The Pioneer Newsletter is brought to you by the students, faculty, and staff of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. The newsletter staff and its collaborators strive to bring you the latest news from all aspects of the BME community. To submit articles, opinions, ideas, or events for publication and for more information about the newsletter, please visit:
www.thepioneer.gatech.edu
Inside this issue: Parting Words: 3 Reflections from Graduating BME Seniors
January 2010
Volume IV, Issue 4
Work Worth the Toil: Senior Design II Presentations
By Karan Patel & Rosemary Song
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s our beloved seniors have gone on to pursue their dreams, we wish them all the best. However, they did not say goodbye without a final senior design presentation. Winding our way through a valley of posters, we witnessed solutions to pressing medical and clinical research issues. The first of many great design projects was titled, “Development of Rapid and NonInvasive Testing Kit for the Determination of Cocaine Intoxication Levels in Overdosed Patients via Incremented Saliva Test” by seniors Tayaba Ahmed, Hsuan Chen, James Molini, and James Wang and advised by Emory toxicologist, Dr. Chang...
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Pre-Health Students: Next Steps to Health School Applications
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PURAWinners Spring 2010 BME Awardees
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A Glimpse of Graduate Life: Ph.D. Student Tiffany Chen Shares Her Experiences
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Young Investigator Awardee Todd McDevitt, Ph.D.
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Tour Outside The Quad: A Glimpse at the Nanotechnology Building
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(Photo: Adrianne Proeller)
Faculty Spotlight: By Willa Ni
Charlie Kemp, Ph.D.
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And More !
l-E, pronounced “Ellie,” approaches a lamp and tugs on the pull cord after a brief pause. The mounting excitement accompanying such a simple action is because El-E is a two-year old with a silver trunk extended in front of her – a robotic trunk. As Dr. Charlie Kemp of the Healthcare Robotics Lab (HRL) and an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University explains, El-E is a “service robot that performs tasks to benefit people with limited mobility.” Specifically, collaboration with the Emory ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) Center has allowed the HRL to not only compile a prioritized list of objects for robotic retrieval, but also conduct multiple user studies...
Charlie Kemp, Ph.D., and El-E (Photo: GTRC / GIT)
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“That’s So BME!”
By You!
Voices From The Student Body “I’ve been at this school for years and I still don’t dare step on a Green Route for fear of ending up lost.” - Where Am I?
“I went to go work in a PBL room. Next thing I knew, I had grid lines on my face and a Microsoft Word document with five pages of the letter p.” - Drowsy Kid
“BME: Best Major Ever or Biggest Mistake Ever?” - Majors Fair Attendee
Want yours here? Submit your “That’s so BME!”s to:
Courtesy of anonymous senior design inhabitants.
Staff Members Editors in Chief Willa Ni Chun Yong Staff Writers Nancy Kim Andrew Lei Stacie Leung Ruobin Ling Graham McAdory Elaina McLean Aswin Natarajan Ayesha Patel Karan Patel Elina Sarmah Rosemary Song Dhruv Vishwakarma Editors Nida Dharani Kanav Jain Nikolaus Shrum Webmaster Elysia Hwang
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Faculty Sponsor Wendy Newstetter Layout Editors Kevin Lam Annie Macedo Photographers Kelli Koenig Gopi Patel Kiersten Peterson Collaborators Don Fernandez Paul Fincannon Sally Gerrish Karen Harwell Jennifer Kimble Megan McDevitt Adrianne Proeller Shannon Sullivan David Terraso John Toon Abby Vogel
www.thepioneer.gatech.edu
A Couple of Words From the Editors in Chief
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elcome back to a new semester and a new issue of The Pioneer! We are looking forward to another amazing semester distilling the essence of BME into the pages of our newsletter. Of course this would not have been possible without you, the reader, on the other side of this paper and ink wall. And this house that we have built rests on the solid financial foundation laid by the Coulter Department, the IBB, and the Georgia Tech Student Foundation. Not only are we grateful for their support, but also the vote of confidence that underlies this foundation. During the course of this newsletter, we have worked with generous collaborators who gift us with invaluable advice and encouragement. For that we are sincerely thankful. This semester, please look forward to the launch of our new website, content better geared towards your needs, and an ever evolving newsletter. Happy reading! Yours sincerely,
Chun Yong and Willa Ni Editors in Chief The Pioneer
Parting Words: By Stacie Leung
Reflections from Graduating BME Seniors
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ecently graduated seniors Sanjay Anand, Leslie Chan, and Ted Chen reflect on their passage as undergraduates through the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. With plans to attend graduate school, Anand has been researching in the Georgia Tech Laboratory for Neuroengineering for Dr. Lohitash Karumbajah of the Bellamkonda Group since his second year. Adapting a quote from Chen, Anand redefines the acronym BME to “Best Major Ever.” Chan, graduating in three and a half years, took many 20 or 21 hour semesters, but also found time to work and research abroad in Germany, research biomaterials in the Laboratory for Neuroengineering Bellamkonda Group, and publish on multi-
functional nanocarriers. Reflecting on her years here, Chan proposes a choice of pathways for students. One for students interested in research, another for students heading to industry, and a third for students pursuing pre-health. And looking back on the entire experience, Chan also realizes that she “got the most experience from research rather than the classes.” Though entering as an undecided engineering major, Chen has also thrived in the Coulter Department. Graduating within the same timeline as Chan, Chen also spent semesters at the National Institute of Health researching process modeling, Rice University creating hydrogel microchannels to grow blood vessels, and the Georgia Tech Kemp Lab studying proteins. Chen enjoyed the unique “hodgepodge of multiple majors” that BME offers, though he would alter some coursework structure.
