January - February 2014

VOLUME VIII | JAN/FEB 2013 | ISSUE 4

PIONEER.GATECH.EDU

PIONEER BME MACHINE SHOP Take advantage of Whitaker’s state-ofthe-art machine shop

THE COULTER DEPARTMENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF GEORGIA TECH AND EMORY

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From the Editor in Chief PIONEER

Established 2007

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to campus. I know this may be a bit late, it already being the end of January, but still, get excited for an awesome new semester. There are a lot of awesome things coming up around the corner like the campus-wide Internship Fair being held in a couple of days on January 28 and 29. It’ll be a great opportunity to get out there and meet some people, get a Co-Op or internship, or at the least just learn about different industries and companies.

Be on the lookout for the revival of our Pre-Health column in the upcoming issues as well as a dive into the lives of some of the new additions to the Coulter Department family. In this issue, we bring you an article how to build a strong portfolio as many of you apply for internships/Co-Ops and fulltime jobs. We also have another addition to our research series this issue exploring the field of cardiovascular systems and cardiology. We also wanted to shed light on teaching assistants that help out in courses in the department by hearing from them about their experiences, so we have included a piece on Elizabeth Carpenter.

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 Barbara Fasse, Ph.D. OPERATIONS William Sessions SECRETARY Jaemin Sung TREASURER Hee Su Lee PUBLIC RELATIONS Alexandra Low WEBMASTERS Sara Khalek

Jaheda Khanam Troy Kleber Jimmy Nguyen Nafiz Sheikh Elizabeth Walker

STAFF WRITERS Steven Touchton Jr

Jonathan Austin Catherine Chou Shi (Amy) Hui Anirudh Joshi Nina Mohebbi Nithya Paranthaman Dhara Patel Valeriya Popova Abigail Riddle Hifza Sakhi Linda Tian Prateek (Neil) Viswanathan Wells Yang Iva Zivojinovic Tino Zhang

EDITORS Jackson Hair

Nader Abdullahi Hardika Dhir Amanda Klinker Arun Kumar Meera Nathan Fatiesa Sulejmani Kristen Weirich Melanie Yoshimura

LAYOUT EDITORS Marisa Casola

INSIDE PIONEER RECENT PUBLICATIONS……………………….………….…………..…………...…...…...... 3 RESEARCH LABS AT TECH............…….…………………..…….…….……….......….…..... 4 Tackling Diseases

BIOTECH REVIEW..............................……..…………………..…….…….……….......….…. 5 Now and the Future

TA SPOTLIGHT.............……………………………………..………………………...……........ 6 Elizabeth Carpenter INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT…….…………………..……………...……….…….....………….….. 7 Internship and Co-Op Fair EVENTS AND DEADLINES...………………...………………………..…..…...………............ 7 TERMIS...........................………….…………………...…………..……….………..…............ 8 America’s Annual Conference and Expo BME ANSWERS.........……………………………………………..……….…………….…....... 9 BMED 1000..............................................………………………...…………………………… 10 Alumni Profiles RESEARCH GUIDE SERIES……..……………………………………...……....................... 11 Cardiovascular and Cardiology Research THE BME WORKSHOP….……..…………….……………………………..…....................... 12

Kevin Bai Samridhi Banskota Sruti Bheri Candice Cheung Joy Kim Candace Law Alexandra Low Mika Munch Nikita Nagpal Yingbo Shi

PHOTOGRAPHERS Jacob Khouri

Tashfia (Tishi) Chowdhury Nate Conn Paige McQuade Henry Mei Rachel Moore Thomas Nguyen Tuan Nguye Jun Ha Park Meghan Styles 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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RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Uniform vertical trench etching on silicon with high aspect ratio by metal-assisted chemical etching using nanoporous catalysts.

Li L, Liu Y, Zhao X, Lin Z, Wong CP.

Combining Single RNA Sensitive Probes with Subdiffraction-Limited and Live-Cell Imaging Enables the Characterization of Virus Dynamics in Cells.

Alonas E, Lifland AW, Gudheti M, Vanover D, Jung J, Zurla C, Kirschman J, Fiore VF, Douglas A,Barker TH, Yi H, Wright ER, Crowe JE Jr, Santangelo PJ.

Alginate encapsulation parameters influence the differentiation of microencapsulated embryonic stem cell aggregates.

Sources of primary and secondary organic aerosol and their diurnal variations.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Hemodynamics in Plaque Erosion.

System identification of the nonlinear dynamics in the thalamocortical circuit in response to patterned thalamic microstimulation in vivo.

Wilson JL, Najia MA, Saeed R, McDevitt TC.

Campbell IC, Timmins LH, Giddens DP, Virmani R, Veneziani A, Rab ST, Samady H, McDaniel MC, Finn AV, Taylor WR,Oshinski JN.

Harvesting energy from the natural vibration of human walking.

Yang W, Chen J, Zhu G, Yang J, Bai P, Su Y, Jing Q, Cao X, Wang ZL.

Motion charged battery as sustainable flexible power-unit.

