VOLUME VIII | MAR 2014 | ISSUE 5
PIONEER.GATECH.EDU
PIONEER RESEARCH GUIDE Learn more about motor control through Dr. Nichol’s research lab.
THE COULTER DEPARTMENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF GEORGIA TECH AND EMORY
3
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
From the Editor in Chief PIONEER
Journal
Established 2007
EDITOR IN CHIEF Jackson Hair
Hey everybody!
FACULTY SPONSOR Barbara Fasse, Ph.D.
My name is Jackson Hair, and I am the new Editor-in-Chief for Pioneer. I am very excited to work alongside all of our new officers and members, and I am honored to lead us in what will hopefully be our best year ever. We recently said goodbye to several of our senior members as they began their final semester here at Georgia Tech, but our past recruitment season has given us numerous fresh faces who will no doubt contribute greatly to all of our future issues. I look forward to seeing what we will accomplish in the coming year. In the aftermath of the myriad successive snow days that we have had these past few weeks, many course schedules have been thrown off-kilter. Despite this, professors are still blazing ahead to ensure the successful education of their students, and most have already administered their first rounds of exams. The Internship and Co-Op Fair has come and gone as well, but there are still many opportunities available through CareerBuzz and announcements from our very own advising staff, so be sure to look out for those. This issue of Pioneer is filled with goodies. We continue our After Hours series with an article jointly written by Doctors Tom and Shannon Barker, in which they discuss their passions outside of biomedical engineering, including food, music, and much more. Meanwhile, our Research Guide Series this month looks into neurophysiology research in the Biotech Quad. We also have some informative articles on the new BMED 1803 course, PURA and Petit Awards, and REUs. We have a lot more as well, so read on to find out all about it. For more regular updates on the happenings of the biotechnology community, feel free to like our Facebook page at facebook.com/gtpioneer, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/pioneergt and take a glance at more online content at thepioneer.gatech.edu. If you would like, you can reach us by e-mail at thepioneer@gatech.edu.
OPERATIONS SECRETARY TREASURER PUBLIC RELATIONS
Steven Touchton, Jr Fatiesa Sulejmani
Hee Su Lee Tino Zhang
WEBMASTERS Josh Diaddigo
Ali Abid Liam Carter-Condon Jimmy Nguyen Liangyu Tao
STAFF WRITERS Jonathan Austin
Asana Adams Shi (Amy) Hui Anirudh Joshi Nina Mohebbi Dhara Patel Valeriya Popova Abigail Riddle Hifza Sakhi Linda Tian Wells Yang Iva Zivojinovic Tanvi Rao Abhinaya Uthayakumar
EDITORS Catherine Chou
Nader Abdullahi Andrew Akers Julie Chow Hardika Dhir Amanda Klinker Meera Nathan Kristen Weirich Melanie Yoshimura
LAYOUT EDITORS Marisa Casola
Joy Kim Kevin Bai Samridhi Banskota Sruti Bheri Candice Cheung Candace Law Alexandra Low Nikita Nagpal Wenjun Wu Yiran Zhao
Until next time, Jackson Hair Editor-in-Chief Pioneer
INSIDE PIONEER
PHOTOGRAPHERS David Van
RECENT PUBLICATIONS……………………….………….…………..…………...…...…..... 3 BIOTECH REVIEW...........................…….…………………..…….…….……….......….…... 4 Prosthetic Hands, Smart Contacts, and Malaria Detection
EVENTS AND DEADLINES.................……..…………………..…….…….……….......…... 5 BMED 1803..................……………………………………..………………………...……...... 6 Introduction to BME, Revised
BME ANSWERS….……...................……………..…….……...……….…….....………….... 6 INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT.......………………...………………………..…..…...……….......... 7 Career Fair
AWARDS...........................………….…………………...…………..……….………..…....... 8 Petit VS Pura
That’s So BME............……………………………………………..……….…………….…....
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AFTER HOURS...............................................………………………...…………………… 10 The Barkers
RESEARCH GUIDE SERIES……..……………………………………...……..................... 11 Dr. Nichols
REU….……..…….............................……….……………………………..…....................... 12
Wanda Chen Tashfia (Tishi) Chowdhury Nate Conn Morgan Hinchey Haley Howard Paige McQuade Thomas Nguyen Tuan Nguyen Meghan Styles Hyunjun (Fred) Woo
SPONSORSHIP Shanzeh Farooqui Sameer Mishra
COLLABORATORS Karen Adams Courtney Lucas Ferencik Paul Fincannon Sally Gerrish Martin Jacobson Jennifer Kimble Megan McDevitt Colleen Mitchell Adrianne Proeller Raja Schaar Shannon Sullivan
Article Title
MAR ISSUE 5
Authors
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Polymer/Carbon Nanotube Nano Composite Fibers-A Review.
Liu Y, Kumar S.
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Nanofiber Scaffolds with Gradients in Mineral Content for Spatial Control of Osteogenesis.
