2012 News Archives
Super-Thin Membranes Used in Lab-on-a-Chip Diagnostic Devices
Nano-porous silicon membranes developed at the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ's 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
The ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ 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.
Professor Axel Wismueller receives NIH R01 Award
Axel Wismueller, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of and has received an RO1 award from the for his project,Exploring large scale functional connectivity in the human brain: from bench to bedside.
Supported by the 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
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 . A nearly $600,000 National Science Foundation grant will partner , (the University-based startup that manufactures the membranes), , and , 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).
Eric Comeau and Chris Farrar Receive Howard Hughes Fellowships
graduate students, Eric Comeau and Chris Farrar, have been awarded Fellowships. Chris is a Ph.D. student working in the laboratory of . Eric is a Ph.D. student co-supervised by 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.
ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Scientist Awarded $630,000 Prize for 'Major Breakthrough' in Vision Science
a faculty member of the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ's Institute of Optics, director of its , 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
Biomedical Genetics assistant professor, and Danielle Benoit, Ph.D., assistant professor of and , have been awarded a four year grant from the , for the project, entitled Hydrogel encapsulation of salivary gland cells promotes cell survival, proliferation, and assembly.
Dr. Jong-Hoon Nam Awarded NSF Grant
Jong-Hoon Nam, Ph.D., assistant professor of and , has been awarded a three year grant from the . 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.
NIH Awards $7.5M, Designates URMC Orthopaedics as Center of Research Translation
The ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Medical Center was granted a $7.5 million 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.
Professor McAleavey Awarded Patent
Professor Stephen McAleavey of the 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 .
Danielle Benoit Receives NSF Research Grant
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
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.
Funding Awarded to Senior Design Project
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
Learning how to twist long, narrow balloons into animal shapes took almost no time for the crew from at the ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ. They're prepared for the longer haul of figuring out how to kill cancer stem cells with drugs while leaving normal, healthy cells alone.
Hajim Design Day Students Featured on WHAM13 News and YNN
Engineering students, Silvia Perucchio () and Doug Clift () spoke with WHAM 13 News about Hajim Design Day 2012 and the design project they are working on. was held on Thursday, May 3 and showcased engineering students Real-World solutions for the community. YNN also featured as the students got to show off their products during today's Design Day at the school.
URMC Leads International Consortium to Fight Deadly Bone Infections
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 ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ 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.
Autism Research Being Funded Through Novel Platform
Stephen McAleavey, Associate Professor in and , Assistant Professor of the Department of have recently submitted an for sponsorship on a new platform called . The ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ 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 for further development and early clinical evaluation.
Benoit Lab To Host 3rd Annual Alex's Lemonade Stand Fundraiser in June
Danielle Benoit, Ph.D. and her , 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 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
Two current and students and a BME alumna have received prestigious Research Fellowships. BME graduate student, Jason Inzana (), Michael Baranello, a Chemical Engineering Ph.D. student in the , and Molly Boutin, an alumnus of the Benoit lab (undergraduate research assistant), were among those who received the fellowships.
Taking another Shot at RAGE to Tame Alzheimer's
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 , 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
, professor and chair of the , and James M. Farrar, professor of chemistry, have been elected Fellows of the . The AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science.
Marvin Doyley Article Featured in Physics in Medicine and Biology
(ECE and ) was invited to write a topical review article by the journal Physics in Medicine and Biology (PMB). This article, titled , was published online in January and was selected by PMB as their featured article. The review is also featured as Editor's Choice by .