2012 News Archives
Super-Thin Membranes Used in Lab-on-a-Chip Diagnostic Devices
November 12, 2012
Nano-porous silicon membranes developed at the University of Rochester's Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will soon be used to manufacture portable devices that can analyze DNA in remote settings.
University Launches Center for Developing Medical Devices and Other Medical Innovations
October 10, 2012
The University of Rochester is combining its medical, engineering, and entrepreneurial expertise to create the Center for Medical Technology Innovation (CMTI). A collaboration of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Medicine and Dentistry, CMTI will also make use of the University's Center for Entrepreneurship as it coordinates activities to develop technological solutions to clinical problems.
Continue ReadingProfessor Axel Wismueller receives NIH R01 Award
September 28, 2012
Axel Wismueller, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering has received an RO1 award from the National Institutes of Health for his project,Exploring large scale functional connectivity in the human brain: from bench to bedside.
Supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and its AIDS research program, this three-year project will focus on developing a novel computational framework to explore directed information transfer in the human brain, which will permit connectivity analysis in large time-series ensembles obtained from functional MRI neuro-imaging studies.
Dr. Jim McGrath Receives $900,000 in NSF Grants
September 24, 2012
Biomedical Engineering associate professor, Jim McGrath, Ph.D. has just received some important grants to develop new applications for the super-thin, nanoporous silicon membranes that have been developed at the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences. A nearly $600,000 National Science Foundation grant will partner McGrath's lab, SiMPore (the University-based startup that manufactures the membranes), RIT, and Integrated Nanotechnologies (INT), another local startup. They'll be using the membranes as filters in a portable INT device that can analyze DNA extracted from a drop of blood. This can be used to diagnose disease or detect pathogens, in the field, in a matter of minutes. They'll then miniaturize all of this onto a lab-on-a-chip (LOC).
Continue ReadingEric Comeau and Chris Farrar Receive Howard Hughes Fellowships
September 15, 2012
BME graduate students, Eric Comeau and Chris Farrar, have been awarded Howard Hughes Medical Institute Med-into-Grad Fellowships. Chris is a Ph.D. student working in the laboratory of Professor Denise Hocking. Eric is a Ph.D. student co-supervised by Professor Diane Dalecki and Professor Denise Hocking. This prestigious fellowship is sponsored by the Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI) and augments traditional Ph.D. training with clinical rotations, a clinical co-mentor, journal club, seminar series, and translational cardiovascular coursework.
Continue ReadingUniversity of Rochester Scientist Awarded $630,000 Prize for 'Major Breakthrough' in Vision Science
September 14, 2012
David Williams, Ph.D. a faculty member of the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics, director of its Center for Visual Science, and dean for research in Arts, Science, and Engineering, will receive the Antonio Champalimaud Vision Award at a ceremony today in Lisbon, Portugal. The ceremony, chaired by the president of Portugal, will recognize Williams' work on adaptive optics technologies as a major breakthrough in the understanding and/or the preservation of vision.
Williams is widely regarded as one of the world's leading experts on human vision.
Dr. Ovitt and Dr. Benoit Awarded NIH Grant
September 14, 2012
Biomedical Genetics assistant professor, Catherine Ovitt, Ph.D. and Danielle Benoit, Ph.D., assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, have been awarded a four year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for the project, entitled Hydrogel encapsulation of salivary gland cells promotes cell survival, proliferation, and assembly.
Dr. Jong-Hoon Nam Awarded NSF Grant
September 11, 2012
Jong-Hoon Nam, Ph.D., assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded a three year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The objective of the project, entitled Multi-Scale Analysis of Mechanotransduction in the Organ of Corti, is to establish a coherent theory of how the organ of Corti (cochlear sensory epithelium) optimizes the force from the outer hair cells in order to magnify tiny vibrations of the basilar membrane.
Continue ReadingNIH Awards $7.5M, Designates URMC Orthopaedics as Center of Research Translation
August 30, 2012
The University of Rochester Medical Center was granted a $7.5 million Center of Research Translation (CORT) award for programs designed to find new therapies for arthritis and bone healing. With a rising population of older adults, musculoskeletal diseases are a major economic burden in the United States and in the health-care system, and the award places theURMC in a leadership role for seeking solutions.
Continue ReadingProfessor McAleavey Awarded Patent
August 6, 2012
Professor Stephen McAleavey of the Department of Biomedical Engineering has been awarded a new U.S. Patent. The patent, number 8,225,666, is titledUltrasound Imaging of Tissue Stiffness by Spatially Modulated Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse.
The patent details a new ultrasound elastography technique, termed SMURF imaging, that uses acoustic radiation force to quantify tissue stiffness. Tissue stiffness is a known indicator of disease. Thus, this new technology will be useful clinically to noninvasively diagnosis fibrosis, cancerous tumors, vascular diseases, and monitor the progress of ablation therapies. Professor McAleavey is an active member of the Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound (RCBU).