Liu W, Lipner J, Xie J, Manning CN, Thomopoulos S, Xia Y.
ACS Nano
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.
Acta Biomaterialia
Learning from nature - novel synthetic biology approaches for biomaterial design.
Bryksin AV, Brown AC, Baksh MM, Finn MG, Barker TH.
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Vascularization Strategies for Bone Regeneration.
Krishnan L, Willett NJ, Guldberg RE.
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Frontiers in Bioengineering Research.
Bao G, Nerem RM.
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Engineering Three-Dimensional Stem Cell Morphogenesis for the Development of Tissue Models and Scalable Regenerative Therapeutics.
Kinney MA, Hookway TA, Wang Y, McDevitt TC.
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Molecular Sequelae of Topographically Guided Peripheral Nerve Repair.
Mukhatyar V, Pai B, Clements I, Srinivasan A, Huber R, Mehta A, Mukhopadaya S, Rudra S, Patel G, Karumbaiah L, Bellamkonda R.
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Type I Collagen-Based Fibrous Capsule Enhances Integration of Tissue-Engineered Cartilage with Native Articular Cartilage.
Yang YH, Ard MB, Halper JT, Barabino GA.
Atheroscerlosis
Combination of plaque burden, wall shear stress, and plaque phenotype has incremental value for prediction of coronary atherosclerotic plaque progression and vulnerability.
Corban MT, Eshtehardi P, Suo J, McDaniel MC, Timmins LH, RassoulArzrumly E, Maynard C, Mekonnen G, King S 3rd, Quyyumi AA, Giddens DP, Samady H.
Biomicrofluidics
Sequentially pulsed fluid delivery to establish soluble gradients within a scalable microfluidic chamber array.
Park ES, Difeo MA, Rand JM, Crane MM, Lu H.
Biotechonology Advances
Recent advances in discovery, heterologous expression, and molecular engineering of cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase for versatile applications.
Han R, Li J, Shin HD, Chen RR, Du G, Liu L, Chen J.
Cardiology in the Young
Magnetic resonance imaging-guided surgical design: can we optimise the Fontan operation?
Haggerty CM, Yoganathan AP, Fogel MA.
Cell Immunology
Crohn’s disease: a review of treatment options and current research.
Bandzar S, Gupta S, Platt MO.
Circulation
Accurate assessment of aortic stenosis: a review of diagnostic modalities and hemodynamics.
Saikrishnan N, Kumar G, Sawaya FJ, Lerakis S, Yoganathan AP.
Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine
Low-dose and scatter-free cone-beam CT imaging using a stationary beam blocker in a single scan: phantom studies.
Dong X, Petrongolo M, Niu T, Zhu L.
Current Opinon in Biotechnology
Animal microsurgery using microfluidics.
Stirman JN, Harker B, Lu H, Crane MM.
Current Osteoporosis Reports
Local Strategies to Prevent and Treat Osteoporosis.
Torstrick FB, Guldberg RE.
Current Protocols in Microbiology
Gene Identification in Prokaryotic Genomes, Phages, Metagenomes, and EST Sequences with GeneMarkS Suite.
Borodovsky M, Lomsadze A.
Enzyme Microbiology Technology
Cellular antioxidant activity of phenylaminoethyl selenides as monitored by chemiluminescence of peroxalate nanoparticles and by reduction of lipopolysaccharideinduced oxidative stress.
Cowan EA, Taylor JL, Oldham CD, Dasari M, Doyle D, Murthy N, May SW.
Frontiers in Neural Circuits
Delivery of continuously-varying stimuli using channelrhodopsin-2.
Tchumatchenko T, Newman JP, Fong MF, Potter SM.
IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Multivariate hypergeometric similarity measure.
Kaddi CD, Mitchell Parry R, Wang MD.
Integrative Biology
Interactions between mesenchymal stem cells, adipocytes, and osteoblasts in a 3D tri-culture model of hyperglycemic conditions in the bone marrow microenvironment.
Rinker TE, Hammoudi TM, Kemp ML, Lu H, Temenoff JS.
International Conference on Medical Image Computing and ComputerAssisted Intervention
Anatomy-guided discovery of large-scale consistent connectivity-based cortical landmarks.
Jiang X, Zhang T, Zhu D, Li K, Lv J, Guo L, Liu T.
International Journal of Artificial Organs
Design and validation of a diaphragm pump for pediatric CRRT during ECMO.
Santhanakrishnan A, Nestle T, Moore BL, Yoganathan AP, Paden ML.
International Journal of Cardiology
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation can potentially impact short-term and longterm functionality: An in vitro study.
Stearns G, Saikrishnan N, Siefert AW, Yoganathan AP.
Journal of Biomedical Optics
Medical hyperspectral imaging: a review.
Lu G, Fei B.
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
Relationship between mechanical dyssynchrony and intra-operative electrical delay times in patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy.