Wang S, Lin ZH, Niu S, Lin L, Xie Y, Pradel KC, Wang ZL.

Triboelectric nanogenerator built on suspended 3D spiral structure as vibration and positioning sensor and wave energy harvester.

Hu Y, Yang J, Jing Q, Niu S, Wu W, Wang ZL.

A single-electrode based triboelectric nanogenerator as self-powered tracking system.

Yang Y, Zhou YS, Zhang H, Liu Y, Lee S, Wang ZL.

Pre-conditioning mesenchymal stromal cell spheroids for immunomodulatory paracrine factor secretion.

Shen CL, Chyu MC, Wang JS.

Written-in Conductive Patterns on Robust Graphene Oxide Biopaper by Electrochemical Microstamping.

Influence of radioactivity on surface charging and aggregation kinetics of particles in the atmosphere.

Kim YH, Yiacoumi S, Lee I, McFarlane J, Tsouris C.

Reduction in NO(x) emission trends over China: regional and seasonal variations.

Synthesis of rhodium concave tetrahedrons by collectively manipulating the reduction kinetics, facetselective capping, and surface diffusion.

Xie S, Zhang H, Lu N, Jin M, Wang J, Kim MJ, Xie Z, Xia Y.

Silicone-coated thin film array cochlear implantation in a feline model.

Van Beek-King JM, Bhatti PT, Blake D, Crawford J, McKinnon BJ.

Stiffness dependent separation of cells in a microfluidic device.

Wang G, Mao W, Byler R, Patel K, Henegar C, Alexeev A, Sulchek T.

STEROIDS

New insights on membrane mediated effects of 1Îą,25dihydroxy vitamin D3 signaling in the Colocalization of low and oscillatory coronary wall musculoskeletal system.

Doroudi M, Chen J, Boyan BD, Schwartz Z. shear stress with subsequent culprit lesion resulting in myocardial infarction in an orthotopic heart transplant patient.

Timmins LH, Mackie BD, Oshinski JN, Giddens DP, Samady H.

Hu K, Tolentino LS, Kulkarni DD, Ye C, Kumar S, Tsukruk VV.

Fluid Shear Stress Pre-conditioning Promotes Endothelial Morphogenesis of Embryonic Stem Cells within Embryoid Bodies.

Nsiah BA, Ahsan T, Griffiths S, Cooke M, Nerem RM, McDevitt TC.

The acoustic genealogy of the Nebraska Acoustics Group at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

A Perspective on Immunomodulation and Tissue Repair.

Millard DC, Wang Q, Gollnick CA, Stanley GB.

Zimmermann JA, McDevitt TC.

Gu D, Wang Y, Smeltzer C, Liu Z.

Tea and bone health: steps forward in translational nutrition.

Zheng M, Zhao X, Cheng Y, Yan C, Shi W, Zhang X, Weber RJ, Schauer JJ, Wang X, Edgerton ES.

Wang LM.

Rotenone and paraquat perturb dopamine metabolism: A computational analysis of pesticide toxicity.

Qi Z, Miller GW, Voit EO.

Mokarram N, Bellamkonda RV.

Nanomedicine: Tiny Particles and Machines Give Huge Gains.

Tong S, Fine EJ, Lin Y, Cradick TJ, Bao G.

Osteoblast response to nanocrystalline calcium hydroxyapatite depends on carbonate content.

Adams BR, Mostafa A, Schwartz Z, Boyan BD.

Differential natural organic matter fouling of ceramic versus polymeric ultrafiltration membranes.

Lee SJ, Kim JH.

Inhibitory effects and biotransformation potential of ciprofloxacin under anoxic/anaerobic conditions.

Liu Z, Sun P, Pavlostathis SG, Zhou X, Zhang Y.

Bioconversion of l-glutamic acid to Îą-ketoglutaric acid by an immobilized whole-cell biocatalyst expressing l-amino acid deaminase from Proteus mirabilis.

Hossain GS, Li J, Shin HD, Chen RR, Du G, Liu L, Chen J. Lu H.

Purification of inkjet ink from water using liquid phase, electric discharge polymerization and cellulosic membrane filtration.

Jordan AT, Hsieh JS, Lee DT.

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RESEARCH LABS AT TECH

JAN/FEB ISSUE 4

TACKLING DISEASES

By Catherine Chou Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

Dr. Platt looks at the sickle cells in his lab. (Photo: Paige McQuade)

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estled in the back of IBB is a three-pronged weapon: Prof. Manu Platt’s lab. Through work in repair, remodeling, and regeneration, Platt and his students are tackling sickle cell anemia, HIV and AIDS, and breast cancer.

All three avenues have made considerable progress, thanks to a combination of hard work and dedication.

Sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder caused by a single point mutation: adenine to thymine, which changes the shape of red blood cells in the body. In regular cases, individuals have fifty to seventy years to accumulate lipids and build plaque before they have a stroke. However, children with sickle cell disease mutation between the ages of two to five have been shown to have the greatest risk of having a stroke; in fact, 15% have strokes that are physically debilitating, while 35% have strokes that are mentally impairing. What Platt’s lab aims to do, then, is to investigate why this occurs: how is this lipid-free vascular remodeling happening? How is sickle cell related to cardiovascular disease?