Danielle Benoit Receives NSF Research Grant
July 25, 2012
Danielle Benoit, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, has been chosen for a 3-year, $420,000 National Science Foundation award in support of her project, Developing materials strategies to control siRNA spatial and temporal delivery to engineer multicomponent tissues.
Projects by Engineering Students Shown on Video
June 21, 2012
Each spring, seniors in computer science, optics, biomedical, computer and electrical, chemical and mechanical engineering at the Hajim School present the projects they have worked on all year. Students work in teams to solve a problem brought to them by a customer from outside the University. See below for the video of their projects.
Continue ReadingFunding Awarded to Senior Design Project
June 15, 2012
The UR Technology Development fund has decided to invest approximately $50,000 toward the development of a product designed by a Senior Design Team in Biomedical Engineering. Benjamin Horowitz, Megan Makarski, William Sipprell, and Robert Handzel (Biomedical Engineering, '09), working with Strong Neonatologists Timothy Stevens, M.D., and Patricia Chess, M.D., designed and prototyped a respiration monitor for use on very low birth weight newborns. With this funding, which was awarded to Scott Seidman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurobiology & Anantomy, a second-generation prototype ready for introduction into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will be constructed and tested, with the clear aim of getting this life-saving technology onto the market.
Fundraiser Helps Fund Research for Childhood Cancer
June 10, 2012
Learning how to twist long, narrow balloons into animal shapes took almost no time for the crew from Therapeutic Biomaterials Lab at the University of Rochester. They're prepared for the longer haul of figuring out how to kill cancer stem cells with drugs while leaving normal, healthy cells alone.
Continue ReadingHajim Design Day Students Featured on WHAM13 News and YNN
May 3, 2012
Engineering students, Silvia Perucchio (Mechanical Egineering) and Doug Clift (BME) spoke with WHAM 13 News about Hajim Design Day 2012 and the design project they are working on.Hajim Design Day 2012 was held on Thursday, May 3 and showcased engineering students Real-World solutions for the community. YNN also featured Hajim Design Day 2012 as the students got to show off their products during today's Design Day at the school.
Continue ReadingURMC Leads International Consortium to Fight Deadly Bone Infections
April 17, 2012
Serious, drug-resistant staph infections are a growing problem in health care in the United States and across the globe. In a coordinated effort to stop these superbugs, investigators from the University of Rochester Medical Center have been selected to lead an ambitious, five-year project, with an emphasis on infections from complex orthopedic surgeries such as joint replacement, fracture repair, or trauma.
Continue ReadingAutism Research Being Funded Through Novel Platform
April 11, 2012
Stephen McAleavey, Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Daniel Mruzek, Assistant Professor of the Department of Behavioral Pediatrics have recently submitted an Autism project for sponsorship on a new platform called Innovocracy. The University of Rochester recently signed up as an Innovocracy Launch Partner and the Autism project has already raised 172% of its funding goal from individual donors within the first few days. The Innovocracy platform allows the aggregation of small donations to help propel innovative research in the support of proof-of-concept projects. Supporters include everyone from alumni, friends and family to the general public interested in autism research. This collaboration was initiated through an undergraduate Senior Design project, and subsequently received CTSI pilot funds for further development and early clinical evaluation.
Continue ReadingBenoit Lab To Host 3rd Annual Alex's Lemonade Stand Fundraiser in June
April 2, 2012
Danielle Benoit, Ph.D. and her Therapeutic Biomaterials Lab, will once again give back by hosting their 3rd annual Alex's Lemonade Stand fundraiser forALSF at the Rochester Public Market and the Brighton Farmers' Market June 9-10. Last year's fundraiser for cancer was a rousing success as the lab raised over $2000, and Dr. Benoit hopes to raise even more this year. The lab continues to urge friends, family, and colleagues to contribute in person and online to help support ALSF.
BME & ChE Students Awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
March 30, 2012
Two current BME and Chemical Engineering students and a BME alumna have received prestigious National Science Foundation Research Fellowships. BME graduate student, Jason Inzana (Awad Lab), Michael Baranello, a Chemical Engineering Ph.D. student in the Benoit Lab, and Molly Boutin, an alumnus of the Benoit lab (undergraduate research assistant), were among those who received the fellowships.
Continue ReadingTaking another Shot at RAGE to Tame Alzheimer's
March 14, 2012
Researchers have taken another crack at a promising approach to stopping Alzheimer's disease that encountered a major hurdle last year. In research published this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, scientists have developed a compound that targets a molecular actor known asRAGE, which plays a central role in mucking up the brain tissue of people with the disease.
Richard Waugh Honored as AAAS Fellow
February 15, 2012
Richard E. Waugh, professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and James M. Farrar, professor of chemistry, have been elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science.
Continue ReadingMarvin Doyley Article Featured in Physics in Medicine and Biology
January 25, 2012
Marvin Doyley (ECE and BME) was invited to write a topical review article by the journal Physics in Medicine and Biology (PMB). This article, titled Model-based elastography: A survey of approached to the inverse elasticity problem, was published online in January and was selected by PMB as their featured article. The review is also featured as Editor's Choice by Medical Physics Web.
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