Suever JD, Hartlage GR, Magrath Iii RP, Iravanian S, Lloyd MS,Oshinski JN.
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5 BIOTECH REVIEW
MAR ISSUE 5
PROSTHETIC HANDS, SMART CONTACTS, AND MALARIA DETECTION By Hifza Sakhi Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
Prosthetic Hand Allows Patient to Feel Again
F
or a long time, bionic researchers have been interested in developing prosthetics that can convey sensory information. A study led by Silvestro Micera, PhD, at The BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, Italy and at the Center for Neuroprosthetics and Institute of Bioengineering of the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, Switzerland, showcased an experiment with a prosthetic hand that provided “near-natural” sensory information without visual or auditory feedback. The paper listed twenty-one authors from six EU countries and was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The international team of researchers worked with Dennis Aabo Sørensen, an amputee patient from Denmark, who lost his left-hand in a fireworks accident nine years ago. Four ultrathin electrodes were implanted into the ulnar and median nerve bundles of Sørensen’s upper arm at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. These electrodes received input from the pressure sensors embedded in the fingertips and palm of the bionic hand, which were measuring tension in the artificial tendons on each finger t assess the
grasping forces for touching objects. Computer algorithms took these signals from the pressure sensors and transformed them into electrical signals, which could then be interpreted by the human nervous system. Researchers tested the prosthetic hand for thirty days with Sørensen as he picked up different objects and tried to distinguish between them by touch alone. It was found that he could distinguish between objects of different shapes, discriminate between the stiffness of an orange versus that of a baseball, and recognize a whole array of objects such as cotton wool, piece of fabric, and a block of wood with 90% accuracy. In fact, he was able to discriminate between a variety of sensations ranging from a slight touch to that below the pain threshold. In a press release, Sørensen remarked that “it was quite amazing, because suddenly I was able to feel something I hadn’t been feeling for nine years.” The researchers plan to continue testing their prototype with additional subjects and to work on reducing the bulkiness so that it can be used in clinical practice within the next few years. Source: http://www.qmed.com/mpmn/medtechpulse/ prosthetic-hand-provides-real-time-sense-feelingand http:// www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/us-science-handidUSBREA141UF20140205
Sørensen tests sensory feedback in the prosthetic hand. (Photo: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)
BIOTECH REVIEW and plans to partner with other companies to build apps for patients and healthcare providers, commercializing this method of monitoring glucose levels. Source: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/introducing-our-smart-contact-lens.html and http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/17/technology/innovation/google-contacts/
Researchers Develop Vapor Nanobubble Dermal Transduction Technology for Detecting Malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that affects 300 million people globally and claims 600,000 lives each year. Symptoms of this disease can range from fever and chills to coma. Though numerous drugs have been developed against malaria, resistant strains and poor screening in developing nations are notable barriers for curtailing transmission rates. Furthermore, low-cost diagnostic kits are not effective in detecting malaria, while the most common diagnostic technique, a blood smear test, necessitates the usage of high-cost microscopes, chemical reagents, diagnostic personnel, and patients’ blood samples, which are often difficult to acquire in hospitals of developing countries.
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For a better and more cost-effective diagnosis of malaria, researchers at Rice University have developed a new through-the-skin, noninvasive detection technique which can “accurately detect malaria in seconds without the use of blood sampling or reagents” says Dmitri Lapotko, the lead co-author on the paper. The vapor nanobubble dermal transduction technique works by employing a low-power scanning laser to exploit the optical properties of hemozoin, a nanoparticle produced by malarial parasites inside a patient’s red blood cells. Shining a short pulse of light (through the skin) on the hemozoin nanoparticle results in the absorption of energy, which produces minuscule vapor nanobubbles. Rupture of these nanobubbles yields unique acoustic signatures that can be discerned with acoustic equipment, thereby allowing for accurate and rapid diagnosis of malarial cells. The device is sensitive for detecting even low-level malarial infections, such as one infected cell within a million normal cells, with no false positives. Another advantage of this portable, battery-powered device is that the same device can be used to screen up to 200,000 patients each year, thereby bringing the per-patient cost to be less than 50 cents. Clinical trials of this technology will soon be conducted at a hospital in Houston, Texas and will be followed by a global clinical trial later this year.