Which children with sickle cell are at the most risk for stroke?

A unique approach to this question, through the investigation of cathepsin levels, has led Platt to receive $1.5M from NIH in 2010, given to “exceptionally creative new investigators who propose highly innovative projects with potential for unusually high impact” (IBB). Cathepsin is a protease that has been identified in lysosomes and is capable of degrading structural proteins in the artery wall and thus changing cell phenotype and function. Furthermore, cathepsins have been seen to be overexpressed in cardiovascular

diseases. Unfortunately, however, cathepsins die out quickly in the body – they have active life spans of two to three hours – and so, despite the high activity, they are unstable and difficult to work with.

With this grant, along with an exceptionally efficient assay his team developed that rivals Western blots, ELISA, and others in its ability to detect cathepsin in femtomole quantities, Platt has carried out multiple projects, including the latest – the use of computational fluid dynamics to mimic blood flow during the cardiac cycle and look at how stiff blood cells, such as sickle cells, disturb the blood flow. This simulated reversal of blood flow “causes all these genes and proteins that cause disease to be turned by endothelial cells – including my cathepsins!” exclaims the ever-enthusiastic Platt. He has further found proof that not only is there a correlation between cathepsins and HIV, but cathepsins and a certain HIV protein are correlated as well. Working alongside a clinic in South Africa, they track cathepsin in the blood at 6, 12, 18 then 24 months for the same patients, taking a three antiretroviral drug ‘cocktail’ used to treat HIV. Patients taking their medications properly usually have had the cathepsin level drop to undetectable levels after either the six or twelve-month period. Recently having finished the 18-month checkup, Platt has hope that this project will have wonderful outcomes. Instead of current tedious, time-inefficient and expensive method of monitoring patient adherence to their drugs via mass spectrometry, a system may be created requiring only a drop of blood and a short period of time for cathepsin analysis.

Current projects looking to improve, such as HIV prevention gels, could also benefit from this type of research.

Meanwhile, the Platt Lab also conducts research on breast cancer, specifically in the field of early detection and personalized treatment.

Current pre-screening methods are detecting the cancer earlier, but not necessarily reducing deaths to breast cancer. What Platt’s researchers are doing now, then, is taking white blood cells from patients at the DeKalb Medical Center, turning them into macrophages and determining which patients’ cells have the most activity. They have also looked at and published a paper on measuring cell signals during the differentiation to predict how malignant a person’s macrophages will be and thus how likely said patient will develop aggressive breast cancer.

Dong-hee “Justin” Chang, an undergraduate working with MD/PhD student Keon-young Park, has also provided related insight into the lab’s investigation of cathepsin, monocytes and osteoclasts for the purposes of detecting cancer early. The pair’s project is focused on the idea that a huge population of females receives unnecessary mastectomies due to the detection of DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), which in itself is not necessarily malignant. More specifically, they are “looking to determine exactly how cathepsins affect cancer progression and find possible targets of inhibition,” with the hypothesis being that patients who produce more cathepsin in their tumor associated macrophages (TAM) and cancer cells will have faster cancer progression.

When all is said and done, Platt and his team are making an immense and global impact. AIDS 2012 and IPS (International Proteolysis Society) 2013, two conferences that took place in Africa, have seen presentations by many members of the Platt Lab, and a few individuals even stayed to carry out field research complementing work being done at Georgia Institute of Technology. Platt himself also returned to South Africa this past December to speak at ICASA (International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa). Moreover, while here in the United States, he collaborated with his brother, Dr. Matthew Platt, on a paper investigating how scientific discoveries have affected HIV and AIDSrelated bills presented to Congress. Throughout all of this and in addition to many other achievements, Platt remains humble. When asked about his greatest lab-related accomplishment, he replied with “I had a moment of wow, I was able to take six of my lab students to South Africa for a conference [in October] where they all presented…this was really something that when I started the job I never thought I would do. Things just open up, doors just open up, opportunities open up. That was really something.” And as Platt has proven, so is his passion for helping people.

5 JAN/FEB ISSUE 4

NOW AND THE FUTURE B

By Anirudh Joshi Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

reakthroughs are made almost daily in the field of biotechnology.

Steve Jobs once said, “I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning just like the digital one was.” Innovators around the world are currently realizing the sentiment expressed in his statement, and the products covered here represent just a few examples.

The phenomenal decrease in the cost of DNA sequencing is making it more accessible to people worldwide. While the cost may be relatively low, people still have to go to hospitals or learn how to operate the tabletop DNA sequencing kits. However, Oxford Nanopore Technologies a company based out of the United Kingdom is making sure that all one needs is $1000 and a computer. The MinION is a compact DNA sequencer that can connect to your USB port, and it uses a new technology called nanopore sequencing. In the traditional approach, long strands of DNA had to be minced and all the fragments had to be sequenced. Nanopore sequencing is capable of handling long strands, thus eliminating a painstaking process. It also helps the development of sequencers that are cheaper and more compact.

