2019 V 2 PILOT PROJECTS Project: Investigating the Interactions Between Transgenes and Micro-RNAs in Host Cells Leads: Dr. Jacob Elmer, associate professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Dr. Elaine Youngman, assistant professor, Biology Goal: Determine if microRNAs (ribonucleic acid) inside human cells could be preventing expression of foreign/therapeutic genes that are delivered in gene therapy treatments Project: Assessment of Green Stormwater Infrastructure Capacity to Mitigate Flooding and Extreme Heat in Vulnerable Areas Leads: Dr. Virginia Smith, assistant professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Dr. Peleg Kremer, assistant professor, Geography and the Environment Goal: Present a framework that assesses city-wide exposure to flooding and high surface temperatures Project: Structural Health Monitoring Using Machine Learning and PhysicsBased Models Leads: Dr. C. Nataraj, professor, Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Benjamin Mitchell, assistant professor, Computing Sciences Goal: Explore integration of concepts from machine learning and physics for structural health monitoring Project: Small-Molecule Nrf2 Activators as a Novel Cryoprotection Strategy for T Cell Therapies Leads: Dr. Jens Karlsson, professor, Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Aimee Eggler, associate professor, Chemistry Goal: Find new ways to protect human immune cells as they are shipped from a hospital setting to a gene engineering facility, and then back again to the hospital for administration to the patient. Cells are frozen for each transport, and cycles of freezing and thawing can damage them.
MELTEM IZZETOGLU: A TRACK RECORD OF COLLABORATION “My research has always been collaborative because it’s biomedical,” says Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Dr. Meltem Izzetoglu. “Biomedical research requires the contributions of clinicians, neuroscientists, psychologists, nurses, hardware and software engineers, and statisticians. If you’re doing translational research like I am, industry partnerships are also required.” An expert in analysis of brain signals and systems, Dr. Izzetoglu has collaborated with researchers throughout the Philadelphia region and within and between universities both nationally and internationally. Her partners have included medical experts from Drexel University, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, St. Christopher’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). “Collaboration gives birth to other collaborations,” she explains. Since arriving at Villanova in fall 2017, Dr. Izzetoglu’s collaborations have included: REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS Nearly 10 years of aging studies with researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, which has expanded to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Alabama at Birmingham. Villanova and Einstein are currently collaborating on a five-year National Institutes of Health grant to study “Brain Predictors of Mobility and Falls in Older Adults with Multiple Sclerosis.” Another proposal is seeking funding to introduce a bi-national component with researchers at Tel Aviv Medical Center in Israel. Researching nextgeneration functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based optical brain imaging systems with industry partner Infrascan, Inc. through a state grant
WITH VILLANOVA’S PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES DEPARTMENT Semantic memory recall and sustained attention research with Dr. Irene Kan A study on concussion patients’ attentional distractibility with Dr. Charles Folk WITH THE M. LOUISE FITZPATRICK COLLEGE OF NURSING A newly funded Villanova Integrated Academics (VIA) course in development with Dr. Melissa O’Connor titled Innovations in Aging: The Power of Interprofessional Perspectives (to be offered spring 2021) ACROSS DEPARTMENTS AND COLLEGES A proposed study on cognitive control of mobility in the elderly— both walking and driving— in collaboration with transportation engineering expert Dr. Seri Park in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and faculty from CLAS and College of Nursing. The study will utilize the College’s new state-ofthe-art driving simulator.
With the help of Dr. Kan and Computer Science instructor Kristin Obermyer, advising an undergraduate independent study to begin development of a first-of-its-kind optical brain imaging database, open to researchers worldwide WITHIN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING Advising with Drs. Park and Mark Jupina, assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, both a senior design project and an INNOVATE: L3Harris Summer Program project to build a scalable driving simulator prototype. The goal is to develop a mobile, fully immersive system that will offer a convenient, safe, affordable and reliable testing platform for human driving behavior and performance. Working with Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Dr. Xun Jiao on developing machine learning models using optical brain imaging measurements for cognitive aging research