Source: http://www.qmed.com/news/nanobubble-device-detects-malaria-through-skin
“...he could
This undated photo released by Google shows the contact lens that is being tested to explore tear gluconse (Photo: AP)
Google Tests Smart Contacts for Diabetic Patients Following the advent of Google Glass, the tech giant has now turned its attention to rolling out another eye gadget: this time, a smart contact lens to ease glucose monitoring for diabetic patients. Diabetes is a chronic problem that affects one in every nineteen people across the globe. Compounding this problem is the fact that diabetic patients have to monitor their blood glucose levels constantly, which may change in response to normal activities such as eating, exercising, or swimming. Although some patients wear glucose monitors with a sensor embedded under their skin, patients still have to prick their fingers to test droplets of blood throughout the day. The inconvenience of this method causes many people to check their glucose levels less often than necessary. To circumvent this problem, scientists have, over the years, investigated other bodily fluids such as tears as potential targets for glucose measurement. However, difficulties in collection and analysis of tears hampered efforts to use tears for glucose measurement. At the clandestine Google[x] labs, a project is underway to develop smart contacts which could provide a noninvasive method to monitor glucose levels throughout the day. Google is currently testing and refining a prototype of a small contact lens that has miniaturized glucose sensors and a tiny wireless chip sandwiched between two layers of soft contact lens material. By bringing the technology to the source of the tears, it eliminates the barrier of collecting tears while still providing glucose readings in tears every second. Google is also planning to add LED lights to the contacts, which would flash if glucose levels were either too high or too low. The tech giant is currently in discussions with the FDA about this technology
distinguish between objects of different shapes, discriminate between the stiffness of an orange versus that of a baseball, and recognize a whole array of objects ...” A near-infrared picosecond laser can detect nanobubbles located in malaria parasites under the skin. Image courtesy of Rice University. (Photo: Rice University)
EVENTS AND DEADLINES
MARCH
3 BME Faculty Candidate Seminar 9 AM —Whitaker 1103
10 Chemical Biology Seminar Jianfeng, Ph.D., University of South Florida 11 AM- MoSE 3201A
4 Bioengineering Seminar Dr. Kyriacos Athanasiou, U.C. Davis 11 AM — Suddath Seminar Room 1128
25 Young Innovators Seminar Shelly Peyton, University of Massachusetts 11 am — Whitaker 1103
7 BME Faculty Candidate Talk Chungi Qian, Ph.D. 9 AM- Whitaker 1103
26 Woodruff School’s Annual Harold W. Gegenbeimer Lecture Deborah Kilpatrick, Ph.D. 2:30 PM- MRDC 2404
6 BMED 1803
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
THE INTRODUCTION TO BME, REVISED
FIRST TIME AT THE CAREER FAIR
By Anirudh Joshi Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
By Dhara Patel Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
MAR ISSUE 5
J
anuary 5, 2014. I was ready to start my second semester at the Georgia Institute of Technology and was looking forward to my first course in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University: BMED 1000. That afternoon, however, I received an email from Paul Fincannon, the academic advisor, about BMED 1803, a pilot course that would start this semester and could be taken as a replacement for BMED 1000. Looking further into the course description, I realized that this course, created by Associate Professor Robert Lee, Ph.D., would cover aspects that I felt important for a freshman to know. Designed to give students a better idea of what the major is like, a typical 1803 class is spent either going through a week’s worth of material from an upper level BME class or learning about good engineering practice. So far, the class has covered concepts in BMED 3100 (Systems Physiology) and BMED 3600 (Cellular Physiology) and has encouraged students to adopt more efficient ways of approaching and solving complex problems. In this way, we learn about engineering and then how it specifically applies to biomedical engineering. Meanwhile, the homework is quantitative and ingrains mathematical skills taught in lecture. It is also common to see open-ended problems like, “How big would a hot air balloon need to be to lift an elephant?” Problems like these help us learn to make reasonable assumptions and estimates, which is an invaluable engineering skill. Overall, the course enables students to make more informed decisions about their college education. Specifically, as Lee explained to us the first class, many BME students stumble when they encounter classes like BMED 2210 (Conservation Principles) and BMED 3300 (Biotransport) because they are not well prepared. As such, the purpose of BMED 1803 is not only to better expose students to the concepts of 2210 and other courses at an earlier stage, but also to help them grasp a better
BME ANSWERS
understanding of their interests in the engineering field. As someone with multidisciplinary interests, I had enrolled in this class thinking it would help ascertain my interest in biomedical engineering and have not looked back since. When all is said and done, BMED 1803 is already proving its potential. In fact, Lee expects this class to replace BMED 1000 in the near future. The class currently has around thirty students, though next semester’s class size is expected to grow into the hundreds. In addition to staying confident that BMED 1803 will work regardless of this larger student body, Lee hopes to one day include faculty and student panels where students can ask questions to BME faculty or people in the industry. All in all, BMED 1803 is shaping up to be a beneficial course, enjoyed by staff and students alike, and we expect to hear great reviews about it in the future.