The user places pre-treated samples into a small port. An enzyme then unzips the DNA and feeds one end into a pore – a set of proteins arranged in a ring. An ionic current is passed through the pore, and the DNA bases that are present in the pore interrupt the current. Depending on the distinctive interruptions caused by groups of base pairs, the software can determine the sequence of the DNA. In a novel way, MinION is continuing the DNA sequencing revolution that promises personalized healthcare for all.

Tissue engineering has also been in headlines recently for the rapid progress in developing artificial organs. A significant advancement in the field is the availability of 3D printers that can print out living tissue.

California-based medical research company Organvo is developing a

“I think the biggest innovations

of the 21st century will be the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning just like the digital one was.”

printer called Novogen MMX Bioprinter to print livers. The livers are capable of surviving for 40 days, which is a significant improvement over the 48-hour life span from 2D cultures.

Two syringes filled with bio-ink, the first with parenchymal cells and the second with non-parenchymal cells. Software determines the position in which each syringe needs to be placed to generate mold, and, once generated, the cells in the molds fuse and form the complex matrix of liver tissue.

The work is similar to research done at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom where engineers and scientists developed a 3D printer to print living cells. They had to ensure that the pressure with which the cells were dispensed was gentle enough to avoid killing them and that the applied shear stress would not rupture the membrane.

Such advances in tissue printing will help the 120,000+ patients on waitlists for organ transplants. If the technology improves, it has applications in skin grafts as well, according to research being conducted at Wake Forest University. As technology continues to advance worldwide, one can be sure to see more such breakthroughs in the coming years.

The above products are just a few of the many advances that are pushing the boundaries of human technological prowess. The new innovations are making an impact on the world and are changing the way we view medicine. With the current rate of progress, it is exciting to think how far the healthcare revolution will take us within the next few years and beyond.

6 TA SPOTLIGHT

JAN/FEB ISSUE 4

ELIZABETH CARPENTER

By Jonathan Austin Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

T

he Mexican poet Amado Nervo once wrote, “La vida es como un arca inmensa llena de posibilidades”; this succinct phrase roughly translates to “Life is like an immense ark just full of possibilities.” While many of us would simply write off Nervo’s words as just excessive hyperbole, this phrase so elegantly defines that which drives the academic and cultural pursuits of Biomedical Engineering student and President’s Scholarship awardee Elizabeth Carpenter.

Currently in her third year, Elizabeth - or “Beth” - is the co-head teaching assistant for BMED 1000.

This introductory course is focused on introducing students to the opportunities available in the biomedical engineering field and what it means and what it takes to be a biomedical engineer.

As an adjunct member of the Student Advisory Board for Biomedical Engineers (BMED SAB), Beth seeks to help gradually reform this course so that incoming freshmen can receive mentoring from fellow students, be introduced to working in groups, and talk to practicing engineers in the field. Beth hopes to help equip students with the curiosity to discover what BME is about and the right questions with which to pursue that curiosity.

With regards to her own motivations for being a biomedical engineer, Beth credited her love for problem solving and the ever-deepening nature of the field to be her driving motivation. She also replied with a segment taken from Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda’s, Wallace H. Coulter Chair and Professor, recent guest lecture for BMED 1000: “You think of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering; you’re building systems which you know how they work. Building a bridge, for example, I know every single part that goes into it. Not the case with BME. You’re working at a cellular level, working with stuff you don’t know - you’re working with a system that you didn’t create.” Beth currently holds two undergraduate research positions. One of those positions is under Dr. Philip Santangelo and involves RNA research for which she was recently awarded the President’s Undergraduate Research Award (PURA) and another is under Dr. Alisha Waller involving research on engineering education.

Outside of her involvement in the biomedical engineering scene, Beth loves the nuances of the Spanish language - so much so in fact that she is currently pursuing a secondary major in Applied Language and Intercultural Studies (ALIS) with a focus in Spanish in addition to her engineering degree. She participated in the Language for Business and Technology program (LBAT) for Spanish through which she spent six weeks in Peru and four weeks in Spain undergoing an intensive Spanish curriculum and an immersive cultural experience. From watching the Spanish soccer team parade the World Cup trophy through

the streets of Madrid, to making the climb up to the rim of Lake Titicaca to watch the Peruvian sunrise, to interrupting the filming of “A Good Day to Die Hard” while on a weekend getaway to Budapest, Beth calls traveling abroad one of the highlights of her college career. She sees a foreign experience as something everybody should try, saying that “You become exposed to so many different things and thoughts and beliefs. Honestly, it just makes you more knowledgeable, more understanding, - it makes you a better person.” When asked what other culture she’d like to explore someday, Beth said that she’d like to travel to Dharmsala, India where the Dalai Lama resides. There, she would like to learn to speak Nepalese and immerse herself in the philosophies of the Buddhist and Hindu cultures.