Instead of the broad scope group based classes, Chen would prefer more independent work. Both Chen and Chan agree that in group environments teammates inevitably do unequal amounts of work. As for specific classes, both Anand and Chen would like to have more direction and structure in physiology labs. Also, looking back they would have enjoyed a more in-depth study of computer aided design in BMED 2300: Problems in Biomedical Engineering II. Overall, these seniors have accomplished a great deal during their years at Georgia Tech. In return, as Chan says, BME has given them a “stronger background” on which they will continue to build. Stacie Leung is an undergraduate student in the Coulter Department.
Attention Pre-Health Students: The Next Steps of Your Professional Health School Applications
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appy Spring Semester! This is the time of the year that you need to start working towards your application to professional school if you want to start in the fall of 2011. Rule #1: Rolling Admissions Medical schools are looking at files as they are completed. Therefore do not expect to apply at the end of the admissions cycle and expect it to work out well for you! Plan on Taking the Entrance Test First, a few words of caution: use your legal name that appears on your identification or you will not be allowed to take the exam. Also, testing seats in Atlanta are limited. A late test registration may take you out of town to take the test! You need to decide when you want to take the entrance test to your health profession program. Ideally, you will take the test in the late spring/early summer of the calendar year before you want to start professional school. Pre-med and podiatry students take the MCAT. Please plan to take the MCATs only once; medical schools see every MCAT attempt and do not take the highest score from each section for each attempt. Also, the MCAT is normed to create a reliable and valid test, which means your score will not dramati-
cally differ upon a second testing. I recommend students to view the MCAT as another class in their schedule. Give the MCAT prep the attention it deserves. As for a MCAT prep company, such as Kaplan, Examkrackers and the Princeton Review, the choice is left to students, but prepare to spend up to $1800. Whether students choose a company or not, I recommend taking several diagnostic exams, which can be purchased from www.e-mcat.com. Pre-pharmacy students will need to take the PCAT. Diagnostic PCATs are available online. Unlike MCATs, schools do not view a reasonable number of attempts negatively. The DAT is the entry test to dental schools. Like the MCAT, multiple attempts on this exam is not advisable. For pre-optometry students, the OAT is your exam. February = Letters of Evaluation In February, I will host Letter of Evaluation workshops to give you the paperwork and guidance on securing your letters of evaluation. Given rolling admission, feetdragging results in incomplete applications. Your file should be complete in my office by the end of the spring semester.
By Jennifer Kimble March = Personal Statements A key part of the admissions process is having a compelling personal statement. As one of my pre-med students once told me, “I spent 4 years at Tech getting my personality beat out of me and now you want me to write about my feelings?!” Yes. Attend a workshop to learn about putting your passion on paper and receive a credit from me to have your statement critiqued. April = Application Workshops AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, PharmCAS. Are you, like many other students, overwhelmed by central applications? Come to the appropriate workshop to learn how to apply. Summer = Apply The summer should be spent submitting a central application, crafting supplementals, and sending letters of evaluation. You will also want to be critical in reviewing your application to see what you should do in the upcoming year to make a stronger application in case you need to reapply for fall 2012. For more information on advice and upcoming workshops, contact GT’s pre-health advisor, Jennifer Kimble at:
jennifer.kimble@carnegie.gatech.edu
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...Visiting the Emergency Room at Grady Hospital they witnessed a shortage of toxicologists to diagnose drug overdose in patients. This prompted the idea to create a product that would fulfill this demand. After finding that current techniques, which included blood tests and urine catheters for unconscious patients, were quite invasive and could lead to lawsuits should the patient awaken during the procedure, they decided to investigate the implementation of something much more lightweight and non-invasive: a saliva test. One obstacle during the project was a six month wait period to receive approval for obtaining cocaine to run product tests. They also recommended that future students make multiple prototypes to adapt to feedback. A second group consisted of the following members: Michael Rothberg, Merek Gourley, and Charity Pires. Their project, titled “Sound Guided Verification of Neonatal NasoGastric Tube Placement,” entailed the development of a device used to feed newborn babies. In creating this, the group wanted to decrease the number of deaths caused by feeding tubes accidentally inserted into the lungs. Their device featured a pathway for air that would allow the doctor to determine via sound if the feeding tube was placed correctly in the stomach. The biggest challenges the group faced were designing the sound generator, tweaking the dimensions of the product, and finding substantial research in their area of study. They found that prototyping early is a great start for any group since it allows more time for testing and making changes to the current prototype. The
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Students in BMED 4601: Senior Design II presented their devices in the Whitaker Atrium on December 3, 2009. Here, seniors Tyler Herman, Patrick Shannon, and Johnny Underwood present their “Mechanically Timed Bag Valve Mask (BVM) Device. (Photo: Kiersten Peterson)
members also stressed the importance of networking, since groups can get perspective and advice from people who are more familiar with the subject matter, allowing a group to create a more detailed and informed project. “Fabrication of Uniaxial Cell-Stretch Device for Real-Time Microscopal Visualization” by Sanjay Anand, Leslie Chan, Leo Chen, and Theodore Chen was a device