I
The sea of people (Photo: Haley Howard)
entered through the doors of the Student Center Ballroom for the 2014 Georgia Tech Annual Internship and Co-Op Fair with more than a little hesitation. I had never been to a career fair before, and my anxiety was no doubt further amplified by my negligent lack of business attire. Despite this oversight and my inexperience, however, I walked out with a decent sense for how best to prepare for my next career fair when I will actually be looking for a job. Even though the number of companies represented at the fair was not
BME 1803 student completing in class quiz. (Photo: Wanda Chen)
By ALPHA ETA MU BETA - The BME Secret Society
7 MAR ISSUE 5
overwhelming, the combined power of having all of them in one room was enormous. There were some young, smaller companies, such as Neusoft Technologies and RockTenn, in addition to several larger corporations, including Bloomberg, Siemens, and IBM. The lines for the latter group were especially long, though still rewarding for the students who eagerly sought future employment with these industry giants. Their wide influence certainly made them more desirable targets than the smaller companies in many of the fair-goers eyes, but what the small companies lacked in influence, they definitely made up for with openness and confidence. For example, when questioned about the potential threat of its competitors, the representative for Square, a mobile credit card scanning company, boldly replied, “Well, we’re better.” Knowing that even small companies harbor that kind of attitude, students can be assured that an internship or job with any of the companies at the fair, regardless of their size, can be equally fulfilling. The biggest disappointment of the fair was the lack of representation by biotechnology companies; students pursuing a degree in Biomedical Engineering had very few options in the sea of business and technology companies. Fortunately, the Georgia Tech Biotechnology Career Fair is held annually each fall semester to counter this disadvantage. Having been to the institute-wide career fair already, I can reflect on the various mistakes that I made and work towards improving them in the future. Such mistakes are unavoidable during one’s first visit, and it is therefore never too early to attend a career fair if not just to prepare for one later down the road.
ANSWERS CONTIUED... 3. How do I improve my writing skills at Georgia Tech?
Everybody needs a few good laughs, especially when grades are dragging down the mood. I personally enjoy eating junk food and browsing the internet for videos and memes, but doing any other simple activity that takes the mind off stress can be equally effective. For example, exercising or reading for fun can help be a distraction, at least for a little while, from one’s daily problems. In fact, one solid way to escape stress is to reserve specific break hours, or even to take a day off. This gives your body a chance to rewind. Meanwhile, to stay motivated, get to know other people that can serve as good role models or even rivals, if you tend to be competitive.
Georgia Tech does not put a heavy emphasis on developing writing skills, but there are resources available to you. While learning how to write a technical report is not the same thing as trying to produce an artistic literary work or a personal statement, if you are working on a specific project or application, the Communications Center in the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons is a great place to start. There are professionals available for consultation that can help you improve that report, personal statement, or proposal you have been struggling over. Some programs even have a dedicated faculty or staff member to help you write essays for applications! Even if you choose not to pursue either option, the best way to work on your writing skills is simply to practice. If you do not really have any topics that you can easily come up with yourself, join a student newspaper or newsletter; there are plenty of topics to choose from, and you get great feedback on your work.
2. I want to pursue a teaching assistant position. How do I go about doing that?
4.
For BME classes, talk to the professor first. Each BME professor gets to choose the TAs as he or she sees fit. The cofacilitation position for 1300 and the TA position for 2300 are a little different, as they do have application processes, but taking initiative to ask a professor about any open TA positions is usually best. Later in registration, Paul Fincannon often sends out an email looking for interest in being a teaching assistant; however, this process has a low guarantee of securing a TA position when compared to talking directly with a professor. On the bright side, it does allow you to become a TA for a professor you have never met!
GT actually offers its students interdisciplinary courses: notably, GT 4823, which is an interdisciplinary senior design course that was started this semester. However, a simpler route to getting involved is to take classes outside of your major as your depth electives. Keep an eye out for special topic classes that Paul announces during registration, as many of these tackle electrical or chemical engineering related topics with a biomedical engineering spin. At the same time, there are many regular management, foreign language, and non-BME engineering classes that put you in an academic setting with people from other majors!
1. What are some good ways you use to stay motivated or positive?
Are there any good ways to get involved in interdisciplinary activities?
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AWARDS
AWARDS
PETIT VS PURA By Hifza Sakhi Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department Petit Under Graduate Research Scholars Program
T
he Petit Undergraduate Research Scholars program is a competitive scholarship program, which has funded hundreds of undergraduate researchers since its inception in 2000. Started as a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) through a grant by the National Science Foundation, the program has grown into a fullyear research experience program that funds twenty scholars annually. Scholars are recruited from metro-Atlanta universities and have an invaluable opportunity to conduct research in state-of-the-art laboratories in the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech. Specifically, they develop independent research projects under the mentorship of graduate mentors in the Petit Institute faculty labs. The spring semester serves as an introduction to research for the students, where they become familiar with the lab and its projects. Then, during the summer semester, students perform research full-time to make progress on these projects. The fall semester serves as a wrap-up, where students have opportunities to present their findings at symposia and research conferences. There are many advantages to this scholarship program. One of the biggest is the opportunity to grow as a researcher while learning under the mentorship of graduate students. Since students work independently, they also retain greater ownership of the project. Furthermore, the Petit program students a thorough and focused exposure to research over a full year, as compared to the typical REU programs, which only last for one summer.