In spite all of her academic pursuits and cultural sojourns, Beth remains in continuous gratitude to all those who have helped her along her journey and maintains an admirable humility. Yet, it is this mindset which Beth has adopted that has allowed her to be open to all of the possibilities of which her journey has to offer. If the poet Nervo were to have met her, he would have offered one word - “exactamente” - “exactly.”

BMED 1000 TA Elizabeth Carpenter (Photo: Paige McQuade)

7 INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

JAN/FEB ISSUE 4

THE FAIR IS HERE

By Dhara Patel Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

January 28th and 29th 10 am to 4pm Student Center Ballroom

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o you want to increase your chances of getting a job after graduation? Do you want to increase your work experience and possibly get paid while improving your resume? Do you want to learn more about your career field? Of course you do!

Come on down to the Internship and Co-Op fair to learn more about different companies like Cisco, Michellin, and QuantiSense, and the opportunities that they are clamoring to give Georgia Institute of Technology students like you. The fair will be held on January 28th and 29th from 10 am to 4 pm in the Student Center Ballroom. Come to find out more about these amazing companies, and hopefully land an internship that will be the stepping stone to the career of your dreams!

EVENTS AND DEADLINES

Jan 23 Georgia Bio Annual Awards Dinner 6 pm —Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA Jan 23 Petit Institute Seminar Lonnie D. Shea, Ph.D.

12 pm — Suddath Seminar Room 1128 Jan 28 Young Innovators Seminar Charles Gersbach, Duke University

11 am — Whitaker 1103 Feb 5 ChBE Seminar Series Dr. Terry Papsoutkis

4 pm — MoSE G011 Feb 6 Bioengineering Seminar Series

Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, Ph.D, Washington University

11 am — Suddath Seminar Room 1128 Feb 11 Breakfast Club Seminar Series 8:30 am — Suddath Seminar Room 1128

Feb 11 Bioengineering Seminar Series “Enzyme Kinetics in vivo: 100 years since Michaelis and Menten” 11 am — Suddath Seminar Room 1128 Feb 11 Integrated Cancer Research Seminar Series Dana Pe’er, PhD, Columbia University 4 pm — Suddath Seminar Room 1128 Feb 12 ChBE Seminar Series

Dr.Mark Hersam

4 pm — MoSE G011 Feb 13 Integrated Cancer Research Seminar Series “Dysregulation of Autophagy and Malignant Behavior in Ovarian Cancer” 4 pm — Suddath Seminar Room 1128 Feb 13-16 American Association for Advancement of Science Annual Meeting Chicago, IL

JANUARY /FEBRUARY Feb 20 22nd Annual Suddath Symposium - DNA Repair & Human Disease 8 am- Suddath Seminar Room 1128 Feb 20 Stem Cell Engineering Center Seminar Series “Engineering Biomechanical Cues to Control Stem Cell Fate” 11 am — Whitaker 1103 Feb 25 Young Innovators Seminar Adam Engler, UC,San Diego

11 am — Whitaker 1103

8 JAN/FEB ISSUE 4

AMERICAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXPO

TERMIS CONFERENCE

The Congruent Point of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

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By Tino Zhang Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

ERMIS – Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society – hosts an annual conference which is often found to be eye-opening by many people in the field of tissue engineering as it showcases the field’s latest technologies and groundbreaking research.

This year, TERMIS-Americas is hosted by The Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech with Dr. Robert Guldberg as the Conference Chair and Dr. Todd McDevitt as the Scientific Program Chair. According to McDevitt, the scientific program is “based upon the fundamental principles, emerging strategies and applications of the latest advances in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine” along with “workshops and symposia on clinical and commercial translation.” There are 200 oral presentations and 400 poster presentations. Many of the presenters hail from foreign countries such as Japan and the United Kingdom.

Since tissue engineering is a multi-disciplinary field, project creation involves everything from mechanical engineering to nanotechnology.

One important part of tissue engineering is testing of the mechanical properties of the engineered tissues such as bone, scaffolds and hydrogels, and soft tissues like skin, muscle, and arteries. Bose, a company mainly known for its audio system, has an Electroforce® System group that manufactures devices for this purpose. One of its displayed devices incorporates the electromagnetic technology Bose uses for audio products as a motor to stimulate tissue-engineered constructs. Depending on the tissue, cells respond to different types of mechanical loading such as tension in the case of tendon and ligament and compression in the case of cartilage. The motor technology is able to apply a combination of such forces to tissues, and output the waveform of the force. When asked about her expectation for TERMIS, Stefanie Biechler, PhD, who works as a senior applications engineer for Bose, commented that TERMIS is a good chance to network with customers and learn more about their

This is one of the devices of Bose’s Electroforce® System that is used test the mechanical properties of the tissue construct.

The pointy rubber in the middle is a dummy sample that mimics a tissue construct. (Photo: Nathaniel Conn)

The bioreactor in which stem cells can differentiate on the trachea mold. The bottom half of the bioreactor will be filled with liquid, and as the central axis rotates, the stem cells are exposed to both air and liquid stimuli. Photo: Nathaniel Conn)

needs so that Bose can focus its efforts appropriately. She also emphasizes the career opportunities Bose has to offer for various types of engineers.