Seniors Alice Fockele, Zach O’Ferrell, and Kevin Ung demonstrate their device, the ThorX: Thoracic Catheter Introducing Kit. (Photo: Adrianne Proeller)
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used to study the mechanical strain on cells. This device could be mounted on a microscope so that one could visually see the effect of stress on cells. After creating their proof of concept, they created their first prototype, but quickly learned that the stretching frame they created would not fit back in the holding chamber. The second prototype fixed this by having handles set into its side. When tested, however, it was discovered that the stretching mechanism was not able to pull the tissue smoothly enough. Their third prototype was sized to fit a microscope and included an electronic stretching actuator attached to the base, obviating the need for manual stretching, and thereby reducing error. They found that making new prototypes each time was a huge asset to their success, and they recommended consistent contact with the group advisor as well as finding a group that can work well as a team. The “ThorX: Thoracic Catheter Introducing Kit” by Alice Fockele, Zach O’Ferrell, and Kevin Ung was a device used to improve catheter insertion into the pleural cavity in order to drain fluids around the lungs. Current methods depend on the skill of the medical practitioner. In addition, the type of needle currently used has a hooked end, which can cause further laceration of an injury. The device these students created improves on
pander whose radius increases with its length. Once this new expander is in the body cavity, it can be easily detached, allowing for the introduction of the suction tube. The inner tubing and needle can then safely be removed without any worry of it hooking onto other organs. As a tip for future seniors, they advised students to approach the product as a next generation improvement rather than coming up with something completely new. “The PADD Spinal System: An Innovative Medical Device for Improved Load Distribution and Reduction of Intervertebral Degeneration” by Jeremy Martz, Joshua Roys, Vikram Sampath, and Paul Wach addressed the fact that fixing a spinal disc often leads to the degeneration of surrounding discs due to unequal load bearing. The device included a stabilizer to hold the disc from collapsing and a piece to stabilize the rest of the spine, redistributing the load. The first steps for them were to research the problem and learn why it happens, learn about the marketability of such a device, and find out what would make their product work. In testing their prototype, they had to ensure that the spine could still move with their device mounted to it. The next step for them was biocompatibility testing. They are currently learning the steps to take to get the device through the FDA, as it is a current issue
Professor Lewis Franklin Bost, instructor for Senior Design I and II and BMED 2300: Problems in Biomedical Engineering II. (Photo: GTRC / GIT)
for which there is no long-term data. The group advises aspiring design students to pick a project they are truly interested in, which will enhance motivation and personal satisfaction from the project. Professor Lewis Franklin Bost, the instructor for Senior Design I and II, studied industrial design before receiving his MBA and working in business. Upon retirement from business Bost originally taught medical design in architecture here at Georgia Tech before moving to the Coulter De-
partment. He was kind enough to take a few minutes to tell us a little bit more about senior design: Biomedical Engineering is a broad base with aspects of both engineering and physiology and the ability to communicate with medical professionals. Design, in particular, is about asking questions, formulating ideas, and then taking them back to the client for evaluation. In senior design, groups of students choose a topic and pair up with an advisor to design some sort of product under a $500 budget. The topics are real world topics. A number of these projects have a cross-discipline complexity and contain aspects of electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineering. Although prototypes do not always become products, students are still taught to think of the next step in the development of their device. Some groups write patent disclosures or submit their products to Inventure. This class teaches students what they need to do to secure jobs at biomedical companies. In addition, senior design teaches students to be comfortable in a medical environment and how to talk to medical professionals, many of whom serve as advisors to design groups. Karan Patel and Rosemary Song are undergraduate students in the Coulter Department.
President’s Undergrad Research Award Congratulations to Spring 2010 BME Awardees
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he President’s Undergraduate Research Award (PURA) funds student/ faculty teams to support undergraduate student involvement in research at Georgia Tech. Salary awards of up to $1500 and travel awards of up to $1000 are awarded each semester to students submitting winning proposals for their research. The Pioneer would like to congratulate the following BME students for receiving PURA for Spring 2010. Out of 78 winners, 20 awardees are from the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. Not only are these students participating research in their own field, but many are also conducting research in materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, biology, and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). For more information, please visit: www.undergradresearch.gatech.edu
Student Name / Faculty Mentor
Student Name / Faculty Mentor
Aboujamous, Nader / Barker, Thomas
Rajan, Nithish / Bellamkonda, Ravi
Atangcho, Perry / Sabra, Karim
Richards, Megan / Boyan, Barbara
Bhatnagar, Shivani / Gall,Kenneth
Riemenschneider, Kelsie / Boyan, Barbara
Brasuk, Katie / Kemp, Melissa
Rudra, Soumon / Bellamkonda, Ravi
Britt, Chelsea / Boyan, Barbara
Zeller, Mark / Barker, Thomas
Brown, Wendy / Barker, Thomas Buice, Dana / Yoganathan, Ajit Dehitta, Eleanor / Bellamkonda, Ravi
Interested in PURA?