“The Petit Scholars Award is a great opportunity for everyone! Undergraduates who don’t have prior experience with research get the opportunity to be more involved. Students who already have research experience are given the opportunity to conduct research full-time. The mentors also get a travel stipend and the labs get funding for supplies.” - Jaheda Khanam, a 2013 Petit Scholar
The application process for the Petit Undergraduate Research Scholars program consists of submitting two recommendation letters as well as a letter of intent. Petit Institute faculty labs also apply to the program with proposals of projects they have for the students. After the scholars are chosen from the applicant pool, the scholars conduct interviews with the mentors whose proposals were accepted. After the interviews, students and labs both pick their top three choices of projects and students, respectively. These choices are then used to pair the students with the labs where students will commence their yearlong research projects. For more information, please visit http://www.ibb. gatech.edu/petit-scholars.
T
he President’s Undergraduate Research Awards (PURA) is another avenue for students to earn monetary awards for conducting research. Students are eligible to receive a PURA salary award if they are conducting research under the mentorship of a faculty member or a GTRI scientist. Additionally, if a student’s research has been accepted for presentation at a professional conference, they are also eligible to receive a PURA travel award. The faculty member or the student can initiate the projects, but students must write the proposal. Over 200 projects are supported annually through the PURA awards. Students can receive only one salary award per year, but multiple travel grants can be awarded annually. The application process for the PURA salary award consists of a proposal written by the student as well as a recommendation by the faculty mentor before the deadline for each semester. The two-page proposal should detail the student’s project during the semester for which funding is requested. Students should also provide an overview of the proposed work, elaborating on the methods and techniques, roles they will play in the project as a whole (for team projects), as well as pertinent background knowledge and past research experiences to write a competitive proposal. After the student submits the proposal, faculty mentors can submit their recommendation letter for the student. After PURA recipients are selected, they complete an ethics training online, after which, they can begin their research projects. A lab report of the project is submitted at the end of the semester. Meanwhile, the application process for the PURA travel award consists of submitting a proposal, which includes overview of the presented work, information about the venue (name, place, and dates of the conference), presentation format, as well as cost estimates (registration fee, airfare, hotel, food, rental car). Cost sharing between students is allowed and encouraged. There are numerous advantages to receiving a PURA award. For instance, the PURA travel awards (up to $1000) encourage students to showcase their findings at research conferences without letting costs become a barrier. Likewise, the PURA salary awards (up to $1500)
THAT’S SO BME...
“The Petit Scholarship has given me an invaluable opportunity to be fully involved in a lab environment. Since I’ll be working on the same project for a full year I can go much further in depth than otherwise. With the Petit we get to choose our project from a list of 30 or 40 fully developed proposals, so there is some flexibility, but there is also already a plan in place to begin our project. “ -Brian Sanner, a 2014 Petit Scholar
In addition to these advantages, the Petit program also provides ample opportunities for training during the initial phases, along with numerous opportunities to present findings through symposia and research conferences. This serves as an excellent foundation for students interested in obtaining advanced degrees in research and medicine. In fact, 80% of Petit scholars go on to obtain advanced degrees. Along with these benefits, the program offers a paid scholarship, where students can receive up to $7500 over the course of the year. For students pursuing the research option, the program’s length and flexibility in letting students perform research for credit or pay during the spring or fall semester makes it easier to satisfy the nine credits of research requirement for the research option. For transfer students, the Petit Scholar Award provides an excellent avenue to satisfy the research credits while allowing them to use the fall-through credits from the previous institution to satisfy the additional three credits needed for the research option.
President’s Undergraduate Research Awards
Jaheda Khanam, conducting a research experiment (Photo: Nathaniel Conn)
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encourage students to participant in research and to work closely with a faculty mentor to complete the research project. The smaller duration of this award offers students flexibility to continue working on the same project in future semesters or to pursue other projects. Many times, a PURA funded research project can evolve to become a larger research project over the course of several semesters. Not only does this serve as an excellent foundation for graduate school, but also allows students to develop expertise in their area of research and opens doors for publications. For students who want to work on other projects, the shortterm nature of the award makes it easier to pursue that option as well.