Other than showcasing tissue-testing devices, TERMIS also presents companies that focus on regenerating organs. One such company is Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology, which makes a bioreactor called Hollow Organ Bioreactor that generates tissue-engineered tracheas.

The first step of regenerating a trachea is molding. First, a CAT scan of the patient’s trachea is taken and a metal model is made according to the scan. Using electrospinning technology, a solution of dissolved polymer is shot from a syringe onto the metal mandrel. Then, the metal mandrel is charged so that the solution evaporates, leaving fibers with diameter in nano-scale coating the mandrel, and rings made of PET material are added onto the fiber to mimic the function of cartilage in the human trachea, giving the fiber mold stability and flexibility at the same time. After another coat of polymer fiber is added, the molding process is finished.

The next step is coating the fiber with stem cells. These stem cells can be prompted to differentiate through various means. For example, the inside of the trachea becomes an endothelial layer. Then, the differentiated stem cells are inoculated onto the trachea scaffold using a syringe. Before implantation, the trachea is put into a bioreactor, which is incubated for two and a half days. The bioreactor provides physical stimuli – partially immersing the trachea in culture medium while rotating it to give it both liquid and air – and chemical stimuli – cytokines and growth factors. After implantation, it takes about seven to ten days for the cells to continue to grow before they become confluent. The Hollow Organ Bioreactor opens a new method of trachea acquisition and helps save many lives from the hands of tracheal cancer.

In addition to the regeneration of tissues, creating a support system for healthy tissue function is also part of the research effort. One such example is the creation of a biomaterial to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

by L.A. Turner and Erin M. Baggaley from the School of Materials in University of Manchester in United Kingdom. According to Turner, AMD, which is caused by damage or loss of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), is the leading cause of blindness in industrialized countries, and, by the year 2020, is set

9 AMERICAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXPO

JAN/FEB ISSUE 4

to affect over 6 million people. The transplantation of RPE in humans is as of yet unsuccessful due to the bad degradation of the Bruch’s membrane (BM) underlying RPE; BM serves as a filtration net for nutrients and wastes. Turner and Baggaley have created an artificial membrane mimicking BM with pores of 2 µm in diameter using PDMS, a type of organosilicon, The membrane is treated with UV/Ozone to optimize its biocompatibility and suitability for RPE growth – the treatment makes the membrane hydrophilic. This product is patented, and the next step is to find a way to transplant it into the eye. Turner’s motivation for the project stems from the fact that both of her grandparents went blind due to AMD. TERMIS will be a valuable experience for anyone because, as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine take on a bigger role in healthcare, platforms like TERMIS that enable the exchange of information become more important. TERMIS fosters growth in the industry, and shares what it takes to publish a study or develop a device.

BME ANSWERS

By ALPHA ETA MU BETA- The BME Secret Society How can I approach different professors to try and get to know them better?

The easiest way to get to know a professor is to take one of his or her classes. Professors like students who actively participate during class by answering questions or by asking some insightful questions of their own. Office hours are also a great way to get to know a professor and get some face time with them to make sure that the professor can recognize you. The more interaction you have with the professor, the easier it is to steer the conversation away from pure academics. Professors do a lot outside of the classroom, and nobody likes talking about grades and lectures all day.

Another way to get to know a professor is through research. Everybody likes to talk about their work, and if you can apply and get into their lab, it gives you a better opportunity to meet with and talk to the professor. Also, professors will host seminars about their research from time to time. Keep an eye out for announcements about them through your email or in the Whitaker lobby.

A third way is to meet the professor over lunch or coffee. If you do not know them well enough to ask them outright, there are some great events like “Take a Prof to Lunch” which you can use to get some more face time.

How should I go about asking for a letter of recommendation?

The first step is deciding who you would like to ask for a letter. It is always better to choose somebody who really knows you rather than somebody who is well-known. Once you have selected your best supporters, approach them during office hours or after class. It is important to ask for a letter of recommendation face to face. If this is impossible, email can work, but it is harder to get a strong response. Either way, it is important to make sure that you ask the recommender if they can “strongly support” your endeavor with a letter. It is crucial to stress the “strongly.” It allows the recommender to be more truthful as to how good of a letter they can give you. From there, if they agree to write the letter, you will need to forward the information about properly submitting the letter immediately along with a CV or resume. Great recommenders will not need the extra information, but it does help give them something to glance back at to refresh their memory.

What are some great stress relieving activities?

The best stress reliever is sleep. It is sometimes hard to get enough of it, but sleeping is very important to keep you mentally healthy and refreshed. It is also a great memory booster. Studying material and then going to sleep helps retain the material that you just studied.

Exercise can also be a great stress reliever. Getting your blood flowing is a welcome break from the grind of homework and studying, plus it’ll help with your overall energy levels and keep you more on task when you do have to hit the books.