McAnuff, Kadija / Garcia, Andres
The deadline for Summer 2010 Salary Awards is March 1. Submit your applications now!
Mitra, Debika / Kemp, Melissa Mukhopadhaya, Shoumit / Bellamkonda, Ravi
Questions? Contact the UROP office at:
Nizkorodov, Alexandr / Boyan, Barbara
PURA@gatech.edu
Jain, Kanav / Wartell, Roger Mattix, Brandon / Ready, William
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...El-E interacts with users via a “point and click interface.” Kemp extends this personal computer analogy by explaining that objects in the real world are like “virtual buttons… which a green laser pointer can click on to command the robot.” After El-E detects the green laser pointer, she triangulates the 3-D position of the object. In a study with ALS patients, this interfacing allows El-E to retrieve indicated objects and deliver them to an indicated patient or flat surface. Beyond retrieval, El-E also aids with other household tasks, such as opening doors and turning on lights. Inspired by the augmentation of a household for service dogs, red towels are attached to door handles; El-E then tugs on the towel to open the door. More recent work incorporates physical, perceptual, and semantic tags (PPS-tags). These PPS-tags are a combination of an environmental augmentation and a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, which tells El-E the location of the PPS -tag and a unique identifying code. For ex-
ample, a lamp’s pull cord encased in a red foam tube with a RFID tag can be selected by a user with the laser pointer interface. The unique code will tell El-E the actions she can perform on this object. Once an action is chosen by the user and executed, El-E’s optical sensors can even verify that the lights have indeed been turned off. Besides the slender framed El-E, a 350 pound unnamed robot commanding two compliant arms sits on four large omnidirectional wheels. Kemp explains that this robot is HRL’s most recent exploration into “helping healthcare in other realms, specifically in helping nurses.” Its joints are virtual viscoelastic springs, which can be controlled by varying the equilibrium point and the stiffness of the spring. Graduate student Tiffany Chen explains that a potential “nurse assistant robot could help nurses with repetitive or high risk tasks, such as patient lifting.” In a recently accepted paper Chen and Kemp test a direct physical interface (DPI). Compared to ElE’s laser guided movement, the DPI allows
From Page 1 a human to grab the unnamed robot’s arm to guide it like a parent guides a child. Chen and Kemp’s study reveals that nurses find the DPI more effective, intuitive, and comfortable than a gamepad interface. Meanwhile, this robot has also demonstrated its ability to open various doors and drawers with a hook shaped end effecter. Could the future hold three, or even eight-armed robots? Kemp declines to state how many arms would be best, but he is certain of one thing: that the future holds many robots. To see El-E and the unnamed robot in action, visit: www.youtube.com/user/HealthcareRobotics For more about the HRL and published papers, visit: http://healthcare-robotics.com. Willa Ni is an undergraduate student in the Coulter Department.
A Glimpse of Graduate Life Tiffany Chen Shares Her Experience As A Ph.D. Student
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n average, graduate students only take two classes a semester. Wait. Fellow undergraduates, before you jump on the fast track to graduate school, allow Tiffany Chen, a Ph.D. candidate in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, to explain. As a member of the Healthcare Robotics Laboratory (HRL), Chen spends the majority of her efforts on her research project on developing a nurse assistant robot. Unlike an undergraduate student, “a graduate student’s primary job is to do research.” The classes she takes should supplement her research topic; this supportive relation is best complemented by a flexible graduate curriculum. Chen offers further insight into the world of graduate studies. Surprisingly, graduate TAs do not live for the rare bliss and euphoria of grading mounds of exams. In fact, the BME department requires all graduate students to TA a class, though a TA’s preference sways class assignment. For example, Chen enjoyed working on teams and design projects in her undergraduate design classes at Johns Hopkins University, so she chose to TA for BMED 2300: Problems in Biomedical Engineering II.
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By Willa Ni
Serving as a TA also holds a more pragmatic purpose. Depending on need, some graduate students may receive funding packages that include a stipend given that they TA a class. As a National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellow, Chen exemplifies another source of funding. Given that graduate advisors must provide living stipends for students, Chen points out that holding such a scholarship is equivalent to “paying yourself and working for free” for the duration of the fellowship. Such selfsufficiency also gives fellows more freedom in entering laboratories. And those same themes of teamwork and design have translated well into her current role in the HRL. At HRL several graduate students typically work together on one robot. Though each student has her own project, Chen explains that the lab “builds [a robot] on the strengths of each person and even uses each other’s code.” As HRL’s primary investigator, Charlie Tiffany Chen walking with the robot, El-E. (Photo: Kelli Kemp, Ph.D. , explains, “robotics sits at an Koenig) intersection of a lot of disciplines and the goal is to bring all that expertise to bear on Curious about graduate studies or a problem.” As a whole, Chen describes graduate life? Do you have an “obvious her laboratory as dynamic and, yes, even question” that has not been answered? fun. Send questions to: Willa Ni is an undergraduate student in the Coulter Department.
bmed.newsletter@gmail.com
Recent Coulter Department Publications Congratulations to the Following Accomplishments!
