. To help solve this problem, Botchwey redesigned the scaffolds and used NASA’s high aspect ratio vessel (HARV) bioreactor to stir up fluid around the scaffolding while minimizing the damage to the scaffolding as it bounced around inside the bioreactor. This helped to drastically increase the
amount of cells that could be grown on a scaffold and allowed for the production of large amounts of tissue. Then, in 2003, Botchwey and his family moved to Virginia, where he became the Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Virginia (UVA). At UVA, he worked at the cardiovascular research center at the University of Virginia and switched the focus of his study to vascular biology. Since he had already established that it was possible to produce large amounts of bone tissue, he wanted to study how to best implant new bone material into a patient. For the next six-and-a-half years, he continued to study vascularization in the hopes of unlocking what he believed to be the key component to the body’s regeneration and repair. Relocating once again in 2011, Botchwey joined Georgia Tech where he stands as an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and his research branches out into three areas: immunology engineering, stem-cell engineering, and systems biology. His research is now concentrated on finding out how to convince the human body to heal itself by directing stem cells to areas that require regeneration. Although vascularization is still very important to Botchwey, he has broadened the scope of his projects. Botchwey has performed a large amount of research over the last fifteen years, but has also been very involved in the community. While at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), he helped start a non-profit organization that tutored students in north Philadelphia. He also began mentoring undergraduates there, some of whom went to graduate school themselves. It was there that Botchwey met his wife who was also studying at UPenn. Together they maintained their dedication to their community, and, in Atlanta, they continue to be highly involved in the local schools and church. Both helped out by tutoring at the middle school and mentoring high school students. Between research and his work in the community, Botchwey is kept very busy but admits to being a big fan of movies and audiobooks. Taking a step back and looking at Botchwey’s career, it is clear that he has worked in many different fields. From mathematics to stem cell engineering, Dr. Botchwey has studied many different subjects. He enjoys using translational research and stresses its importance. When asked what drew him to biomedical engineering, he states that “the ability to understand the technologies that are difference-making in the lives of people has always been one of the more attractive features.” He wants to continue to work in the area of musculoskeletal regeneration and repair but is open to wherever the research may take him. As he says, “one of my goals is to be a part of seeing something that starts in the laboratory, in the lab bench, and actually reaches the marketplace and the lives of patients.”
SAINT JOSEPH’S TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (STJTRI) September 10 4pm Whitaker 1214
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC September 10 5pm Whitaker 1214
KRECK GRADUATE INSTITUTE September 11 6pm IBB 1128
BAXTER September 12 9:30am Whitaker 1214