And don’t forget to make time for a social life! Hanging out with friends doing whatever it is you guys enjoy doing together is a foolproof way to reduce stress.

How do you guys go about studying for tests?

It’s hard to stay focused for an extended period of time, so breaking study sessions up into manageable chunks (1-2 hours) with short breaks between to stretch your legs, refill on water (or coffee), or run around and scream. Distractions are everywhere, especially on electronic devices (cell phones, laptops, etc.) so a tactic to keep those to a minimum is to print out all of your study materials beforehand so you won’t get pulled into all that the Internet has to offer. If you can’t print out what you need, there are some great extensions available on Firefox and Chrome that will block certain websites to keep you from getting off topic (StayFocusd and Facebook Nanny, among others). And remember, it doesn’t matter how much you study for a test if you fall asleep during it or sleep through it altogether! Make sure you get enough rest so that you are alert during the test so you can perform your best!

10 JAN/FEB ISSUE 4

BMED 1000

ALUMNI PROFILES

By Wells Yang Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

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ometimes it is hard to see where you will be as a biomedical engineer ten or twenty years down the road, especially in an uncertain economy.

However, it is easy to say that if you can accomplish half of what Jack Griffis, a former Biomedical Engineering student, has in his twenty years as a biomedical engineer, you could call yourself successful.

Though he is now the Vice President of Research and Development at Medshape, Griffis originally majored in Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Despite having a successful undergraduate experience, he was convinced to move toward medical device development by his advisor, now Dean Emeritus Don Giddens.

Griffis started out in radiology but later expanded into to cardiology, osteology, and ophthalmology.

However, as an engineer in a biomedical setting who also trained as an aerospace engineer, Griffis was driven to do a lot of on-the-job learning.

Over the years, he was able to work with several highly experienced and talented engineers and, through his work, was able to author multiple patents and publications. He notably worked for C.R. Bard, Inc. for several years before moving on to Medshape, Inc. in 2007 where he still works today.

Looking back on his career, Griffis recalls his first few years as an engineer when he worked to commercialize and develop a medical device.

At first, he worked on labels and backorders, which is an unavoidable aspect of every biomedical engineer’s career. As he puts it, working as a biomedical engineer is, “80% paperwork and 20% engineering, but that 20% can be a lot of fun.”

When he finally received his own project, he was tasked to develop a thrombolytic catheter and was able to follow the device through the entire design and manufacturing process up to the first surgery. The amount of work and effort involved was highly demanding, and as a biomedical

engineer, a lot of emphasis was often placed on being able to work independently on a multitude of tasks. Even though an enormous amount of time or energy is required for a medical device to be fully developed, it is always worth it in the end. As Griffis describes seeing his device being used in real life, “There’s nothing more satisfying than actually seeing your product getting taken out of its package and used by the doctor, and then it succeeded. It worked. It broke up the clot. It was super-fast. The surgeon was very happy, and there’s no better feeling.”

Over the years, Griffis continued to develop medical devices and worked for a few other medical device companies and startups before settling at Medshape, Inc., which started off developing biomaterials with specialties in experimental technologies such as, shape memory polymers. The company grew and began developing devices of their own and acquiring a diverse set of clientele including Mercedes Benz who approached them for help in developing the sleeves for the cylinders of the engines of their McLaren cars. However, the large part of Medshape’s development still focused on medicine, especially orthopedics which was quickly becoming a growing field for medical devices.

The medical device field itself is also a fast growing industry, but, as can be seen through Griffis’ work over the years, it requires a lot of determination and self-learning. Through years of hard work and innovation, Griffis was able to pull himself up to where he stands today, but it is harder to find a field of engineering as rewarding and as meaningful as Biomedical Engineering. It normally takes years for devices to move from the drawing board into the surgery room, but it is what we strive for from day to day so that our clients can go on helping their patients live better, stronger, and healthier lives. “The rewards are tremendous…to know that your efforts could make or break the success of the business, and there’s nothing better than that to me.”

“There’s nothing more satisfying than actually seeing your product getting taken out of its package and used by the doctor.”

The 2010 Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) ceremony. From left to right: The ceremony moderator; co-op Jhordan Gil; Jack Griffis; co-op Nathan Evans; industrial designer Brian VanHeil, a Tech alumni. (Photo: Thomas Nguyen)

11 RESEARCH GUIDE SERIES

JAN/FEB ISSUE 4

CARDIOVASCULAR AND CARDIOLOGY RESEARCH

By Amy (Shi Hui) Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

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eart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States with about 600,000 related deaths every year. Many of the research labs at the Georgia Institute of Technology are conducting experiments specifically dealing with the heart and blood vessels of the human body, as well as understanding the mechanisms of blood circulation. The opportunity to untangle the puzzles of cardiology inspires many at Georgia Tech, including the labs of Dr. Robert Taylor and Dr. Don Giddens.

Dr. Robert Taylor is a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University as well as a cardiologist. His research focuses on vascular inflammation in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases, specifically hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. The research involves strong collaborative efforts with other members of the Coulter Department who have a focus on applying nanotechnology and imaging approaches to the general area of atherosclerosis. His work employs novel animal models of human vascular disease to study the role of various mechanical and humoral factors in the development of hypertension and atherosclerosis. He has a particular interest in the renin angiotensin system, advanced glycation endproducts, biomechanical forces, and oxidative stress. His research also examines the interaction between vascular inflammation and bone marrowderived endothelial progenitor cells. This research employs many areas of engineering and science including imagining technology, regenerative therapy, cell biology, etc.

Dr. Don Giddens, Dean Emeritus of the Coulter Department, is also involved in cardiovascular research. His lab’s objective is to develop techniques to quantify the fluid mechanical environment to better understand the development and progression of numerous cardiovascular pathologies, as well as develop optimal treatment strategies. The research team actively collaborates with vascular biologists, vascular surgeons, and interventional cardiology in order to better understand the limitations in their current

diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment strategies as well as how engineering principles can be applied to improve patient care. The research team focuses on discovering the mechanical environment in systems ranging from the single cell up to human coronary vasculature. Possible applications for this research include the development of robust methods that can be implemented clinically to better understand and treat atherosclerosis as well as other cardiovascular diseases. This research is useful to understand how the blood flow environment can predispose a region of the vascular system for atherosclerosis development or lead to failure of medical devices. For example, in collaboration with interventional cardiologist at Emory University, the researchers investigated the rapid progression of coronary artery disease. Clinically, this is important as patients can be asymptomatic but, due to rapid disease progression, have a potentially fatal heart attack without warning. The research team utilizes various clinical imaging techniques to reconstruct a patient's coronary vascular system and employ advanced computational methods to model their hemodynamic environment. The clinical studies follow patients over periods of six months and one year, which allows quantification in coronary artery disease progression and relate it to blood flow induced mechanical forces. The research lab is also involved in research projects on modeling the transport of nanoparticles to treat atherosclerosis, microfluidics in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and vascular disease development in heart transplant patients.

For BME students interested in such research topics, possible applicable courses are all (bio)mechanics courses offered in the BME department.

The most applicable include BMED 3300 (Biotransport) and BMED 4757 (Biofluid Mechanics). Courses covering human physiology and anatomy, such as BMED 3100 (Systems Physiology) are also advantageous.

Special thanks to Dr. Robert Taylor, Dr. Timmins, a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Coulter Department, and Dr. Molony, Postdoctoral Fellow of the Coulter Department, for their help in writing this article.

“The most applicable

(Photo: almashospital.com)

courses offered in the BME department are BMED 3300 (Transport), BMED 4757 (Biofluid Mechanics) and BMED 3100 (Systems Physiology.”

THE BME WORKSHOP

By William Sessions Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department

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ocated in the basement of the U.A. Whitaker building, adjacent to the back stairs, the biomedical engineering machine shop is available for use by any current student or faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology. Besides the design instructors, Marty Jacobson and Raja Schaar, there is often an undergraduate shop hand present in the shop. They can assist with the use of the machines and tools in the shop and also teach their proper and safe use.

The machine shop is equipped with a ProtoTrak mill, a lathe, a drill press, a Haas 3-axis CNC mill, MakerBot 3D printers, and assorted hand tools. Whether or not you have machining experience, regularly scheduled training sessions are available for you to learn how to use all of the equipment in the shop; the design instructors and the undergraduate shop hands offer these training sessions. After demonstrating proficiency with all of the machines and tools in the shop, students may be granted after-hours card access to the shop. Shop training and after-hours access is also an especially valuable asset for a team that is working to complete prototypes for biomedical engineering courses.

Regardless of your aspirations beyond Georgia Tech, machining and manufacturing experience is a valuable complement to the biomedical engineering curriculum. Although some manufacturing concepts are taught in Problems in Biomedical Engineering II (BMED 2300) and in Capstone Design (BMED 4602), there are no substitutes for first-hand manufacturing experience; understanding the capabilities of the resources in the shop brings about improved design decisions for a working prototype.

Many research labs around campus value machining experience as well. Quite a few research projects require machining expertise to operate the specialized setups or equipment. Acquiring the machining skills taught in the biomedical engineering machine shop can make you a more desirable candidate for a lab position.

Although the machine shop is frequently used for manufacturing BMED 2300 or BMED 4602 teams’ prototypes, the shop may be used for personal projects as well. For instance, during my time working as a shop hand last semester, I designed and machined a Turner’s Cube (shown on cover) and several model rocket parts for my roommate.

In addition to the machine shop in the biomedical engineering building, the Invention Studio, located in the Manufacturing Related Disciplines Complex (MRDC), maintains a variety of additional equipment including a water jet, laser cutters, and 3D printers. Machining experience is a valuable skill that can be applied in academic courses as well as in industry. For more information about the BME machine shop, stop by. The machine shop is generally open from 9 o’clock in the morning to 5 o’clock in the evening during normal school days.

(Photos: Rachel Moore)