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he Pioneer congratulates the following faculty, post-docs, and graduates for this past month’s research publications.
Biotechnology Progress “Expression of a recombinant elastin-like protein in pichia pastoris.” Sallach RE, Conticello VP, Chaikof EL
Nature Nanotechnology “Bioimaging: second window for in vivo imaging.” Smith AM, Mancini MC, Nie S
Acta Biomaterialia “Human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation on self-assembled monolayers presenting different surface chemistries.” Phillips JE, Petrie TA, Creighton FP, García AJ
Brain Research “Asymmetric connectivity reduction and its relationship to “HAROLD” in aging brain.” Li Z, Moore AB, Tyner C, Hu X
NeuroImage “Effect of hemodynamic variability on Granger causality analysis of fMRI.” Deshpande G, Sathian K, Hu X
“Small intestinal submucosa gel as a potential scaffolding material for cardiac tissue engineering.” Crapo PM, Wang Y
Experimental Brain Research “Postural responses to unexpected perturbations of balance during reaching.” Trivedi H, Leonard JA, Ting LH, Stapley PJ
Arthritis Research & Therapy “Aggrecanolysis and in vitro matrix degradation in the immature bovine meniscus: mechanisms and functional implications.” Wilson CG, Vanderploeg EJ, Zuo F, Sandy JD, Levenston ME
IET Systems Biology “Estimation of metabolic pathway systems from different data sources.” Voit EO, Goel G, Chou IC, Fonseca LL.
Neurotoxicology and Teratology “Prenatal cocaine exposure alters emotional arousal regulation and its effects on working memory.” Li Z, Coles CD, Lynch ME, Hamann S, Peltier S, LaConte S, Hu X
Biomaterials “Engineering fibrin matrices: The engagement of polymerization pockets through fibrin knob technology for the delivery and retention of therapeutic proteins.” Soon AS, Stabenfeldt SE, Brown WE, Barker TH “Physiologic compliance in engineered small-diameter arterial constructs based on an elastomeric substrate.” Crapo PM, Wang Y “The delivery of superoxide dismutase encapsulated in polyketal microparticles to rat myocardium and protection from myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.” Seshadri G, Sy JC, Brown M, Dikalov S, Yang SC, Murthy N, Davis ME. “The roles of Wnt signaling modulators Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1) and Dickkopf-2 (Dkk2) and cell maturation state in osteogenesis on microstructured titanium surfaces.” Olivares-Navarrete R, Hyzy S, Wieland M, Boyan BD, Schwartz Z. Biotechnology and Bioengineering “Shear stress magnitude and duration modulates matrix composition and tensile mechanical properties in engineered cartilaginous tissue.” Gemmiti CV, Guldberg RE.
Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry “Synthesis and Organization of Hyaluronan and Versican by Embryonic Stem Cells Undergoing Embryoid Body Differentiation.” Shukla S, Nair R, Rolle MW, Braun KR, Chan CK, Johnson PY, Wight TN, McDevitt TC Journal of the American Chemical Society “Noncovalent cell surface engineering with cationic graft copolymers.” Wilson JT, Krishnamurthy VR, Cui W, Qu Z, Chaikof EL. Journal of Leukocyte Biology “Transmigration across activated endothelium induces transcriptional changes, inhibits apoptosis, and decreases antimicrobial protein expression in human monocytes.” Williams MR, Sakurai Y, Zughaier SM, Eskin SG, McIntire LV Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging “Data consistency criterion for selecting parameters for k-space-based reconstruction in parallel imaging.” Nana R, Hu X Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology “Molecular beacons and related probes for intracellular RNA imaging.” Santangelo PJ
Nucleic Acids Research “Solid polymeric microparticles enhance the delivery of siRNA to macrophages in vivo.” Lee S, Yang SC, Kao CY, Pierce RH, Murthy N Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences “Regenerative Medicine Special Feature: Sustained delivery of thermostabilized chABC enhances axonal sprouting and functional recovery after spinal cord injury.” Lee H, McKeon RJ, Bellamkonda RV Regenerative Medicine “Stem cell paracrine actions and tissue regeneration.” Baraniak PR, McDevitt TC Synapse “Computational analysis of determinants of dopamine (DA) dysfunction in DA nerve terminals.” Qi Z, Miller GW, Voit EO The Annals of Thoracic Surgery “Saddle shape of the mitral annulus reduces systolic strains on the P2 segment of the posterior mitral leaflet.” Padala M, Hutchison RA, Croft LR, Jimenez JH, Gorman RC, Gorman JH 3rd, Sacks MS, Yoganathan AP The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery “Larger aortic reconstruction corresponds to diminished left pulmonary artery size in patients with single-ventricle physiology.” Dasi LP, Sundareswaran KS, Sherwin C, Zelicourt DD, Kanter K, Fogel MA, Yoganathan AP