“The best part about receiving a PURA is that we can work on our own independent project and get paid for it too. It is a great experience for learning how to design experiments, write abstracts, and gain in-depth knowledge about the research topics we are working on.” -Anita Rajamani, a Spring 2012 and Summer 2013 PURA recipient
“From the get go with the proposal, I learned a lot as a researcher in terms of setting up a plan for myself. Building my own structured research experience while getting paid was amazing. With the time dedicated to research during my PURA semesters, I was really able to immerse myself into the cardiovascular work I was doing, and was able to see my coursework feed into the work I was doing.” -Harish Srinimukesh, a Spring 2013 and Fall 2013 PURA recipient
To learn more about the PURA awards, please visit: http://www. undergradresearch.gatech.edu/pura
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B
AFTERHOURS
RESEARCH GUIDE SERIES
BODY MOVEMENT
THE DOCTORS BARKERS By Drs. Tom and Shannon Barker Faculty Members in the Coulter Department
ecause we are one of the few married couples in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University (“the Doctors Barker”), we were asked to write this article about what we both do, together and individually, outside of work. We are your typical family with two working parents. Many students ask us both how we manage to balance family and work life. In academia, we have the luxury of being able to find the balance we like. After that, you just have to work at maintaining that balance. We do this primarily by leaving at a specific time each day to spend a few hours with our kids before their bedtime. Then, whatever work we were not able to finish during the workday, we finish after they go to bed. We also hold weekends sacred and dedicate them solely (much as possible) to the kids and to each other. So, how do we spend this sacred time? First and foremost, we spend a vast majority of our time taking care of, playing with, disciplining, and adoring our two children: Finna,a sassy, highly active, singing and dancing four-year-old girl, and Leo, a snuggly, charming, and equally active 18-month-old boy with a flair for the dramatic. As a family, we do things such as riding bikes, hiking, and going to the Zoo, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and any playgrounds we can find. We also find time to go out with each child separately. For example, Shannon has taken Finna on a ‘Girls Night Out’ to the circus, while Tom has taken her on a Superheroes Day at the Fernbank museum. Because our babies are so young, they don’t leave us with a large amount of free time, though we do manage to get some. Probably the biggest passion we share as a couple, as well as individually, is food. We love food! We like to cook it, eat it, read about it, talk about it, etc. Food makes us both very happy and is part of each and every Date Night, which we have every other weekend. When we decide to go on vacation, the first thing Shannon does is research restaurants and book her favorites – even before we book a hotel room. We cannot
stress enough how much of our lives revolve around food. Luckily, all of our friends are the same way, further feeding our addiction. We eat great food, drink great drinks, and are indeed quite merry. Our kids are being sucked into this world as well, and are turning into adventurous little omnivores – we are so proud! A big passion of Shannon’s is music. She spends a significant portion of her limited free time listening to music and trying to go to as many concerts as she can drag her husband to. In fact, Shannon is absurdly affected by music, having even been observed to tear up from the sound of a particular chord or melody. She grew up with music and loves to sing and play both the flute and the piano. She also enjoys reading novels and has quite the trigger finger on the Amazon Kindle shopping cart. For her, all of these activities allow an escape from the routine, hectic life of a working parent. Meanwhile, Tom relieves most of his stress by being a craftsman. Specifically, he loves to refinish and build furniture. Tom has made several beautiful pieces that we use throughout the house. For example, he single-handedly refinished our kitchen, turning it from a dark 90s style to a bright and modern joy to cook in. He has also crafted toys for the kids, making special heirloom memories. Tom also loves to cook and especially enjoys smoking just about anything in his fancy new automatic smoker. As academic research deals with such long-term goals that may take years to accomplish, having a hobby where the fruits of your labor can be readily enjoyed is a lifesaver. So that is our present lives in a nutshell! It looks drastically different than it did ten years ago when we were traveling around Europe and China, but it is no less exciting; at the same time, it will no doubt look very different ten years from now. Regardless, no matter what we will be doing (which will likely still involve food and drink), we will be doing it together.
MAR ISSUE 5
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By Valeria Popova Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
ow does the body move? The answer to this question, among the most fundamental questions humanity has asked, has been sought after for centuries. However, only in recent decades has research into the nervous system (neurophysiology) and into the musculoskeletal system (biomechanics) been combined. Motor control, the juncture of these areas, examines the interactions between the two to determine how we produce coordinated movements. This research can also be separated into two interconnected areas: fundamental research and translational research. As the name implies, fundamental research on the motor system generates concepts on how the body moves, and translational research develops these concepts into clinical applications. Dr. Richard Nichols, who has been working in the field of motor control for over forty years, runs the Neurophysiology Laboratory in the School of Applied Physiology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In short, his research focuses on the motor capacities of the spinal cord and on the ability of the spinal cord to adapt to musculoskeletal system injuries. From a fundamental standpoint, Nichols considers it crucial to understand how the spinal cord processes information. When one walks across the room, although the brain makes the decision, it is the spinal cord that sends the detailed instructions to the muscles. This ability of the spinal cord’s central pattern generating circuits to send information to the right muscles is central in the treatment options of patients with spinal cord injury. Translational applications of the research include the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord or peripheral nerve injury. The intrinsic functions of the spinal cord make reanimation and restoration of some motor functions possible in patients. In Nichols’ lab, study centers on the utilization of sensory feedback by the spinal cord and the ability to maintain balance and stability. Peripheral nerve injuries, in the same way, result in problems with fine motor control because the process of sensory feedback is damaged. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how this process occurs and how the loss of sensory information can be prevented. Researchers in the lab also look at the after effects of tendon transfer surgery, a procedure in which the tendon on one side of the arm or leg may be transferred to the other side in order to restore motor function in patients with spinal cord injury. This process, however, is not always successful, and the research team is investigating possible causes of the outcome. Nichols’ lab uses an engineering input and output analysis of cat