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January & February Events January 12 - Nano@Tech with Gang Bao, Ph.D. Nano@Tech welcomes Gang Bao, Ph.D., for a talk on “Molecular Imaging and Bioengineering Approaches in Nanomedicine”. This event is free and lunch is provided, but space is limited. RSVP at www.mirc.gatech.edu/nanotech/ addparticipant.php?id=32 January 14 - Chemistry Colloquium Join Daniel Chiu, Ph.D., University of Washington, in his seminar “Physical Tools for Probing Biological Complexity with Single-Cell and Single-Molecule Resolutions”. 3:00-4.00 PM, MS&E G011. January 18 - Official School Holiday January 19 - IBB Breakfast Club Join Christine Payne, Ph.D., School of Chemistry/Biochemistry, in her seminar “Imaging Dynamic Events Inside Living Cells.” Continental breakfast will be provided. 8:30-9.30 AM, IBB 1128. January 19 - Bioengineering Seminar Series Join William M. Miller, Ph.D., Northwestern University, in his seminar “Bone Marrow Niche-Inspired, Multi-Phase Expansion of Megakaryocytic Progenitors with High Polyploidization Potential”. 11:00-12.00 PM, IBB 1128. January 26 - Work Abroad Program Hosts Chilean Companies The Georgia Tech Division of Professional Practice (DoPP) Work Abroad Program will host Chilean Companies Recruiting Day from 10 AM to 2 PM in Presidential Suites B, C and D of the Georgia Tech Student Success Center. The event will give Tech students the opportunity to learn about and interview with participating Chilean-based employers for co-op jobs and internships located both in Chile and in the Atlanta area. January 28 - Chemistry Colloquium The School of Chemistry & Biochemistry welcomes Dr. White, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, on “Electrochemical DNABased Sensors: From Benchtop to Bedside.” 3:00-4:00 PM, MS&E G011. February 1 - 5th Annual GT UG Research Symposium Deadline Share your research work with other students and faculty from all over campus! Apply to present your work in either poster or oral presentation at the 5th Annual Undergraduate Research Spring Symposium and Awards to be held Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at the GT Student Center. For more info, visit: http://undergradresearch.gatech.edu/SpringSymposium.php February 4 - Bioengineering Seminar Series Join Jean Schwarzbauer, Ph.D., Princeton University, in this bioengineering seminar. 11:00-12.00 PM, IBB 1128. February 11 - Chemistry Colloquium Join John Shelnutt, Ph.D., University of Basel, in his seminar “Self-assembled Porphyrin Nanostructures and Cooperative Binary Ionic Biomorphs”. 3:00-4.00 PM, MS&E G011. February 14 - REU Application Deadline: UMass Amherst The Institute for Cellular Engineering (ICE) is hosting a Research Experience for Undergraduates students interested in pursuing graduate studies in bioengineering or biological sciences. For more info, visit:: www.umass.edu/ice/reu/index.html
Submit events and other important dates to: bmed.newsletter@gmail.com! *Events subject to change. For more information, please check www.gatech.edu/ calendar, www.bme.gatech.edu/calendar, and www.ibb.gatech.edu/events.
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Georgia Tech Lorraine Information Sessions Interested in an academic adventure overseas? Georgia Tech Lorraine is hosting information sessions for students interested in graduate or undergraduate study in France this summer or fall. January 12, 11-12 PM, MRDC Room TBA January 21, 11-12 PM, TBA January 28, 11-12 PM, Van Leer 218 For more information, visit: www.georgiatech-metz.fr/student/info
Boren Fellowships & Scholarships Boren Fellowships provide up to $30,000 to U.S. graduate students and up to $20,000 to undergraduate students to add an important international and language component to their education through specialization in area study, language study, or increased language proficiency. Boren Fellowships support study and research in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interest, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin American, and the Middle East. Please note the GT campus deadline is earlier than the national deadline. Students who wish for their applications to be reviewed by the GT Campus Representative should provide a near-final draft. For additional advice on submitting a strong application, please contact your GT Campus Representative, Rebecca Miller in OIE. Fellowship eligibility, service requirements, and other details can be found on the Boren Awards website at: www.borenawards.org
Fulbright Programs & Opportunities The Fulbright Programs offers fellowships to U.S. and Foreign students for study, research, and/or
teaching assistantships abroad. All undergraduate and graduate students interested in Fulbright applications are invited to meet with the Fulbright Campus Representative, Dr. Karen Adams. Seniors who will graduate by August 2011 and graduate students who will not have defended the dissertation by the end of October 2010 are eligible to apply this coming fall. Applicants must be US citizens. An information session will be held February 11, 2010 at 11:00 AM in the Crescent Room, Student Center. More information may be found at: www.fulbrightonline.org
Join the Georgia Tech Biomedical Engineering Society today! Meet new people in your department, learn about the biomedical engineering industry, and attend numerous seminars hosting BME alumni and company representatives from around the country! Fill out an application now! More info can be found at: www.bmes.gatech.edu.
The Innovative STEM Foundation is proud to bring you the 3rd Annual Innovative STEM Conference. The three day conference will be held in Morgan State University March 11-13, 2010. STEM is calling for student abstracts (due Feb 1) and full research papers (due Feb 15). For more information, visit: www.istemfoundation.org
The Summer Cancer Research Fellowship program provides a unique opportunity for eligible current sophomore or junior undergraduate students to engage in innovative integrative biology approaches to cancer research through the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Integrative Cancer Biology Program (ICBP). The ICBP, composed of nine multidisciplinary Centers across the United States, focuses on the analysis of cancer using systems biology approaches. Researchers within each ICBP Center utilize the integration of experimental biology with mathematical and computational modeling to gain new insights into the biology and management of cancer. Selected student participants are paired with a faculty-mentor from a participating ICBP Center based on the student’s indicated research interests. Through mentored research projects, faculty lectures, seminars, discussions and other activities, the student gains both an understanding and appreciation of major questions currently under investigation and the novel research approaches being used within the ICBP Centers. Center institution’s summer calendars. For more information, visit: http://icbp.nci.nih.gov/summer_program/
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re you interested in a rewarding health-related career that services the community? Well then, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) is the club for you! The GT AMSA chapter is a student-run organization that caters to the needs of pre-health students interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. With over 500 members this year, AMSA serves as one of the largest pre-professional organizations at Georgia Tech. AMSA provides a supportive network for pre-health students by building connections in the healthcare field through personal guidance, volunteer opportunities at hospitals and other social gatherings. These events include: volunteering at Medshare, visits to medical schools, banquets, pre-health conferences, and seminars hosted by admission directors from the University of Chicago, Duke, Emory, and more! GT AMSA is dedicated to not only meeting the needs of pre-medical students at Tech but also providing information about alternative healthcare careers. Last year, AMSA hosted admission directors from osteopathic medical schools, optometry schools, pharmacy schools, and podiatry schools. So, whether you want to become a doctor, a dentist, a pharmacist, or a vet, AMSA will be extremely beneficial to your pre-health career! To find out more information about joining AMSA, please visit: www.amsa.gatech.edu.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., (IEEE-USA) is launching the organization’s third online engineering video competition for undergraduate students on “How Engineers Make a World of Difference.” IEEE-USA will present four scholarship awards totaling $5,000 to undergraduates who create the most effective 90-second video clips reinforcing for an 11-to-13-year-old audience how engineers improve the world. Entries must be submitted through YouTube by midnight Eastern Time on January 15, 2010. Winning entries will be announced and shown during Engineers Week, February 14-20, 2010. For more info, visit: http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/video_competition/
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2010 Young Investigator Awardee Todd McDevitt, Ph.D.
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odd C. McDevitt, Ph.D., has been awarded the 2010 Young Investigator Award from the Society of Biomaterials. The Young Investigator Award recognizes an individual each year who has demonstrated outstanding achievements and leadership in the field of biomaterials research. McDevitt will receive the award at the 2010 Annual Meeting to be held in Seattle, WA, next April where he will also be provided the opportunity to address the whole society. This marks the fourth time in the last seven years that a Georgia Tech faculty member has received the SFB Young Investigator award. Niren Murthy (BME) received the award in 2008, Julia Babensee (BME) in 2005 and Andrés García (ME) in 2004. The McDevitt Laboratory for the Engineering of Stem Cell Technologies is focused on the development and application of engineering principles to translate the potential of stem cells into viable regenerative therapies and in vitro diagnostics. Biomaterials-based approaches are used to engineer the microenvironment of stem cells in order to improve the efficiency and homogeneity of directed stem cell differentiation strategies. In addition, the McDevitt laboratory’s research focuses on development of novel regenerative molecular therapies from natural biomaterials produced by stem cells. The combination of
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By Megan McDevitt directed stem cell differentiation and development of stem cell-derived biomaterials is expected to yield fresh insights into stem cell biology, facilitate new regenerative therapies, and create novel cell diagnostic platforms. The McDevitt Laboratory research is supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, American Heart Association, and the Georgia Research Alliance, among Todd McDevitt, Ph.D., of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical others. Engineering. (Photo: GTRC / GIT) In addition to being include Georgia Tech faculty from the Colnamed the 2010 Society for Biomaterials lege of Engineering, College of Sciences, Young Investigator, McDevitt was apand Ivan Allen College, in addition to colpointed as a Petit Faculty Fellow in the laborative partnerships with stem cell reInstitute for Bioengineering and Bioscience searchers at the University of Georgia, in September 2009 and named the DirecEmory University and other partnering tor of the new Stem Cell Engineering Ceninstitutions throughout the state of Georter at Georgia Tech, which is scheduled to officially launch in 2010. This is the first gia. center of its kind in the United States. Not only will it bring together expertise from For more information, please visit the different engineering disciplines to address McDevitt Laboratory at: key technical challenges that currently limit www.mcdevitt.bme.gatech.edu. the translation of stem cells, but also create new technologies that will enhance Megan McDevitt is the marketing and events manager basic stem cell research. The center will of the IBB and is a collaborator of The Pioneer.
Take a Tour Outside the Quad! By Nancy Kim
A Glimpse at the Marcus Nanotechnology Building
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wo years prior to the end of his term as President of Georgia Tech, Joseph M. Pettit created the first interdisciplinary Microelectronics Research Center (MiRC). In the early 1990s, faculty members from various fields, including faculty from the IBB, came together to research new integrated circuits. Eventually research in the MiRC diversified to fields such as NAMS, plutonic and optical devices. By 2000, the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s signing sparked the creation of the Institute’s NNIN (National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network) in 2004 through government and NSF funding. On April 4, 2009, the doors of the Marcus Nanotechnology building were opened. As part of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), this interdisciplinary research facility was built to create a place where engineers, faculty members, and students from all around the world could gather to research and improve development in the nanotechnology field. According to David Gottfried, Ph.D., the Marcus Nanotechnology Building is the “future of Georgia Tech.” With state of the art equipment along with top scientists and engineers gathered together, the Marcus Nanotechnology Building is the most expensive building project in the history of Georgia Tech. Some of the areas in the building are, in fact, still being constructed. The rooms themselves are adjustable to accommodate the various projects that will be coming into the nanotechnology building in the future.
The Marcus Nanotechnology Building. (Photo: GTRC / GIT)
A clean room in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building. (Photo: Nancy Kim)
Inside the building, there are 30,000 square feet of clean room space wherein researchers conduct their studies. The rooms are constructed in a way that allows only particles smaller than a few micrometers in size into the room, minimizing contamination. The clean rooms can be viewed as the middle layer of a three layer cake. The upper layer of the “cake” is the fan deck, where massive air conditioning units that clean the air inflow are located. For this reason, researchers who perform experiments are required to wear a “bunny suit” before entering the clean room; even an invisible flake of scalp can damage a nanoscale project. Each clean
room is classified by the number of particles that are greater than a half a micron in size. Clean room classes range from size 10 to 1000 particles per cubic meter. The rooms rest atop a perforated waffle slab, which aids in vibration resistance and air flow. The bottom layer of the “cake” is the “sub-fab”. This area houses equipment such as vacuum pumps and ultrapurified water that support research equipment used in nanotechnology research. Georgia Tech has been promoting research throughout the nation. In keeping with this tradition, the Marcus Nanotechnology building has an education outreach office that hosts “nanocamps” and exhibits to educate students from elementary school and above on nanotechnology. On certain days, some of the faculty members conduct a distant learning education with several elementary schools around Atlanta. Currently, there are about a hundred research projects that the Marcus Nanotechnology Building is related to. A few of them include research on medical devices, cancer nanotechnology, a joint research with Emory University, microneedles, and biosensors. With an emphasis on nanotechnology and life sciences, the faculty of the Nanotechnology building hopes to increase the interaction with the biomedical engineering department to solve current and future healthcare issues in human life. Nancy Kim is an undergraduate student in the Coulter Department.
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Modified Enzyme and Delivery System Enable Spinal Cord Regeneration
By Abby Vogel
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esearchers have developed an improved version of an enzyme that degrades the dense scar tissue that forms when the central nervous system is damaged. By digesting the tissue that blocks re-growth of damaged nerves, the improved enzyme — and new system for delivering it — could facilitate recovery from serious central nervous system injuries. The enzyme, chrondroitinase ABC (chABC), must be supplied to the damaged area for at least two weeks following injury to fully degrade scar tissue. But the enzyme functions poorly at body temperature and must therefore be repeatedly injected or infused into the body. In a paper published November 2 in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers describe how they eliminated the thermal sensitivity of chABC and developed a delivery system that allowed the enzyme to be active for weeks without implanted catheters and pumps. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health. “This research has made digesting scar clinically viable by obviating the need for continuous injection of chABC by thermally stabilizing the enzyme and harnessing bioengineered drug delivery systems,” said the paper’s lead author Ravi Bellamkonda, a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. At physiological body temperature, chABC enzyme loses half of its enzymatic activity within one hour and the remaining functionality within three to five days. To thermostabilize the enzymes, Bellamkonda, Emory University cell biology associate professor Robert McKeon and Georgia Tech graduate student Hyun-Jung Lee mixed the enzyme with the sugar trehalose. The result — the enzyme’s activity was stabilized at internal body temperature for up to four weeks during in vitro tests. The researchers then used a lipid microtube-hydrogel scaffold system to deliver the thermostabilized enzymes into animals via a single injection. The scaffold provided sustained delivery of the enzyme for two weeks, with the microtubes enabling slow release and the hydrogel localizing the tubes to the lesion site. This delivery system also allowed the enzyme to diffuse deeper into the tissue than did catheter delivery. In animal studies, the enzyme’s ability to digest the scar was retained for two weeks post-injury and scar remained significantly degraded at the lesion site for at least six weeks. The researchers also observed enhanced axonal sprouting and recovery of nerve
Ravi Bellamkonda, Ph.D.. (Photo: GTRC / GIT)
function at the injury site when the thermostabilized enzyme was delivered. The delivery system also enabled the combination of therapies. Animals treated with thermostabilized chABC in combination with sustained delivery of neurotrophin-3 — a protein growth factor that helps to support the survival and differentiation of neurons — showed significant improvement in locomotor function and enhanced growth of sensory axons and sprouting of fibers for the neurotransmitter serotonin. “These results bring us a step closer to repairing spinal cord injuries, which require multiple steps including minimizing the extent of secondary injury, bridging the lesion, overcoming inhibition due to scar, and stimulating nerve growth,” added Bellamkonda, who is also deputy director of research for GTEC, a regenerative medicine center based at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar. Abby Vogel is a communications officer in the GT Research News & Publications Office and a collaborator of The Pioneer.
Neural tissue regeneration. (Photo: GTRC / GIT)
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