muscles to determine how the spinal cord responds to mechanical disturbances to the body, as opposed to measuring the activities of individual cells in the spinal cord by using electrodes. By measuring the force response of a stretched muscle, the team can infer how the spinal cord is utilizing information received from the muscle. Furthermore, by comparing how the stretch of one muscle affects the force responses of other muscles, the researchers can obtain information on how the muscles communicate within the spinal cord and with each other. The lab collaborates with researchers at other universities who study the neural mechanisms that underlie these responses to arrive at a more complete picture of the spinal cord’s contribution to posture and balance. “This research changes how you think about things. That’s what motivates people like me to keep doing science,” states Nichols. It is the same quality he looks for in undergraduate and graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows who want to join his lab: people who ask big questions and are inquisitive about how we move. The work is very much a team effort; his diverse group has people from all backgrounds, including electrical engineers, biologists and a physical therapist. He has trained several biomedical engineers, who are involved in everything from physical experimentation to instrumentation, because the lab builds all of its own equipment. Neurophysiology has been and will be a field full of exciting discoveries. Some developments, like the possibility to restore motor function in patients with spinal injury, may not be far off. Others, like a complete understanding of the interactions of the nervous and musculoskeletal systems, progress more slowly. Whether one wants to go into fundamental research to learn more about how the body works or to work on the therapeutic end to design new technologies, neurophysiology and biomechanics has something to offer everyone.
“Nichols’ lab uses an engineering
input and output analysis of cat muscles to determine how the spinal cord responds to mechanical disturbances to the body, as opposed to measuring the activities of individual cells in the spinal cord by using electrodes. ” The Barker Family (Photo: Drs. Tom and Shannon Barker)
Dr. Nichols (Photo: Morgan Hinchey)
APPLY TO AN REU! By Tanvi Rao Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
Sariha McIntyre was able to delve farther into her chemistry research by partaking in the Summer 2013 Chemistry REU program offered by Georgia Tech. (Photo: Morgan Hinchey)
Want to participate in in-depth undergraduate research over the summer? Interested in sampling a university other than Tech for the summer? Tempted by free housing, free meals, and a stipend? You should apply to an REU! What is an REU? REUs, or Research Experiences for Undergraduates, are summer programs funded by the National Science Foundation. Universities across the United States host these programs, each consisting of ten or so undergraduates who work in the institution’s research sector. Each student is assigned a specific project and works closely with the faculty and other researchers involved with it. What are the benefits of an REU? An REU is a great way to advance your knowledge, academic achievement, professional aptitude, and personal growth. “I’ve learned so much, and it really feels like the research we’re doing is going to have a major impact. It’s not often I get to feel that way about my work,” says Lindsay Lee of her summer spent at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis. Through an REU, students can apply what they learn in class to create a relevant, meaningful product. Another benefit of REUs is that each program is different. Each student can choose an REU that suits their personal needs. Dan Isaksen, now a graduate student at the University of Chicago, participated in REUs at the Universities of Dayton and Minnesota-Duluth as an undergraduate and has several times returned to Duluth as an advisor. He comments on choosing the right REU: “I think it is very important for a student to find the right kind of program. Some programs are more motivational, and others are designed for self-motivated students. Some are aimed at original research, and others are aimed at thoroughly learning a body of advanced mathematical material. Some are computational, some aren’t. Some are applied, others are pure.” Not only do REUs supply unique academic experiences – they also let you earn money! At REUs, students are granted stipends and, in many cases, assistance with housing and travel. Most universities will house and feed you for free. How do I apply? Our favorite BME advisors have sent many REU opportunities out over email in the last few months. Most REU applications require applicants to answer a few questions indicating interest, motivation, and commitment. They also ask for unofficial transcripts and letters of recommendation. Listed below are a few REUs whose deadlines are coming up! Portland State University’s summer REU program is an eight-week program that gives students the opportunity to work closely with a PSU faculty member to produce a research project. Each student will learn to operate either a scanning electron or focused ion beam microscope (SEM or FIB), and then use these techniques when working on their independent research projects. The program runs from June 23rd through August 18th, and students will be expected to work approximately 40 hours per week for a $4000 stipend. The application is available online through their website, www.reu.pdx.edu. Application Deadline: March 1st, 2014. Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center Summer REU is a ten-week summer research program for undergraduates who have completed two years of study in biology, engineering, or physics and are interested in developing lighting systems that can ‘see’ and ‘think’, providing exactly the right light where and when it is needed. This summer REU program will pay a stipend of $5,000 and provide free housing. Activities include lab research, team meetings, poster presentations, field trips, and seminars – including tips for applying to Graduate School and for Graduate Financial Aid and Fellowships. Link to more information: http://smartlighting.rpi.edu/education/REU.shtml. Application Deadline: March 7th, 2014. To find even more REUs, look into the NSF website: http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp