Congratulations to Dean Mark Redfern and Professor William Federspiel who were reappointed to William Kepler Whiteford Professorships effective September 1, 2009.  The award is for five years.  In letters sent to Dean Redfern and Professor Federspiel, Dean Holder wrote, "Your selection reflects the high value placed upon your contribution to scholarship, graduate and undergraduate education, external research support, research quality and contributions to diversity. ... Further it reflects the strong support of your faculty colleagues and Chairman."

Professor David Vorp has been elected to a second three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES).

BioE graduate student, Brad Impink's recent 1st author publication: Bradley G. Impink, Michael L. Boninger, Heather Walker, Jennifer L. Collinger, and Christian Niyonkuru. Ultrasonographic Median Nerve Changes After a Wheelchair Sporting Event. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2009;90:1489-94. This work was conducted in Professor Michael Boninger's lab.

BioE Undergraduate, Steven Boronyak's BMES extended abstract was selected as one of two winners of the 2009 BMES Extended Abstract Student Awards - Undergraduate Student.  According to BMES HQ a record number of submissions was received this year for this award and the scholarship level was exceedingly high.  The award will be presented to Steven at the "BMES Award Ceremony" taking place Thursday, October 8th, in the David Lawrence Conference Center.  Steven is performing his undergraduate research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab under the direction of Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy.

PhD candidate, Kim Jong's American Heart Association Pre-doctoral Fellowship application entitled, "The Spatiotemporal Dispersion of Extracellular Potassium Accumulation and Its Role in Cardiac Arrhythmias," has been awarded funding for the period 7/1/2009 - 6/30/2011.  Kim is conducting this work in Professor Guy Salama's lab

Professor David Vorp has been invited by Columbia University as the 2009-2010 speaker for the "Biomedical Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series."  Previous winners of this award were Professor Buddy Ratner and Professor Gerard Karsenty.  Professor Vorp will deliver his distinguished lecture in the fall.   

BioE graduate student, Suny Patel received an Honorable Mention for the Best Presentation Award in Biomechanics and Engineering of Cells and Tissues (MS level) for his presentation entitled, ”Characterization of Isolated Urethral Smooth Muscle Cells and Their Incorporation into a Tissue Engineered Urethral Wrap,” at the ASME's Summer Bioengineering Conference held last week in Lake Tahoe, CA.  Suny conducted this work in Professor David Vorp's lab.

Professor Michael Sacks has been awarded the 2009 Van C. Mow Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).  The inscription on the medal diploma reads, "For contributions in advancing biomechanics of native and engineered heart valve tissues; and leadership in the development of the bioengineering profession, services to its community and inspired guidance and inspired guidance of young bioengineers."  BioE extends our heartiest congratulations to Professor Sacks for this most prestigious award in recognition of an exceptional career!

BioE graduate student, Ashish Parikh has been awarded an American Heart Association Pre-doctoral Fellowship for his project entitled, "Modeling the relative expression of cardiac ionic channels/currents to predict arrhythmias phenotype."  Ashish is conducting this work in Professor Guy Salama's lab.

BioE undergraduate student, Samantha Horvath has been selected as a Beckman Scholar for the 2009-2010 academic year.  Samantha works in Professor George Stetten's laboratory on the Fingersight project as well as the Breadboard Laboratory Interface Processor (BLIP) and PittKit educational system used in BioE 1310. 

BioE undergraduate student, Emma Baillargeon has been selected to be the Keynote Speaker at the SSOE Senior Recognition Night this coming Saturday.  We are proud to include Emma on the list of BioE seniors who have been so honored over the years.

BioE graduate student, Chris Carruthers has been awarded a 2009 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.  This is a most competitive award, and Chris, who is undertaking his dissertation research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

BioE graduate student, Jamie Haney has been selected to receive a 2009 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) award! Jamie who is undertaking her dissertation research in Professor Sanjeev Shroff's lab, is the second Pitt BioE undergraduate student who matriculated to our graduate program to receive the GRF award (other former Pitt undergraduate students have been awarded GRFs at their graduate institutions).  Dr. Jennifer Collinger, who recently completed her PhD in Professor Michael Boninger's lab, is the other former Pitt BioE undergraduate student to receive the GRF award.

BioE undergraduate, Patrick Vescovi was one of three Pitt undergraduate students recognized in the 2009 Barry M Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program.  Patrick received honorable mention.  Goldwater scholarships are awarded to outstanding students who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering. Patrick intends to pursue the MD, PhD in radiology/bioengineering. Other the years BioE has had multiple Goldwater awardees, and all currently are pursuing advanced degrees at outstanding institutions.

Based on the unanimous recommendation of the Panel of Fellows, Professor Prashant N. Kumta has been elected to the grade of Fellow of the American Ceramics Society (ACerS).  Professor Kumta will be recognized at the ACerS Honors and Awards Banquet this coming fall.

BioE graduate student, Bryan Brown's paper entitled, “The Effects of Sidedness and Crosslinking Upon the Surface Characteristics of Extracellular Matrix Scaffolds,” was nominated by the Surface Characterization and Modification SIG Special Interest Group as an outstanding contribution to the Society For Biomaterials 2009 Annual Meeting.  The Education and Professional Development Committee of the Society has awarded Bryan with a STAR!  (Student Travel Achievement Recognition).  Bryan is conducting this research in Dr. Stephen Badylak's lab.

BioE graduate student, Carl Johnson has been selected to receive an American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) Fellowship for his abstract entitled, "Platelet Activation in Ovines Implanted with the Levitronix(r) PediaVas(tm) Using Custom Cannulae."  Carl who is conducting this research in Professor William Wagner's lab, will present his abstract at the ASAIO Annual Conference in Dallas, this coming May.

Dr. Kyong Tae Bae's R01 application entitled, "Assessing the prognosis of pulmonary embolism using clinical and imaging biomarkers," has been awarded funding via NHLBI.  Current efforts are focused on the study IRB and building infrastructures to fully operate the study.  

BioE graduate student, Matthew Fisher's paper entitled "In-Vitro Evaluation of Suture Augmentation Techniques After ACL Injury" received the Best Student Paper Award at the International Symposium on Ligaments and Tendons - IX held on Saturday, February 21, 2009. Matt is conducting this work in Professor Savio Woo's lab.

BioE graduate student, Jonathan Kirk's poster presentation entitled, "Left Ventricular and Myocardial Function In Mice Expressing Constitutively Psuedo-Phosphorylated Cardiac Troponin I," was awarded 2nd Place in the Basic Science category in this week's American Heart Association Fellows Research Day.  Jonathan is completing his PhD dissertation research in Professor Sanjeev Shroff's lab.

BioE PhD student, Fatima Naz Syed-Picard has been awarded an NIH F31 Ruth L Kirschstein Pre-doctoral Fellowship (effective March 1, 2009) to undertake the project entitled, "Cell-based scaffold-less three-dimensional construct, a model for dentinogenesis."  This work is being conducted in Dr. Charles Sfeir’s lab. 

Professor William Federspiel will serve as a member of the Bioengineering, Technology and Surgical Sciences Study Section, Center for Scientific Review (CSR) for the term beginning July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2013.   In his letter to meet regarding Professor Federspiel, CSR Director Dr. Toni Scarpa writes, "Study section members are selected on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors ... I want to take this opportunity to emphasize the importance of Dr. Federspiel's participation in assuring the quality of the NIH peer review process."

Dr. Tamer Ibrahim's one year pilot grant to the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (through an NIH program grant.) has been awarded funding.  Dr. Ibrahim's RO1 supplement submitted in collaboration with Dr. Chu has also been awarded NIH funding. Dr. Chu is the P.I. on the RO1 supplement which is funded in collaboration with Dr. Ibrahim and colleagues in Radiology. The bulk of the work is for 7 tesla imaging.

The following paper has been accepted at the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering: David Wang, Roberta Klatzky, Bing Wu, Greg Weller, Allan Sampson, George Stetten, “Fully Automated Common Carotid Artery and Internal Jugular Vein Identification and Tracking using B-Mode Ultrasound.”   David Wang is in the Pitt/CMU MD/PhD program and the paper represents his dissertation research in Dr. George Stetten's lab through CMU's Department of BME.  Bing Wu is currently a Visiting Research Assistant Professor with BioE in Professor Stetten's lab. Greg Weller is a BioE MD, PhD graduate who completed his dissertation research in Professor Wagner's lab.

The upcoming University’s Honors Convocation on the afternoon of February 27 Professor Michael Sacks has been asked by Dr. Michael Levine to be the faculty responder following Dr. Levine's remarks commending the faculty honorees.  BioE graduate student Dr. Timothy Maul was asked to be the student responder following remarks commending the student honorees.  We can take considerable pride that BioE has been honored to serve as the responder for both faculty and students at the University’s Honors Convocations.

BioE graduate  student, Donna Haworth has been selected to receive the University /Post-Secondary Student Award at the 13^th Annual Carnegie Science Awards.  Donna who is conducting her dissertation research in Professor David Vorp's lab, will receive the award on Friday, May 8, 2009 at the Carnegie Science Awards 2009.

BioE graduate student, Bryan Brown's 1st author paper that has been accepted in BIOMATERIALS. Bryan N. Brown, Jolene E. Valentin, Ann M. Stewart-Akers, George P. McCabe, Stephen F. Badylak. "Macrophage Phenotype and Remodeling Outcomes in Response to Biologic Scaffolds With and Without a Cellular Component." BIOMATERIALS (accepted for publication). Both Bryan and the 2nd author, BioE PhD candidate Jolene Valentin, are conducting their research in Dr. Stephen Badylak's lab.

BioE graduate student, Morgan DiLeo's 1st author paper in the current issue of the ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING. Ms. DiLeo conducted this work in Professor Federspiel's lab. DiLeo MV, Kellum JA and Federspiel WJ. A simple mathematical model of cytokine capture using a hemoadsorption device."  Annals of Biomedical Engineering 2009;37:222-229

The publication from Professor George Stetten's lab that has been accepted by the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine for publication in the first half of 2009: D. Wang, N. Amesur, G. Shukla, A. Bayless, D. Weiser, A. Scharl, D. Mockel, C. Banks, B. Mandella, R. Klatzky, G. Stetten, “Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Placement with the Sonic Flashlight: Initial Clinical Trial by Nurses,” Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine (In press, 12/8/08). David Wang and Gaurav Shukla are MD/PhD students, and David Weiser, Adam Scharl, and Derek Mockel are(were) BioE undergraduates in Professor Stetten's lab. 

Kristin Wescoe presented her final meritorious project for Professor Michael Lotze's CTSI Catalyst Program.  Kristin worked with her mentor, Dr. Bridget Deasy  to submit an STTR proposal to the NIH on stem cells and the development of a company, CellStock.

The lead article in this month's issue of the Annals of Biomedical Engineering: Almarza AA, Augustine SM and Woo SL-Y. Changes in Gene Expression of Matrix Constituents with Respect to Passage of Ligament and Tendon Fibroblasts.  Annals of Biomedical Engineering 36 (12):1927-1933, 2008.

Two papers from the Dr. Lance Davidson’s Lab that have been accepted for publication in early 2009. M. von Dassow and L. A. Davidson (in press). Natural variation in embryo mechanics: gastrulation in Xenopus laevis is highly robust to variation in tissue stiffness in Developmental Dynamics and J. Zhou, H. Y. Kim, and L. A. Davidson (in press). Actomyosin stiffens the vertebrate embryo during critical stages of elongation and neural tube closure in development. Jian Zhou and Hye Young Kim are BioE graduate students in Dr. Lance Davidson's lab.

BioE graduate student, Daniel Bacher presented a poster entitled, "An Experimental Rig for Closed-Loop Neural Prosthetics," at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting earlier this week.  Co-authors on Dan's poster were BioE alumnus Joe McFerron, Narayan Krishnamurthy and Dr. Aaron Batista, in whose lab this work was performed.

BioE Undergrad student, Craig Lehocky presented a poster entitled, "Fast-timescale correlations are weak and rare in macaque dorsal premotor cortex," at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting.  Co-authors on Craig’s poster include faculty from Chicago, London, Stanford and Dr. Aaron Batista, in whose lab this work was performed. Craig has been admitted to the Pitt MD, PhD Program, which is testimony to his wonderful undergraduate career and outstanding mentorship provided by Dr. Aaron Batista. 

Professor Michael Sacks been selected to receive the initial Van C. Mow Medal "for contributions in advancing biomechanics of native and engineered heart valve tissues; and leadership in the development of the bioengineering profession, service to its community and inspired guidance of young bioengineers."  The ASME Van C. Mow Medal, established in 2004, is bestowed upon an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of bioengineering through research, education, professional development, leadership in the development of the profession, as a mentor to young bioengineers, and with service to the bioengineering community.

Dr. David Merryman's K25 application entitled, "TGF beta 1 Activity in the Aortic Valve," has been awarded funding for 5-years.  Dr. Merryman, who completed his PhD in Professor Michael Sacks' lab, is currently Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

A recent 1st author publication by BioE Graduate student, Benjamin Schmidt,  Schmidt, BT, Feduska, JM, Witt, AM, and BM Deasy. 2008 Robotic cell culture system for stem cell assays. Industrial Robot. 35 (2):116-124.  Ben conducted this work as a Pitt BioE undergraduate in Dr. Bridget Deasy's lab. Ben is currently a 1st year graduate student in Dr. Huppert's lab

A recent 1st author publication by BioE PhD Candidate Kristin Wescoe,  Wescoe KE, Schugar RC, Chu CR, Deasy BM. 2008. The role of the biochemical and biophysical environment in chondrogenic stem cell differentiation assays and cartilage tissue engineering. Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics.  2008;52(2):85-102.  Kristin is conducting this work in Dr. Bridget Deasy's lab.

BioE graduate student, Jolene Valentin received a highly competitive Travel Award to attend the TERMIS-NA 2008 conference in San Diego.  Jolene is completing her Ph.D. in Professor Stephen Badylak's lab.

On October 23, Professor Savio Woo received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering from the University Council of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.  In the conferment ceremony, President Chung-Kwong Poon said this honor recognizes the contributions Professor Woo has made to the advancement of musculoskeletal biomechanics and engineering sciences, especially in the area of novel orthopedic sports medicine and rehabilitation treatments.

The project submitted by BioE undergrad students, Craig Lehocky and Bradley Morneweck entitled, Stand-OFF, has been selected as one of 5 finalists in the 2008 Energy-Efficient Building Technologies Challenge sponsored by the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and the Heinz Endowments.  The organizing committee received 29 very strong proposals so this is a very worthy accomplishment!

Dr. George Engelmayr's 1st author publication appears on-line in Nature Materials.  Dr. Engelmayr is a Fellow in the Langer Lab @MIT and a PhD graduate from Professor Michael Sacks' lab. Accordion-like honeycombs for tissue engineering of cardiac anisotropy GEORGE C. ENGELMAYR Jr1, MINGYU CHENG1, CHRISTOPHER J. BETTINGER2;3, JEFFREY T. BORENSTEIN3, ROBERT LANGER1;4 AND LISA E. FREED1

1)     Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E25-330 Cambridge Massachusetts 02139, USA

2)     Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E25-330 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

3)     Biomedical Engineering Center, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, 555 Technology Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

4)     Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E25-330 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Published online: 2 November 2008; doi:10.1038/nmat2316

The weekend of October 17 &18, 2008, Children's Hospital hosted an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) course.  The course was extremely well attended with over 80 participants for the Friday evening and all day Saturday course.  Both Dr. Timothy Maul and Erin Wacker played important roles in the development and conduct of this course, including presenting lectures on the topics of anticoagulation and biocompatibility. Dr. Maul is currently a Hartwell Foundation Fellow in Dr. William Wagner's lab.  Erin is also conducting her research in Dr. Wagner's lab, in collaboration with Dr. Peter Wearden @Children's Hospital.

Dr. Joie Marhefka's just published article, based on work conducted in Professor Marina  Kameneva's lab.  Joie N. Marhefka, Sachin S. Velankar, Toby M. Chapman and Marina V. Kameneva. "Mechanical degradation of drag reducing polymers in suspensions of blood cells and rigid particles." Biorheology 45 (2008) 599–609.

BioE undergraduate student, Craig Lehocky has been admitted to Pitt's MD, PhD Program.  As we all know, this is an outstanding achievement and recognizes Craig’s many achievements as an undergraduate scholar.  Congratulations particularly to Dr. Aaron Batista who has been a superb mentor to Craig in directing his undergraduate research in preparation for a career as a physician scientist. 

Professor Patrick Loughlin has been elected to the 2009 American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Class of Fellows.  The citation on behalf of Professor Loughlin's elections as AIMBE Fellow reads: "For significant contributions in time-varying signal processing and modeling of physiological systems, including human postural control and anesthetic delivery".  Professor Loughlin is the 22nd BioE faculty to be elected to AIMBE Fellowship!

1st author publication by Dr. Robert Tamburo, with co-authorship by Dr. Aaron Cois:  Robert Tamburo, Greg Siegle, George Stetten, Aaron Cois, Charles Reynolds, Howard Aizenstein “Amygdala Morphometry in Late-Life Depression,” special issue Neuroimaging in Geriatric Psychiatry, in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.  Drs. Tamburo and Cois got their Ph.D.s in Professor Stetten's lab. Dr. Tamburo is currently a post-doctoral fellow working with Dr. Howard Aizenstein. 

National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) was officially funded and launched on September 1.  Dean Gerald Holder, Dr. William Wagner, Dr. Savio Woo and Dr. Harvey Borovetz attended Media Day September 4^th in Greensboro, NC where the official announcement was made.  In addition, a number of BioE faculty have been key participants in the development of the ERC Program including Professor Arthur Ciarkowski and Drs. Xinyan Cui, Prashant Kumta, Kacey Marra, Mark Redfern and Charles Sfeir.

Professor George Stetten has been invited to serve on a Special Study Section for the NIBIB – Howard Hughes T32 training grants in mid-November.  In 2005 the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) partnered with the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) to create a new funding mechanism to develop and sustain interdisciplinary graduate education.  Professor Stetten will participate in the Phase II program review, which is aimed to sustain recently established interdisciplinary training programs through their early critical years.

BioE graduate student, Erin Wacker has been invited by Children's Hospital to give a lecture entitled, "Anticoagulation Strategies in ECMO," as part of the ECMO Training Conference.  Erin is conducting this research in Dr. William Wagner's lab.  Also presenting at the Conference is BioE PhD graduate Dr. Tim Maul. The title of Dr. Maul's presentation is: "Biological Response to ECMO."  Dr. Maul is currently a Hartwell Foundation Fellow in Dr. William Wagner's lab.

BioE graduate student, Kelly Clause's 1st author publication.   Clause KC, Tinney JP, Liu LJ, Keller BB, Tobita K. Engineered early embryonic cardiac tissue increases cardiomyocyte proliferation by cyclic mechanical stretch via p38MAP kinase phosphorylation. Tissue Engineering, 2008.  This work was conducted in the labs of Dr. Kimimasa Tobita and Dr. Bradley Keller.

Professor Bradley Keller's R01 application entitled, "Engineered Early Embryonic Cardiac Tissue," has been awarded funding for the period 7/1/08 - 5/31/12. Professor William Wagner is co-investigator on this award. A brief description follows: We have developed an Engineered Early Embryonic Cardiac Tissue, termed EEECT, using embryonic cardiac cells isolated during the period of primary morphogenesis in order to investigate the regulation of embryonic CM proliferation and differentiation and to generate tissues with optimal properties for cardiac repair. Our EEECT construct uses a simple cylindrical geometry which is reproducible, scalable, and preserves the unique proliferative and contractile properties of developing myocardium. Using EEECT we can investigate the regulation of CM proliferation and maturation within a functioning in vitro 3D environment. EEECT proliferation and force production increases in response to cyclic mechanical stretch. With prolonged culture EEECT acquires a post-natal myocardial phenotype (reduced proliferation, increased calcium and β-adrenergic sensitivity, and increased force production). Preliminary data show that cylindrical EEECT can be implanted onto recipient injured adult myocardium as part of a cardiac repair/recovery strategy. Implanted EEECT survive, proliferate, and functionally contribute to recipient cardiac functional recovery.

Dr. Kevin Toosi's publication in the current edition of the Annals of Biomedical Engineering.  Dr. Toosi performed this work in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.  KK Toosi, Nagatomi J, Chancellor MB and Sacks MS. "The effects of long-term spinal cord injury on mechanical properties of the rat urinary bladder."  Annals of Biomedical Engineering 36:1470-80, 2008.

Professor Savio Woo received an Honorary Professorship from Beijing University of Aeronatics and Astronautics (BUAA), while he and Mrs. Woo were attending the Olympic Games in Beijing as guests of IOC President Jacques Rogge.  BUAA’s President Li, a member of the Chinese national Academy of Engineering, conducted the ceremony and Dean Fan of the School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering introduced Professor Woo.  The honor was bestowed upon Professor Woo for his many seminal contributions to Biomedical Engineering research and education.  Professor Woo will also serve as Chair of the International Advisory Committee of the School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering at BUAA. 

Dr. Richard Debski received a Faculty Partner Award from Career Services for excellent work in helping to establish a network of companies for employment and internship opportunities for our undergraduates.  As you know this is critically important for those among our students whose professional ambitions are a career in industry; and under Dr. Debski's leadership, the Department is making great strides in this regard.

Professor Savio Woo delivered the Keynote Address at the 2008 Pre-Olympic Congress of the International Convention on Science Education and Medicine in Sports (ICSEMIS) in Guangzhou, China.  The congress was attended by more than 2,000 participants. Professor Woo will also attend the Olympic Games in Beijing as a Distinguished Guest of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

PhD candidate, Bryan Brown's NIH F31 Ruth L Kirschstein Pre-doctoral Fellowship application entitled, "ECM Scaffolds and Macrophage Polarization-Induced Tissue Remodeling," received a priority score of 115 and a percentile in the top 1.0%.  Bryan is undertaking his fellowship research in Dr. Steven Badylak's lab.  Bryan is the 2nd BioE PhD candidate in the "Badylak Lab" to be awarded an F31 this year; Ellen Brennan has also been awarded an NIH F31 Ruth L Kirschstein Pre-doctoral Fellowship.

Professor George Stetten's recent publication in MICCAI 2008, the top meeting in the field: John Galeotti, Mel Siegel, Richard Rallison, George Stetten, "In-Situ Visualization of Medical Images Using Holographic Optics," Augmented Medical Imaging including Augmented Reality in Computer-aided SurgeryWorkshop, MICCAI 2008.  Dr. Galeotti is a post-doc at the Robotics Institute working with Professor George Stetten. Dr. Galeotti also teaches our Methods in Medical Imaging course (BioE 2630) to rave reviews.

BioE’s participation at the 13th International Congress of Biorheology and 6th International Conference on Clinical Hemorheology, The Pennsylvania State University, July 9 -13.

(1)   Poster 47: Viscoelastic behavior of ovine blood and its implication for in vitro and in vivo testing of pediatric VAD ,A.R. Daly, P.J. Marascalco, M.V. Kameneva

(2)   Symposium: Potential clinical applications of blood soluble drag-reducing polymers.  Co-Chair: M.V. Kameneva, Microscale effects of drag-reducing polymers J.N. Marhefka, S.S. Velankar, R. Zhao, Z. Wu, J.F. Antaki and M.V. Kameneva, Effects of blood-soluble drag-reducing polymers on macro- and microhemodynamics: Potential clinical applications M. Kameneva

(3)   Symposium: Hemorheological aspects of mechanical blood trauma., Co-Chairs: J. Antaki and M.V. Kameneva, Computational indices for prediction of flow-induced blood trauma J.F. Antaki Experimental and theoretical investigation of blood microflow dynamics associated with blood contacting devices R. Zhao, M. Massoudi, S.J. Hund, M.V. Kameneva and J.F. Antaki

(4)   Symposium: Hemorheological modelling and simulation, A new approach to modeling blood viscosity S.J. Hund, M.V. Kameneva and J.F. Antaki

(5)   Professor Marina Kameneva was elected as a Council Member of the International Society of Biorheology.

Dr. Candace Brayfield, who is completing the Ph.D. in Dr. Kacey Marra's lab, was awarded a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship from the 2008-09 Provost's Development Fund. Also, Erinn Joyce in Professor Michael Sacks' lab also has been awarded a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship from the 2008-09 Provost's Development Fund.  

Dr. Timothy Maul has been selected to receive a Travel Award from the International Society for Applied Cardiovascular Biology (ISACB) to present his abstract entitled, "Mechanical Stimulation differentially controls Proliferation, Morphology and Protein Expression in Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells."  The ISACB Meeting is being held in Bordeaux, France on September 17 - 20, 2008.  Dr. Maul's work to be presented was conducted in Dr. David Vorp’s lab.  Dr. Maul's current Fellowship is being undertaken in Dr. William Wagner's lab.

Professor George Stetten has been promoted to Research Professor at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute effective today, July 1, 2008.

David Brooks a graduate from our BioE undergraduate program is a co-author of the following publication: Shushma Aggarwal, David M. Brooks, Yoogoo Kang, Peter K. Linden, John F. Patzer II: Noninvasive monitoring of cerebral perfusion pressure in patients with acute liver failure using transcranial doppler ultrasonography. Liver Transplantation 2008;14: 1048-1057.  David conducted this work as part of his intramural research internship under the mentorship of Dr. Jack Patzer. 

Dr. Karin (Corsi) Payne's post-doctoral application entitled, "Effect of cell sex on the chondrogenesis of human mesenchymal stem cells" has been awarded funding by the Arthritis Foundation.  Dr. (Corsi) Payne, who completed the Ph.D. in Professor Johnny Huard's lab, is conducting the post-doctoral fellowship in Dr. Constance Chu's lab.

Professor TK Hung has been invited to write a textbook on Computation Fluid Dynamics by Cambridge University Press.  Professor Hung's text would be housed within the 1st textbook series for biomedical engineering.  Congratulations to Professor Hung for this recognition and invitation to write a much needed textbook for bioengineering.

Pitt BioE faculty and students made numerous presentations at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs in San Francisco, June 19 - 21:

 ASAIO FELLOWSHIP AWARDEE: Jeremy Kimmel (Ph.D. candidate in Professor William Federspiel's lab), “Cytokine Hemoadsorption Dynamics Using Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy”

Marina Kameneva, Ph.D., "Drag-Reducing Polymer Solution as a Test Fluid for Evaluation of Blood Trauma in Blood Pumps"

Jack Patzer, Ph.D., "Thermodynamics of Solid Sorption for Acute Liver Failure"

CARDIAC SYMPOSIUM: William Wagner, Ph.D., "Temporary Elastic Support for the Ventricular Wall Post- Infarct: Altering Remodeling"

William Federspiel, Ph.D., "Respiratory Assist Devices for the Pulmonary Intensivist"

Amanda Daly (PhD candidate in Professor Marina Kameneva's lab), "Blood Parameter Assessment in Sham and Pediaflow™ VAD Implanted Sheep"

Josh Woolley (PhD candidate in Professor William Wagner's lab), "Clotting Time Assessment of Candidate Materials for Use as Blood Contacting Surfaces in Blood Pumps"

Carl Johnson (PhD candidate in Professor William Wagner's lab), "Platelet Activation in Ovines Implanted with the Levitronix® Pedivas™"

James Antaki, Ph.D., "Progress with Extremum-Seeking Feedback Controller for a Rotary Blood Pump"

Andrew Hunsberger (MS graduate from Professor Sanjeev Shroff's lab now working for Mohawk Innovative Technology, Inc., Albany NY), "Durability of Diamond-Like Carbon Coatings for Rotary Blood Pump Applications"

Trevor Snyder, Ph.D. (Dr. Snyder is a graduate from Professor William Wagner's lab and is now @University of Maryland School of Medicine), "HMGB1 Elevation in VAD Patients.

Melanie  Ruffner's NIH F30 Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA for Individual MD/PhDs entitled, "IL-4 Overexpressing Dendritic Cells and Exosomes for Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes," has been awarded funding.  Melanie is conducting this research in Dr. Robbins' lab. 

Dr. William D. Merryman, who completed his PhD in Professor Michael Sacks' lab and is currently Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been awarded a Coulter Foundation Early Career Award entitled, "Radiofrequency Ablation to Treat Mitral Valve Disease."  

1st author publication by Jennifer (Mercer) Collinger, who is completing the PhD in Professor Michael Boninger's lab. Collinger JL, Boninger ML, Koontz AM, Price R, Sisto SA, Tolerico ML and Cooper RA. Shoulder Biomechanics During the Push Phase of Wheelchair Propulsion: A Mulisite Study of Persons with Paraplegia."  ARCH PHYS MED REHABIL 2008;89:667-76.

Publications of two graduates from our Department: Kwarciak AM, Cooper RA and Fitzgerald SG. Curb Descent Testing of Suspension Manual Wheelchairs."  Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development  45:73-84, 2008.  (Andrew obtained his BioE MS degree working in Professor Rory Cooper's lab) Karmarkar A, Cooper RA, Liu H-y, Connor S and Puhlman J. Evaluation of Pushrim-Activated Power-Assisted Wheelchairs Using ANSI/RESNA Standards."  Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2008;89:1191-1198. (Jeremy is a B.S. BioE graduate)

Dr. Kevin Toosi's manuscript entitled, "THE EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM SPINAL CORD INJURY ON THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF THE URINARY BLADDER WALL," has been accepted for publication in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering.  The complete citation is: Kevin K Toosi, M.D., M.S.; Jiro Nagatomi, PhD; Michael B Chancellor, MD; and Michael Sacks, Ph.D.  Dr. Toosi conducted this work in Professor Sacks' lab.

Professor George Stetten's paper that has been accepted for publication: Bing Wu, Roberta Klatzky, George Stetten.   “Learning to Reach to Locations Encoded from Imaging Displays,” Spatial Cognition and Computation. The 1st author, Dr. Wu, is a post doc at CMU who is joining Pitt BioE this summer as a Visiting Research Assistant Professor.

The new issue of ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING contains two 1st author publications by BioE graduates: (1) Vande Geest JP, Schmidt DE, Sacks MS and Vorp DA. The Effects of Anisotropy on the Stress Analysis of Patient-Specific Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms. ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 2008;36:921-932.  (2) Svitek RG and Federspiel WF. A Mathematical Model to Predict CO2 Removal in Hollow Fiber Membrane Oxygenators. ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 2008;36:992-1003. Dr. Vande Geest (BioE PhD in Dr. David Vorp's lab) is assistant professor of mechanical engineering @U Arizona.  Dr. Svitek (B.S. in BioE) works for EvaHeart in the area of ventricular assistance.

BioE PhD candidates Sagi Perel, Chance Spalding and Andrew Whitford are co-authors on a paper in the current issue of Nature (Cortical control of a prosthetic arm for self-feeding). The senior author of the paper is Professor Andrew Schwartz in whose lab this wonderful work was conducted! http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature06996.html

Dr. Timothy Maul was awarded the William Williams Young Investigator Award at the Fourth International Conference on PEDIATRIC MECHANICAL CIRCULATORY SUPPORT SYSTEMS & PEDIATRIC CARDIOPULMONARY PERFUSION being held in Portland, OR for his presentation entitled, "Coagulation Times and Heparin Management for Pediatric Patients Requiring Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenator Support."  Dr. Maul, who completed his PhD dissertation in Dr. David Vorp's lab, is currently a Hartwell Foundation Post-doctoral Fellow in Dr. William Wagner's lab investigating/developing pediatric cardiopulmonary support technologies and their clinical management.

Dr. Donald Freytes, who completed his PhD dissertation research in Dr. Stephen Badylak's lab, has taken a position as a post-doctoral research scientist in the laboratory of Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic at the Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering @Columbia University.  

BioE graduate student, Chad Eckert's American Heart Association (AHA) Pre-doctoral Fellowship application entitled, "Quantifying the Ability of the Mitral Valve to Adapt to Abnormal Stress States Following Repair," received a priority score: 1.3867 (a score of 1.0 - 1.4 being considered 'excellent') and a percentile rank: 6.76. The scientific review was glowing; for example one reviewer noted, "The proposed research is of high significance in science, bioengineering, biological science and clinical practice. Anticipated results will lead to improved basic understanding of valve mechanics and possible improvements in mitral valve repair surgical procedures." Chad is the 3rd PhD candidate in Professor Michael Sacks' lab to be awarded an AHA Pre-doctoral Fellowship. Drs. George Engelmayr and David Merryman were also  AHA Pre-doctoral Fellows.

Please see the URL below for an update regarding Adam Iddriss, who graduated in 2007 and is now a medical student at Johns Hopkins.  http://www.hopkinsglobalhealth.org/our_work/frameworks_program/Framework_grant_recipients/Spring_2008/Adam_Iddriss/index.html

Professor Michael Sacks has been elected a Fellow of ASME.  The Fellow grade recognizes exceptional engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession. Professor Sacks is recognized for his international leadership in the field of soft tissue biomechanics; in particular Professor Sacks' ground breaking work in the biomechanics of native and prosthetic heart valves and in the development of tissue engineered heart valves.

Professor Mark Redfern has achieved a truly stratospheric evaluation for Spring 2084.  Professor Redfern's "line 10" evaluation is 4.93 for his undergraduate course, "Biodynamics of Movement!"  Also, Dr. Kacey Marra's "line 10" evaluation is 4.73 for the undergraduate course, "Introduction to Tissue Engineering!"

The article below in the NIDCD/NIH Newsletter that highlights the medical virtual reality center (MVRC) work of Professors Mark Redfern and Joseph Furman. This work was initiated with an R21 obtained a few years ago from NIDCD, and subsequent NIH funding. The work involves faculty from Bioengineering, Otolaryngology, and Physical Therapy.    It is now translating into patient care research.    http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/inside/spr08/pq1.asp  

Professor Michael Sacks has been invited as the 2008-2009 keynote speaker for the Richard Skalak Bioengineering Colloquium @Columbia University.  The Richard Skalak Biomedical Eengineering Colloquium was established in 1996 to honor Professor Richard Skalak for his contributions to Columbia University and his accomplishment in the development of biomedical engineering at Columbia.  Professor Sacks joins distinguished researchers in biomechanics and biomedical engineering who have delivered these lectures.  Professor Sacks will speak in the Spring 2009.

BioE graduate student, Erinn Joyce has been awarded a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship from the 2008-2009 Provost's Development Fund. Erinn is conducting her dissertation research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

Submission by BioE graduate student, Rebecca Long entitled, "Mechanical Stimulation Induced Elastogenesis In Collagenous Scaffolds Seeded With Badder Smooth Muscle Cells," authored by Rebecca Long , Julia Ivanova, Dr. Aron Parekh and Professor Michael Sacks has been accepted for presentation in the Student Paper Competition (SPC) poster session at the 2008 ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference (SBC).  

BioE undergraduate student, Bartholomew Bacak has been selected as a Computational Neuroscience Research Fellow.  This award is intended to support Bartholomew's research and education in computational neuroscience in the next year. Mr. Bacak is conducting his research in Dr. Henry Zeringue's lab.

BioE graduate student, Kristin Wescoe received the Poster Award for 3rd Place at the Midwest Tissue Engineering Consortium.  Kristin's work, which is being conducted in Dr. Bridget Deasy's lab, is entitled: Wescoe KE, Schugar RC and BM Deasy. "Examination of Behavior of Umbilical Cord (UC)-Derived Stem Cells on 3D Tissue-Engineered Scaffolds."  Midwest Tissue Engineering Consortium. Cincinnati, OH.

Dr. George Engelmayr's new 1st author publication in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering. Engelmayr GC, Soletti L, Vigmostad SC, Budilarto SG, Federspiel WJ, Chandran KB, Vorp DA and Sacks MS.  "A Novel Flex-Stretch-Flow Bioreactor for the Study of Engineered Hear Valve Tissue Mechanobiology."  Annals of Biomedical Engineering 2008;36:700-712.  Dr. Engelmayr, who completed his dissertation research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab, is currently completing a post-doc in the "Langer Lab" @MIT. The 2nd author, Lorenzo Soletti is completing his PhD research in Dr. David Vorp's lab.

BioE graduate students, Phil Marascalco and Mohammed El-Kurdi successfully defended their PhD dissertations.  Dr. Marascalco conducted his work in Professor Marina Kameneva’s lab.  Dr. El-Kurdi performed his research in Dr. David Vorp’s lab

Professor T.K. Hung’s recent scholarly publication:  “Biomagnetic Hydrodynamics in a 2-Dimensional Non-Darcian Porous Medium: Finite Element” by H.S. Takhar, R. Bhargava, S. Rawat, T.A. Beg, O.A. Beg and T.K. Hung, J. of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Volume 37, Number 2, pages 40-60, 2007.

Two of  Dr. Mark Gartner’s senior design teams have submitted their projects for the National BMEidea competition:

NAME OF BMEidea PROJECT: Neonatal Incubator for Developing Nations (Burhanuddin Mahmood: Mentor)

APPLICANT INFORMATION Bradley Morneweck team

BRIEF PROJECT SUMMARY: Births that occur in developing countries, such as Haiti, do not always occur at the hospital. For instance, in Haiti’s Hospital Albert Schweitzer, there are two to three off-site facilities that must be able to support newborns. Thermoregulation is important due to infants’ increased susceptibility to cold stress and vulnerability to changes in environmental temperature and convective heat and moisture loss due to air movement. This is a greater problem in premature or low-birth weight infants, due to their increased surface area to volume ratios. To fill this gap in medical care, we designed a simple, low-cost incubator that does not rely on a power grid. These facilities have very limited accessibility and have no electrical or water supply. A solar panel and battery array are used to power this incubator. Low-cost parts that are all available for replacement by mail order from their respective sources were used. The unit is modular in nature and is simple enough to be maintained by a limited infrastructure and technical support staff.

NAME OF BMEidea PROJECT: Sublaminar Vertebral Hook (Boyle Cheng: Mentor)

APPLICANT INFORMATION Amy McCarty team

BRIEF PROJECT SUMMARY: Vertebral hooks for spine stabilization and fusion surgeries are underutilized due to their difficulty of implantation. Pedicle screws are more common, a fact associated with the simplification of surgeries resulting from polyaxial heads. Hooks are more biomechanically stable and provide applications in damaged or compromised (i.e. cancerous) bone not fit for drilling. Thus, we are going to design a hook that overcomes some of the problems associated with current implementations by adding a polyaxial head.

Oneximo Gonzalez has been awarded a 2008 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship!  As you know this is among the most prestigious and competitive awards that a graduate student can win.  Oneximo is undertaking his dissertation research in the MSRC under the direction of Professor Savio Woo.  Professor Woo is also the mentor for a 2^nd NSF Graduate Fellow, Serena Augustine.  Our 3^rd NSF Graduate Fellow, Jennifer Mercer, is completing her PhD dissertation in Professor Michael Boninger’s lab.

Gaurav Shukla has been accepted into the 2008 CTSI Predoctoral Fellowship program in Clinical and Translational Science for 2008-2009.  Gaurav is conducting his dissertation research in Professor George Stetten's lab.

Dr. Steven Little's Beckman Foundation Young Innovator Award application entitled, "Synthetic Dendritic Cells," has been selected for funding.  Dr. Little may be the 1st Pitt faculty member to receive this prestigious award!

BIRM trainee, Michael  Hill (BioE graduate student), has received a prestigious NSF EAPSI grant to work with Dr. Akira Takahashi at Tohoku University.  Chad Eckert was the other recipient.

Graduate student, Ellen Brennan has been awarded a prestigious F31 Pre-doctoral Fellowship for her project entitled, "Antibactrial degradation products of extracellular matrix bioscaffolds." Ellen who is conducting this research in Dr. Stephen Badylak's lab, is the 7th BioE PhD candidate to recently be awarded an F31, and the 2nd student (along with Donald Freytes) in Dr. Badylak's lab to receive this wonderful award.

Philip Marascalco, who will defend his PhD dissertation in two weeks, has accepted a position at Terumo Heart as a Clinical Technical Support Specialist.  In addition to his dissertation research in Professor Marina Kameneva’s lab, Phil has also served as a Clinical Artificial Heart Biomedical Engineer for the UPMC Artificial Heart Program; and it is through this experience that Phil was considered for the Terumo position.

Professor Michael Sacks has been selected to receive a 2008 Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award in the Senior Scholar Category. In his letter to Professor Sacks regarding this award, Chancellor Nordenberg writes, “Your known accomplishments … show that you have achieved national and international eminence as an outstanding scholar in your field … You have conducted pioneering work in the experimental and theoretical understanding of soft tissue mechanics.  You possess noted expertise in heart valve analysis and replacement.  Your peers conclude that you are at the top of your field … a world class leader in tissue mechanics and the world leader in heart valve tissue mechanics.”

Dr. Mark Gartner’s senior design class won $500 stipends from NCIIA for their projects.  The project titles and groups are: “Design of an Incubator for Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti” Ted Kastenhuber, Bradley Morneweck, Christopher Withers and Bailey Roche and “Design of an Anatomical Polyaxial Vertebral Hook” Kate Campbell, Benjamin Schmidt, Shawn Burton and Amy McCarty.

Dr. Savio Woo has been made the first recipient of the College of Engineering, University of Washington’s prestigious Diamond Award for Distinguished Achievement in Academia. The UW College of Engineering has long honored outstanding alumni in industry, but this is the first time that the Diamond Award has been extended to an outstanding alumnus for exceptional knowledge and significant contributions to the field of engineering in academia. The award celebrates Dr. Woo’s academic, professional and personal accomplishments. He is a rare scientist who is honored by membership in both the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering, as well as in Academia Sinica (PRC). For his work, Dr. Woo has been recognized with highest honors by many professional societies including the Bioengineering Division of the American Society of Biomechanics, the International Society of Biomechanics, as well as the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine.

Dr. Steven Abramowitch has been selected as a Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Scholar, effective January, 2008. The purpose of this program is to support the development of young faculty members with research interests in the field of women's health as independent investigators.  Dr. Abramowitch was selected for his innovative research in the biomechanics of pelvic disorders being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Pam Moalli at Magee Women's Research Institute.

Professor Fernando Boada has been elected as a member of the 2008 AIMBE Class of Fellows.  Formal induction of the 2008 AIMBE Class of Fellows will occur in February in D.C.  Professor Boada is being honored "For pioneering contributions to functional and metabolic magnetic resonance imaging and its applications to cancer and stroke diagnosis and treatment monitoring in humans."

Professor Michael Sacks has been invited to serve as a reviewer for the spring, 2008 American Heart Association Cell Transport, Physiology & Metabolism Study Group.

At the annual BioE Board of Visitors dinner on November 16th, Professor Mark Redfern was honored with the 2007-2008 Board of Visitors Faculty Award.  In making the presentation to Professor Redfern, Provost Maher noted Professor Redfern's research contributions in the area of postural control; Professor Redfern's funding portfolio which approaches $20 M overall in P.I. and collaborative funding over the years; Professor Redfern's scores of publications; Mark's outstanding leadership in BioE educational programs; Professor Redfern's commitment to mentorship; and of course, Mark's perfect "5.0" teaching evaluations which are at the very top across the entire campus!

Professor Michael Sacks has been invited to contribute a review article on "Heart Valve Tissue Engineering" for the Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, Volume 11.  The Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering is the highest impact factor journal (among 42) ISI includes in the category "Engineering, Biomedical."

BioE graduate student, Alan Degengart has been selected to receive a one year fellowship in the Multimodal Neuroimaging Training Program (MNTP) beginning January 1, 2008.  MNTP is funded through an NIH/NIDA T90 Program, which may be another funding mechanism for our graduate students that we need to explore. MNTP is co-directed by Professor Seong-gi Kim @Pitt and Professor William Eddy @CMU. Alan is conducting his research in Dr. Douglas Weber's lab.

Tom Robey, who is an MD, PhD candidate at the University of Washington, has been awarded the PhD degree and is now completing his medical degree.  Dr. Robey was a triple major during his years as an undergraduate student @Pitt.  He was awarded the B. Phil in BioE by completing an honors thesis in Dr. William Wagner’s lab.

BioE graduate student, John Stella’s 1^st author publication in the current issue of the JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS: Stella JA, J Liao and MS Sacks. Time-dependent biaxial mechanical behavior of the aortic heart valve leaflet.  JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS 40 (2007) 3169-3177.  John is performing this work in Professor Michael Sacks’ lab.

Professor Savio Woo has been elected LIFE FELLOW, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Recent publications by two of our BioE PhD graduates (Dr. Carmen DiGiovine and Dr. Erik Wolf), who performed their dissertation research in Professor Cooper’s Human Energy Research Labs.  (1) Koontz AM, Yang Y, Price R, Tolerico ML, DiGiovine CP, Sisto SA, Cooper RA and Boninger ML. Multisite comparison of wheelchair propulsion kinetics in persons with paraplegia.  Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development 2007; 44:449-458.  (2) Wolf E, Cooper RA, Pearlman J, Fitzgerald SG and Kelleher A. Longitudinal assessment of vibrations during manual and power wheelchair driving over select sidewalk surfaces.  Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development 2007; 44:573-580.

Professor Savio Woo received the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award of the Bay Area Knee Society, November 1 in San Francisco, CA.  The Bay Area Knee Society is an academic organization based in San Francisco, which for the past two decades, has annually recognized outstanding individuals who have made lifelong contributions in advancing the art and science of knee surgery.  Dr. Woo will be the 21^st recipient of this prestigious, internationally recognized award that many consider as the “Nobel Prize” of the knee.

BioE graduate student. Xiaoyan  Zhang was awarded the 2007 Erin McGurk Research Grant from the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory Alumni Council (ORLAC) for her project entitled, “A Subject-specific Model of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament.”  Xiaoyan is conducting this work in the Musculoskeletal Research Center, under the direction of Professor Savio Woo.  The award provides funding for a female graduate student to perform musculoskeletal research during the summer.   

Dr. Joie Marhefka, who completed her PhD dissertation in Professor Marina Kameneva’s lab, has accepted an offer for a postdoctoral position at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) beginning January, 2008.

Professor George Stetten is launching for the MD, PhD Program which also serves as the basis for a training grant being submitted to NIH. The Medical Imaging, Neural Engineering, and Robotics (MINER) Training Program for M.D./Ph.D. Predoctoral Students.  "Our goal is create physician researchers engaged in the discovery, development, and clinical translation of new knowledge and technology in the interrelated fields of medical imaging, neural engineering, and robotics. The proposed training program would solidify existing bridges between the biomedical and engineering communities through a shared curriculum and other activities to promote collaborative research. In particular, we would involve three programs that already host M.D./Ph.D. students in these areas, namely, Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, the Robotics Institute at CMU, and Biomedical Engineering at CMU."

Dr. James Wang has received conferral of tenure as Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery in the School of Medicine.  BioE extends our heartiest congratulations to Dr. Wang on this career achievement.

A recent plenary presentation by Dr. Tamer Ibrahim’s: T.S. Ibrahim, "Electromagnetics and Field Modeling for UHF MRI and B1 Shimming" in the 6th BI-ANNUAL 2007 MINNESOTA WORKSHOPS on HIGH FIELD MR IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY and MR IMAGING of BRAIN FUNCTION, October 2007.  http://www.cmrr.umn.edu/workshops/Workshop_07/2007faculty.shtml

Dr. J. Scott Van Epps’ recent 1^st author publication co-authored with Dr. David Vorp, Dr. J. Scott Van Epps’ PhD adviser.  JS Van Epps and DA Vorp. Mechanopathobiology of Atherogenesis: A Review. JOURNAL OF SURGICAL RESEARCH Vol 142: 202-217, 2007.

Professor Michael Sacks is an invited speaker at the FDA/NIST-Sponsored Workshop on “In Vitro Analyses of Cell/Scaffold Medical Products.”  The Workshop is to be held on December 6-7, 2007 in Washington D.C. 20594.  Professor Sacks will speak for 30 minutes on the topic, “Novel Methods to Quantify Tissue Structure and Multi-Axial Mechanical Testing.”

Professor Partha Roy has received a 4-year Minority Graduate Research Supplement (MGRS) for his NCI award entitled, “Profilin as a Target to Suppress Invasive Breast Cancer.”  BioE graduate student,  Maria Jaramillo will be supported via this MGRS.

The BioE Department truly distinguished itself at the just completed 2007 BMES Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, CA. Below please find the 37 presentations made by our faculty (bold) and students (underlined bold).

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Dynamic Myocardial Contractile Parameters From Left ventricular Pressure-Volume Measurements S.G. SHROFF, W.C. HUNTER AND K.B. CAMPBEL

Current and Future Considerations In The Use Of Mechanical Circulatory Support M.A. SIMON, W.R. WAGNER AND H.S. BOROVETZ 

Biocompatibility In Ventricular Assist Devices: How Can You Improve What You Cannot Measure? W.R. WAGNER

Probing Intracellular Ca2+ Signaling Through Mechanical stimulation Of Focal Adhesion Complexes W.C. RUDER, E.D. PRATT, N.Z. BRANDY, D.A. LAVAN, J.F. ANTAKI AND P.R. LEDUC

BCI – A Novel Paradigm For Studies Of Neural Plasticity S.M. CHASE, R. KASS AND A.B. SCHWARTZ 

Characterization of Aortic Valve Endothelial Cell Strain Response To Global Tissue Stretch S.A. METZLER, S.C. WALLER, M.S. SACKS, J. LIAO AND J.N. WARNOCK 

Hemodynamic Analysis of Echocardiogram S. BALASUBRAMANIAN, M. SIMON, M. SUFFOLETTO, J. GORCSAN, H.S. BOROVETZ AND T. HUNG  

Stress Overload of The In Situ Aortic Valve Interstitial Cell Under Circumferential Strain W.D. MERRYMAN, H.D. LUKOFF, R.A. HOPKINS AND M.S. SACKS 

Effects Of Passages On The Gene Expression Profile Of Medial Collateral Ligament Fibroblasts S. AUGUSTINE, A.J. ALMARZA AND S.L. WOO

Assessment Of A Biomimetic, Composite, Tubular Scaffold or Vascular Tissue Engineering Applications L. SOLETTI, A. NIEPONICE, J. GUAN, Y. HONG, J. STANKUS, W. WAGNER AND D.A. VORP 

Ventricular Function In Mice Expressing Constitutively Phosphorylated Cardiac Troponin I J.A. KIRK, C. EVANS, A.F. STEWARD, G.A.MCGOWAN, and S.G. SHROFF

A Finite Element Analysis Rupture Index (FEARI) As A New Tool For AAA Burst Prediction B.J. DOYLE, A. CALLANAN, D. VORP AND T. MGLOUGHLI

Biomechanical Properties of Active Urethral Smooth Muscle Are Altered In A Rat Model Of Birth Trauma R. PRANTIL, M. MIYAZATO, D.J. HAWORTH, M.B. CHANCELLOR, W.C. DE ROAT, N. YOSHIMURA AND D.A. VORP

Providing Somatosensory Feedback Via Multichannel icrostimulation of Primary Afferent Neurons D.J. WEBER, J.A. HOKANSON AND J.B. WAGENAAR

The Effect of Sampling Location On Optical Coherence Tomography Nerve Fiber Layer Measurements M.L. GABRIELE, H. ISHIKAWA, G. WOLLSTEIN, R. BILONICK, L. KAGEMANN, J.G. FUJIMOTO AND J.S. SCHUMAN

Using Mechanical Stimulation To Control The Response Of Muscle-Derived Stem Cell Transplantation T.R. CASSINO, M. OKADA, L. DROWLEY, J. FEDUSKA, B.M. DEASY, J. HUARD AND P. LEDUC

Development of A Selective Immunoadsorption Device For The Treatment Of Sepsis M.V. DILEO, J. KELLUM AND W.J. FEDERSPIEL 

Decellularization of Pancreatic Extracellular Matrix For A Tissue-Engineered Pancreas R. TCHEN, J. TENGOOD, H. JIANG, S. BADYLAK AND J.B. OGILVIE 

Dissolvable, Synthetic Vasculature J. TENGOOD, A.J. RUSSELL AND S.R. LITTLE

Comparison of Ligament And Tendon Fibroblast Behavior through Passages For Tissue Engineering A.J. ALMARZA, S. AUGUSTINE AND S.L. WOO

Cellular Deformations In Micro-Integrated Electrospun Scaffolds For Heart Valve Tissue Engineering J.A. STELLA, L. JUN, Y. HONG, W. MERRYMAN, W.R. WAGNER AND M.S. SACKS

Assessment of Biomechanical Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Rupture Potential Indices Over Time D.A. VORP, S. SHAH, J. BARBATO AND M.S. MAKAROUN

Influence of Simulated Physiological Hemodynamics On Engineered Heart Valve Tissue Formation S. RAMASWAMY AND M.S. SACKS

Elevated Regional RV Wall Stress In Chronic Pulmonary Hypertension Regardless Of Hemodynamics M.A. SIMON, C. DEIBLE, M.R. PINSKY, M. MATHIER, S. MADAN2, J. LACOMIS S.G. SHROFF

Development of New Integrated Affinity Bead And Microfiltration Fiber Specific Antibody Filters A. ALIKHANI, S. GAUTAM AND W.J. FEDERSPIEL

Ex Vivo Strain Induced Bladder Wall Remodeling R.A. LONG, A. PAREKH AND M.S. SACKS

Electrospinning Biodegradable Polymers Onto Living Vascular Tissue M.S. EL-KURDI, Y. HONG, J. STANKUS, L. SOLETTI, W.R. WAGNER AND D.A. VORP

Structural Properties of Extracellular Matrix In Decellularized Rabbit Carotid Arteries C. WILLIAMS, E.M. JOYCE, J.B. LEAH, M.S. SACKS, J. LIAO AND J.Y. WONG

Bioactive Hollow Fibers Towards Compact Artificial Lungs H OH, J.L. KAAR, A.J. RUSSELL AND W.J. FEDERSPIEL

Investigating Cue-Signal-Response of Mesenchymal Stem ell Migration S. WU,  A. WELLS, L.G. GRIFFITH AND D.A. LAUFFENBURGER

Conducting Polymer Based Neurochemical Release System W. STAUFFER, G. BI AND X.T. CUI

Viscoelastic Deformation of The Aortic Valve Interstitial Cell During Diastole W.D. MERRYMAN, F. GUILAK AND M.S. SACKS

Specific Antibody Filter (SAF) Binding Capacity Enhancement To Remove Anti-A Antibodies S. GAUTAM, A. ALIKHANI AND W.J. FEDERSPIEL

Gene Regulation Through Controlled Release From A  Biodegradable Poly(ester urethane) Urea P. RAMASWAMI, A. KATAKAM, J. FRIZ, D. CRESS, J. GUAN AND W.R. WAGNER 

Effects Of Intermittent Hypoxia on Cardiac Muscle Contractile Function In Mice S.H. SMITH, A.M. JANCZEWSKI, J. NAGHSHIN, Y. HE, C.P. O'DONNELL AND S.G. SHROFF 

Potential Role of Src In Pressure-Induced Regulation Of Arterial Gap Junctions: An Ex Vivo Study Y. HE AND S.G. SHROFF 

Blending Structural and Non-Thrombogenic Polymers To Form A Nanofibrous Small Diameter Blood Vessel Y. HONG, S. YE, D.A. VORP AND W.R. WAGNER 

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Our BioE faculty also organized and co-chaired the following sessions:

Cardiovascular Engineering: Ventricular Assist Devices and Heart Valves  -- Co-Chairs: Harvey S. Borovetz & Keffe Manning   

Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Engineering: Orthopedic Soft Tissue Biomechanics -- Co-Chairs: James Wang & Ketul Popat

Cardiovascular Engineering: Thrombosis in Circulation -- Co-Chairs: Shmuel Einav & William Wagner

Neural Engineering: Neural Interfacing -- Co-Chairs: Tracy Cui & Daryl Kipke

Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Engineering: Joint Biomechanics -- Co-Chairs: Thay Lee & Zong-Ming Li

1st author paper Lauren Johnson who is a PhD candidate in Professor Sanjeev Shroff's lab. Professor Michael  Pinsky is co-advising Lauren on this project. Lauren Johnson, Hyung Kook Kim, Masaki Tanabe, John Gorcsan, David Schwartzman, Sanjeev G. Shroff, Michael R. Pinsky.  Differential effects of left Ventricular pacing sites in an acute canine model of contraction dyssynchrony.  Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. (in press), 2007.

Drs. Rakie Cham and Mark Redfern are highlighted in the just released issue of Pitt Magazine (Summer 2007).  The article entitled, “Footloose – Giving Injuries the slip” on pp, 30 – 31, describes the exciting research being conducted in the Human Movement and Balance Laboratory by Drs. Cham and Redfern.

Drs. Mark Gartner and George Stetten will receive Pitt Innovator Awards as part of the second annual Celebration of Innovation on September 24.  Pitt Innovator Awards are given to those whose innovations were licensed to industry or start-up companies this past year.

Professor Marina Kameneva's recent publication with Dr. James Antaki.  Zhao R, Kameneva MV, Antaki JF. Investigation of platelet margination phenomena at elevated shear stress. Biorheology, 44(3):161-177, 2007.

A recent chapter authored by Professor Marina Kameneva and Dr. James Antaki entitled, “Mechanical Trauma to Blood,” will be published in: Handbook of Hemorheology and Hemodynamics, Volume 69 Biomedical and Health Research, Editors: O.K. Baskurt, M.R. Hardeman, M.W. Rampling and H.J. Meiselman, September 2007.

The publication. Orthopedics This Week, includes an article entitled, “Carpal Tunnel Research: A View Out of the Tunnel,” that features Dr. Zong-Ming Li’s recognized work in this area.

A recent publication by Dr. George Stetten’s publication.  G. Stetten, R. Klatzky, B. Nichol, K. Rockot, K. Zawrotny, D. Weiser, J. Galeotti, N. Sendgikoski, S. Horvath, “Fingersight: Fingertip Visual Haptic Sensing and Control,” IEEE International Workshop on Haptic Audio Visual Environments (HAVE), Ontario, Canada, 12-14 October 2007.  The underlined authors are/were all BioE undergraduate students! 

BioE graduate student, Kevin Mihelc, completed his MS in Dr. William Federspiel’s lab this past summer.  He has accepted a job at Levitronix in Boston, where he will be working as a Design & Development Engineer in the mechanical circulatory support area.

Dr. Lance Davidson's publication in NATURE CELL BIOLOGY, J. B. Green and L. A. Davidson (2007). Convergent extension and the hexahedral cell.  NATURE CELL BIOLOGY, 9: 1010-1015.

An update on publications/presentations from Dr. Tamer Ibrahim's lab:

PUBLICATIONS: (1) T. S. Ibrahim, and L. Tang, "Insight into RF power requirements and B1 field homogeneity for human MRI via rigorous FDTD approach ", Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Vol 25 (6), pp 1235-1247, June, 2007. (2) Jacobs MA, Ibrahim TS, Ouwerkerk R. AAPM/RSNA physics tutorials for residents: MR imaging: brief overview and emerging applications. Radiographics 2007;27(4):1213-1229. (Invited Paper)

PLENARY LECTURE:  (1) "Electromagnetics and Field Modeling for UHF MRI and B1 Shimming" in the 6th BI-ANNUAL 2007 MINNESOTA WORKSHOPS on HIGH FIELD MR IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY and MR IMAGING of BRAIN FUNCTION http://www.cmrr.umn.edu/workshops/Workshop_07/2007program.shtml , (2) T. S. Ibrahim, "Understanding RF Safety Using Computational Electromagnetics'', MR Safety Study Group, The 15th International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Annual Meeting, Berlin, Germany, May 2007.  http://ismrm.org/07/saf.htm   (3) T. S. Ibrahim, "Electromagnetics of High Field MRI'', Hardware and Physics, The ISMRM Workshop on Advances in High Field MR, Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, CA, March 2007. http://www.ismrm.org/workshops/HighField/program1.htm

INVITED PRESENTATIONS: (1) T. S. Ibrahim and L. Tang, "RF power requirements in human MRI: Does higher field strength necessitate higher RF power?" Special Session on Bioelectromagnetics in the 23rd Annual Review Progress in Applied Computational Electromagnetics, Verona, Italy, pp 841-845, March 2007.  (2) L. Tang, and T. S. Ibrahim, "On the radio-frequency power requirements of human MRI", Special Session on Bioelectromagnetics in the Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium, Beijing, China, pp 511-514, March 2007.

Professor Michael Sacks has been elected to serve on the Editorial Board for the journal, Cardiovascular Pathology, the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology.

Professor Michael Sacks’ recent publication in the JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS.  Nirmalanandhan VS, Rao M, Sacks MS, Haridas B and Butler DL. Effect of length of the engineered tendon construct on its structure-function relationships in culture. JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS 40 (2007) 2523-2529

A recent 1^st author publication by BioE graduate student, Erica Authier, who conducted this work in Professor Rory Cooper’s lab.  Authier EL, Pearlman J, Allegretti AL, Rice I and Cooper RA. A sports wheelchair for low-income countries. DISABILITY AND REHABILITATION, June 2007; 29(11 – 12): 963-967.

BioE Undergraduate student, Bradley Morneweck spent this current summer as an Honors College Brackenridge Undergraduate Summer Research Fellow.  The title of Brad’s summer project is, “The Many Escapades of Caveolin-3 and the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor.”  This work was conducted in the lab of Dr. Ferruccio-Galbiati in Med-Pharmacology.  Brad is pursuing a dual major in Bioengineering and Biological Sciences, and currently maintains a 4.0 QPA.

Dr. Christopher Deible, who completed his PhD in Pitt BioE in 1998 working in Dr. William Wagner’s lab, is featured in the Summer 2007 Pitt Radiology magazine.  In particular, Dr. Deible, a staff radiologist at UPMC Presbyterian, is cited as one of the radiologists leading the development of cardiac imaging at UPMC including the use of 64-slice cardiac CT.

BioE graduate student. Rebecca Long has been selected as one of only 5 recipients of the BMES 2007 Graduate Research Award.  Rebecca was selected in recognition for outstanding biomedical engineering research for her paper entitled, "Ex Vivo Strain-Induced Bladder Wall Remodeling."  Rebecca is conducting this work in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

An upcoming publication, first authored by Dr. Lawrence Kagemann, in the Journal of Biomedical Optics entitled, "Spectral oximetry assessed with high-speed ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography."  Co-authors include Dr. Hiroski Ishikawa, BioE graduate student, Michelle Gabriele and Professor Joel Schuman (in whose lab Michelle is undertaking her research).  Dr. Kagemann and colleagues are publishing here the first measurements of retinal blood oxygen saturation obtained with Fourier domain optical coherence tomography imaging.

Dr. Gusphyl Justin, who this summer completed his PhD in BioE in Drs. Robert Sclabassi's and Mingui Sun's labs, has accepted a postdoctoral position working in the areas of biocompatibility and in vivo biosensors in the laboratory of Professor Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, at the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department and the Center for Bioelectronics, Biosensors, and Biochips (C3B) at Clemson University's College of Engineering and Science.

Two invited lectures that Dr. David Vorp will deliver next week at the by-invitation only Cardiovascular Conference being held in Darwin, Australia. (1) “Tissue engineered blood vessels, including their use in the study of vascular tone pathophysiology” and (2) “Stem cells in cardiovascular tissue engineering”.

BioE undergraduate student, Daniel Wilkinson won the SRI "Best Research Presentation Award" for the 2007 Excel Summer Research Internship program.  The title of Dan’s talk was "Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Alginate Gels."  Dan conducted his work under the mentorship of Dr. Bridget Deasy.

BioE graduate student, Rebecca Long has been selected to attend and present a poster at the Second Annual NIH National Graduate Student Research Festival on October 11 - 12, 2007 on the main campus of the NIH in Bethesda, MD.  In addition to scientific presentations, the Festival also introduces pre-doctoral fellows to NIH investigators with whom they might want to pursue postdoctoral training.  Rebecca is undertaking her dissertation research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

Professor Rory Cooper is the recipient of the 2007 da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award.  The following information has just been released from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award:  Dr. Rory Cooper:  Honoring a lifetime of significant contributions to advancing Accessibility.  Dr. Cooper’s energy and devotion to the field of rehabilitation engineering and assistive  technology are unmatched. Dr. Cooper is Director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh and Co-Director of the Quality of Life Technology Center.

Dr. Megan Rothney, who graduated with her B.S. in Bioengineering from our Department in 2002, has completed the Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering @Vanderbilt University this past spring term.  Dr. Rothney is currently a post-doctoral fellow at NIH.

A special symposium on "Advances in Hydraulics, Biomechanics and Fluid Dynamics" was held on July 18 at the National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan.  The symposium honored Professor Tin Kan Hung for his many significant accomplishments in nonlinear computational fluid dynamics, biomechanics and hydrodynamics.

Three prestigious conference invitations have been issued to Dr. Steven Abramowitch:

1) The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative conference from November 13^th through the 16^th Only 100 researchers from across the U.S. have been selected to participate.

2) International Research Workshop in Pelvic Floor Disorders on September 6 – 7 in Lille, France which is an initiative of the collaborative working group on the use of meshes in pelvic floor reconstruction (Lille, Leuven, Nîmes, Cambridge)  and organized in collaboration with the International Urogynecology Association (IUGA) the French International Society of Urodynamic and Pelvic Disorders (Société Internationale Francophone Urodynamique et PelviPérinéologie or SIFUD PP) –-  Dr. Abramowitch has been invited to give a 20 minute talk on, “Biomechanical Testing Soft Tissues of the Pelvic Floor.”

3) Pelvic Floor Mechanics session at the Reproductive Bioengineering 2008 meeting in Kuhtai, Austria (near Innsbruck) from April 1-5, 2008.   This is an international multidisciplinary meeting on all scientific topics that require integration of either bioengineering or biophysical aspects with biological and physiological knowledge in the study of all areas of reproduction from the molecular to organ levels.  It is chaired by David Elad (Tel Aviv University, Israel) and Ludwig Wildt (Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria) –- Dr. Abramowitch has been invited to give a 25 minute talk on the topic, “Identifying Factors Which Negatively Impact the Integrity of Pelvic Connective Tissue in the Rat Model.“

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BioE graduate student, Josh Woolley has been selected as the recipient for the Paul Malchesky student abstract fellowship based on his oral slide presentation at the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) 2007 conference in Chicago this past June entitled, “Ovine Platelet Aggregation Sensitivity to Anticoagulant and Anti-Platelet Agents.”   Josh scored first out of six finalists for the award. Josh is conducting this work in Professor William Wagner’s lab.

Three papers from Dr. Aaron Batista’s postdoctoral fellowship @Stanford have very recently been accepted for publication.  1) Batista AP, Santhanam G, Yu BM, Ryu SI, Afshar A, Shenoy KV. "Reference Frames for Reach Planning in Macaque Dorsal Premotor Cortex." Journal of Neurophysiology (available as preprint at http://jn.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/00421.2006v1).  2) Batista AP, Yu BM, Santhanam G, Ryu SI, Afshar A, Shenoy KV. "Cortical Neural Prosthesis Performance Improves When Eye Position is Monitored." IEEE Transactions in Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering (Due out in December 2007 special issue on Neural Prosthetics.)  3) Cynthia A. Chestek^*, Aaron P. Batista^*, Gopal Santhanam, Byron M. Yu, Afsheen Afshar, John P. Cunningham, Vikash Gilja, Stephen I. Ryu, Mark M. Churchland, and Krishna V. Shenoy (* with the notation that Chestek and Batista contributed equally to this work.) "Single-neuron stability during repeated reaching in macaque premotor cortex." Journal of Neuroscience.

The following paper has been accepted for publication in the journal, Experimental Brain Research. B. Wu, R. Klatzky, D. Shelton, G. Stetten, “Mental concatenation of perceptually and cognitively specified depth to represent locations in near space.”  The 3^rd author, Damion Shelton, Ph.D., was a member of our 1^st undergraduate baccalaureate class in 2000.

A lead article in this month’s issue of the JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS: David A. Vorp. “Biomechanics of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms.” JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS 40 (2007) 1887-1902. BioE extends our heartiest congratulations to Dr. Vorp for this recognition of the seminal work in this area performed in the Vorp laboratory for more than a decade.

Dr. David Vorp has been appointed to several prestigious national leadership positions: (1) US National Committee on Biomechanics (nominated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers or ASME) [Professor Hung is also a member of this Committee]; (2) Program Chair, ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference 2008; (3) Conference Chair, ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference 2011.

The annual meeting of the Tissue Engineering International and Regenerative Medicine Society-North American Chapter (TERMIS) was held in Toronto, Canada the week of June 11, 2007.  The participation of BioE students and faculty is indicated below with BioE faculty in bold font and BioE graduate students in italicized font.

TERMIS NA Conference Papers with BioE Student/Faculty Authors

(1) A Lineage of Myogenic-endothelial Cells in Adult Human Skeletal Muscle that are Superior to Myoblasts for Myocardial Infarct Repair, Masaho Okada, Thomas R. Payne, Bo Zheng, Hideki Oshima, Nobuo Momoi, Kimimasa Tobita, Bradley B. Keller, Julie A. Phillippi, Bruno Peault, Johnny Huard

(2) Development of a Tissue-engineered Vascular Graft Combining a Biodegradable Elastomeric Scaffold, Muscle-derived Stem Cells and In-vivo Remodeling in a Rat Model, Alejandro Nieponice, Lorenzo Soletti, Timothy M. Maul, Burhan Gharaibeh, Bridget M. Deasy, Jianjun Guan, Johnny Huard, William R. Wagner, David A. Vorp

(3) Intestinal Progenitor Cells Preferentially Migrate and Proliferate in Response to Degradation Products of Small Intestinal Submucosa Extracellular Matrix Bioscaffolds, Vineet Agrawal, Ellen P. Brennan, Janet Reing, Donald O. Freytes, Stephen F. Badylak

(4) Gene Regulation Through Controlled Release from a Biodegradable Poly(ester urethane)urea, Priya Ramaswami, Anand Katakam, Jennifer Friz, Dean Cress, Jianjun Guan, William R. Wagner

(5) Spatial Control of Multi-lineage Differentiation of Muscle-Derived Stem Cells, Julie A. Phillippi, Eric D. Miller, Johnny Huard, Lee E. Weiss, Alan Waggoner, Phil G. Campbell

(6) Development of Hollow Fiber-Based Bioreactor Systems for 3D Neuronal Cell Cultures, Candace A. Brayfield, Kacey G. Marra, John P. Leonard, Glenn T. Gobble, Matt J. Baun, X. Tracy Cui, Jorg C. Gerlach

(7) In Vivo Remodeling of ECM Scaffolds as a Function of Macrophage Phenotype, Stephen F. Badylak, Jolene Valentin, Ann Stewart-Akers

(8) A novel population of CD146+CD133+ muscle progenitors in human skeletal muscle and during ontogeny, M. Crisan, L. Casteilla, A. Logar, L. Zimmerlin, B. Sun, TS Park, S. Yap, J. Huard, B. Peault

(9) Tissue Engineered Adrenal Gland Functions in vitro, Hongbin Jiang, Tiffany S. Sellaro, Stephen F. Badylak, Jennifer B. Ogilvie

(10) Maintenance of Human Hepatocyte-Specific Functions by Acellular, Extracellular Matrix Scaffolds, Tiffany L. Sellaro, Stephen Strom, Anrati Ranade, Stephen F. Badylak

(11) Regenerative medicine based on post-natal muscle stem cells, Johnny Huard

(12) In Vivo Mechanical Environment Affects Muscle Stem Cell Transplantation for Muscle Regeneration, Theresa R. Cassino, Masaho Okada, Lauren Drowley, Joseph Feduska, Philip R. LeDuc, Johnny Huard

TERMIS NA Poster Presentations with BioE Student/Faculty Authors

(1) Incorporation of Protein Delivering Microspheres into Conduits for Peripheral Nerve Repair, Lauren Kokai, Siddharth Jhunjhunwala, Steven R. Little, Kacey G. Marra

(2) Sex Difference in Muscle Stem Cell Transplantation for Myocardial Regeneration, Lauren Drowley, Masaho Okada, Thomas Payne, Gregory Botta, Theresa Cassino, Hideki Oshima, Johnny Huard

(3) Optimization of a stem cell-based tissue engineered vascular graft with a novel hybrid scaffold, Lorenzo Soletti, Jianjun Guan, Yi Hong, John J. Stankus, Alejandro Nieponice, William R. Wagner, David A. Vorp

(4) Cardiac and Bladder Extracellular Matrix (ECM) in Lyophilized Sheet and Gel Form for Cardiac Applications, John M. Wainwright, Donald O. Freytes, Joseph P. Tinney, Kimimasa Tobita, Stephen F. Badylak

(5) Decellularization of Pancreatic Extracellular Matrix for the Development of a Tissue-Engineered Artificial Pancreas, Rena Tchen, Jillian E. Tengood, Tiffany S. Sellaro, Hongbin Jiang, Stephen F. Badylak, Jennifer B. Ogilvie

(6) Repair of the Thoracic Wall with an Extracellular Matrix Scaffold in a Canine Model, Thomas W. Gilbert, Alejandro Nieponice, Alan R. Spievack, Stephen F. Badylak

(7) Extracellular Matrix Scaffold Remodeling in a Canine Tracheal Wall Defect , Thomas W. Gilbert, Sebastien Gilbert, Stephen F. Badylak,

(8) In Vitro Growth of Myogenic Cells on Urinary Bladder Matrix Gels ,Donald O. Freytes, Annie S. Lee, John W. Wainwright, Kelly M. Clause, Joseph P. Tinney, Bradley B. Keller, Kimimasa Tobita, Stephen F. Badylak

(9) Chemotactic and mitogenic properties of ECM bioscaffolds, Julie M. Myers-Irvin, Janet Reing, Li Zhang, Susan Braunhut, Ellen Heber-Katz, Stephen F. Badylak

(10) Reversing the Effects of Scarring in Lacerated Muscle Tissue using Matrix Metalloproteinase-1, Joel L. Kaar, Yong Li, Johnny Huard, Richard R. Koepsel, Alan J. Russell

(11) The coalescence of decellularized tissue scaffolds, laser-activated chitosan bioadhesive and olfactory ensheathing cells for tissue repair and regeneration of the spinal cord, Helder Marcal, Stephen Badylak, Tiffany Sellaro, Antonio Lauto, Stephen Mahler, Peter Gray

(12) Attachment of N-isopropylacrylamide to Surfaces by Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Liquid Deposition, Sara Wargo, Richard Koepsel, Alan Russell

(13) Toward an Engineered Vein Graft Using an External Electrospun Biodegradable Polymer Wrap to Gradually Impose Arterial Circumferential Wall Stress, Mohammed S. El-Kurdi, Yi Hong, PhD, John J. Stankus, Lorenzo Soletti, William R. Wagner, David A. Vorp

(14) Obtaining Matured Oocytes from Preantral Follicles Matured in Suspension Culture, Matthew Heise, Richard Koepsel, Elizabeth McGee, Alan Russell

(15) Incorporation of Protein Delivering Microspheres into Conduits for Peripheral Nerve Repair, Lauren Kokai, Siddharth Jhunjhunwala, Steven R. Little and Kacey G. Marra

(16) The Effects of Scaffold Composition Upon Macrophage Polarization and Tissue Remodeling Outcome, Bryan N. Brown, Ann M. Stewart-Akers, Stephen F. Badylak

(17) Follistatin Improves Skeletal Muscle Healing After Injury, J Zhu, Y Li, J Huard

(18) Myogenic Potential of Human Fetal Placental Blood Vessels, Tea Soon Park, Chien-Wen Chen, Alison Logar, Johnny Huard, and Bruno Peault

(19) Morphology, Proliferation, and Gene and Protein Expression Changes in Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells Following Mechanical Stimulation, Timothy M. Maul, Douglas W. Chew, Alejandro Nieponice, David A. Vorp

(20) The activation profile of human blood monocytes on SIS-ECM materials, Jolene E. Valentin, Stephen F. Badylak

(21) Mechanical Stimulation of Bone Marrow Progenitor Cells within a Three-Dimensional Fibrin Matrix, Jessica L. LoSurdo, Alejandro Nieponice, Douglas W. Chew, and David A. Vorp

(22) Investigating Cue-Signal-Response Relationships in Mesenchymal Stem Cell Migration, Shan Wu, Alan Wells, Linda G. Griffith, Douglas A. Lauffenburger

(23) Detection and Purification of Four Distinct Populations in the Stromal Vascular Fraction of Human Adipose Tissue, Ludovic Zimmerlin, Vera S. Donnenberg, Bruno Peault, J. Peter Rubin, Albert D. Donnenberg

(24) Blood-soluble drag-reducing polymers as a novel hemodynamic approach to tissue regeneration, Philip J. Marascalco, Ravikumar Thangappan, Alejandro Nieponice, Marina V. Kameneva

A publication co-authored by BioE graduate Student, Joseph Candiello has been published online:  Merryman WD, Liao J, Parekh A, Candiello JE, Lin H and Sacks M. “Differences in Tissue-Remodeling Potential of Aortic and Pulmonary Heart Valve Interstitial Cells.” Tissue Eng 2007 June 27.  Joe is a student in Dr. Hai Lin’s lab.  The 1^st author, Dr. David Merryman, who just last month defended his BioE PhD dissertation, undertook this work in Professor Sacks’ lab.

Dr. David Vorp has been invited to be a keynote speaker at the 2008 (September) International Symposium on Aortic Aneurysms (Thoracic and Abdominal).  The title of Dr. Vorp’s presentation is: “Hemodynamic effects and wall stress in the pathogenesis of aortic aneurysms (thoracic and/or abdominal).”

Professor Patrick Loughlin's RO1 application entitled, "Modeling Sensory Integration and Attention in Postural Control of Older Adults," has been awarded funding by the National Institute of Aging (NIA). Co-Investigators are Drs. Furman, Jennings, Redfern and Sparto.  Pilot funding for this research came from the NIA-funded Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, directed by Dr. Studenski.

See the URL below for a Reuter’s article about Dr. David Vorp’s tissue engineered blood vessel work.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSDIT85615820070618 

BioE graduate student, John Stella's abstract entitled, "The Digital Leaflet: Quantitative Image Analysis and 3D Digital Reconstruction of the Aortic Valve Leaflet," which he just presented at the 4th Biennial Meeting of the Society for Heart Valve Disease in New York, was selected as one of the 10 top abstracts out of a total of 133 abstracts presented at the meeting.  Also, John’s paper entitled “Time-dependent biaxial mechanical behavior of the aortic heart valve leaflet,” has been e-published in JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS 2007 (June 12).  John  is performing his research in Professor Michael Sacks’ lab.

The manuscript entitled, “The role of the primate superior colliculus in the control of head movements,” authored by Walton, Mark; Bechara, Bernard; and Gandhi, Neeraj has recently been accepted for publication in the JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY.  Bernard is performing his dissertation research in Dr. Neeraj Gandhi’s lab.

BioE graduate student, Carl Johnson's 1st author manuscript entitled, "Flow Cytometric Assays for Quantifying Activated Ovine Platelets" has been accepted for publication, and will appear in the January 2008 issue of ARTIFICIAL ORGANS. Co-authors are BioE PhD graduate Dr. Trevor Snyder, BioE PhD candidate Mr. Josh Woolley and senior author Dr. William Wagner, in whose lab this work was conducted.

Professor Michael Sacks has been invited to speak at a Workshop the FDA is holding on December 6-7, 2007, Washington, D.C.  The Workshop is entitled "Workshop on In Vitro Analyses of Cell/Scaffold Products."  The objective of this Workshop is to learn: 1) what questions should be asked (and addressed) when evaluating cell/scaffold products in preparation for the first human studies; and, 2) what test methods are available and what analytical procedures should be further researched, developed and/or standardized to determine the safety, purity, potency and consistency of cell/scaffold products.

Professor Sanjeev Shroff has been selected to serve as a consultant on the Circulatory Systems Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration.  As you know this FDA Panel gives final approval (disapproval) regarding pre-market approval (PMA) applications and is comprised of outstanding clinicians and biomedical scientists/bioengineers in the cardiovascular area. It is a singular honor to be nominated for and selected to serve on an FDA Panel.

A 1^st author publication by BioE graduate student, Timothy Maul was one of the 10 most downloaded articles from the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering in February 2007! Both Tim and co-author/BioE PhD candidate Lorenzo Soletti are conducting this work in Dr. David Vorp’s lab.  Maul TM, Hamilton DW, Nieponice A, Soletti L, Vorp DA.  A New Experimental System for the Extended Application of Cyclic Hydrostatic Pressure to Cell Culture. J. Biomech. Eng. 129, 110 - 117 (2007)

BioE graduate student, Jolene Valentin has been awarded a Provost’s Pre-doctoral Fellowship for the 2007 – 2008 academic year.  Jolene is performing her Ph.D. research in Dr. Stephen Badylak’s lab, is our 3^rd Provost’s Pre-doctoral Fellow for 2007 – 2008.

Professor Savio Woo has been elected to the Hall of Fame of the Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department at the University of Washington. The ME Hall of Fame at UW was inaugurated during 2006, the centennial year of the department.  Election to the Hall of Fame is intended as a lifetime achievement award to honor ME alumni, former students, faculty, and staff who have made major contributions to the ME Department and/or the mechanical engineering discipline.  Professor Woo was awarded the M.S. degree from the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Washington. Additional details of the Hall of Fame, including a listing of persons already inducted, are available on the website: http://www.me.washington.edu/people/halloffame/

Dr. Jonathan Vande Geest was recently awarded an NSF CAREER AWARD for the project entitled, "The development of a patient-specific endovascular graft for vascular applications."  Dr. Vande Geest  who performed his PhD research in Dr. David Vorp's lab and graduated in 2005, is currently Assistant Professor, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Department, The University of Arizona.

View the URL for an article in the Washington Post about Professor William Wagner’s cardiac patch research. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060401224_pf.html

BioE graduate student, Mohammed El-Kurdi's abstract entitled, "TOWARD AN ENGINEERED VEIN GRAFT USING AN EXTERNAL ELECTROSPUN BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER WRAP TO GRADUALLY IMPOSE ARTERIAL CIRCUMFERENTIAL WALL STRESS," has been selected as a Top 20 finalist for the TERMIS-NA 2007 Poster Competition at the upcoming Regenerate meeting.  Mohammed conducted this work in Dr. David Vorp's lab.

Dr. Rakie Cham's comments on NBC News last P.M. can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/  (when you open that page, click on the link to the features on accidental deaths in the right hand column).  Sonia Bembic is looking into ordering the clip for our website.  FROM PITT NEWS: NEWS FLASH! Rakie Cham, professor of bioengineering in Pitt's School of Engineering, is scheduled to appear in an NBC Nightly News story this evening between 6:30 and 7. Cham's portion of the segment focuses on Pitt's Human Movement and Balance Lab, which works toward the prevention of fall and musculoskeletal injuries.

A publication by BioE graduate student, Kevin Mihelc is in the current issue of ASAIO Journal.  Kevin performed this work in Professor William Federspiel’s lab.  Eash, Heide J.; Mihelc, Kevin M.; Frankowski, Brian J.; Hattler, Brack G.; Federspiel, William J. “Evaluation of Fiber Bundle Rotation for Enhancing Gas Exchange in a Respiratory Assist Catheter.” ASAIO Journal. 53(3):368-373, May/June 2007

BioE graduate students, Alicia DeFail and Tiffany Sellaro have been awarded pre-doctoral fellowships for academic year 2007-2008 from the Provost’s Development Fund.  Alicia is working in Dr. Kacey Marra’s lab, and Tiffany in Dr. Stephen Badylak’s lab.

Two recent keynote lectures given by Professor Marina Kameneva:  (1) Invited one hour lecture to the Conference of the American Association of Blood Banks (March 23-25, 2007, San Diego, CA).  Title of presentation: "Rheological Phenomena in Normal and Pathological Blood." (2) Invited lecture to the Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Support Systems & Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Perfusion Conference (May 17-19, Hershey, PA). Title of presentation: "Hemorheology of Mechanical Blood Damage."

A visit of an Associated Press reporter last month-hosted by Drs. Mark Redfern and Rakie Cham in the Human Movement and Balance Laboratory, has had many positive results already. HMBL (with mention of the Pitt School of Engineering) was featured today in the USA Today online!  This article has already been picked up by numerous other national outlets. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-05-17-slip-science_N.htm 

Please see the URLs below about one of our outstanding former baccalaureates, Tom Robey, who graduated with a B. Phil after completing a senior research project in Dr. William Wagner's lab.  ttp://uwnews.washington.edu/ni/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?articleID=32444 and http://www.grad.washington.edu/awards/medal/winners/robey.htm

Timothy Maul, who is completing his PhD in Dr. David Vorp's lab, has been selected as the University's Hartwell Foundation Fellow.  The Hartwell Foundation provides financial support to stimulate discovery in early-stage biomedical research that it hopes will benefit children.  Tim is one of only nine applicants to be selected among the 2006 Hartwell Foundation Inaugural Class of Fellows.  He will perform the fellowship in Dr. William Wagner's lab working in the area of pediatric circulatory support.

Dr. Tamer Ibrahim’s publication in the current issue of ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING.  TS Ibrahim, D Abraham and RL Rennaker. Electromagnetic power absorption and temperature changes due to brain machine interface operation.  ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 35(5):825-34, 2007.

Professor Mark Redfern’s “line 10” overall teaching effectiveness rating for his undergraduate class, Bioengineering 1720: “Biomechanics 2 – Biodynamics of Movement” is a perfect 5.0!  This is the 1^st time that one of our BioE faculty has achieved a “line 10” rating of 5.0, and it is most appropriate that Professor Redfern, who boot-strapped our Undergraduate Program from a concept 10 years ago to today’s truly outstanding University and national program.

Professor Joel Schuman did an interview that aired on Good Morning America on May 9, 2007!  Spectral OCT featured on Good Morning America  Ophthalmologist Joel Schuman from the University of Pittsburgh demonstrated the new technology on one of the TV program’s hosts. A video clip and article are posted on ABC’s Web site.

Based on the recommendations of Dean Gerald Holder and Provost James Maher, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg has approved the promotion of Dr. George Stetten to the rank of Professor of Bioengineering in the School of Engineering.  This appointment will be effective September 1, 2007.  Chancellor Nordenberg writes in his letter to Professor Stetten, “Your record of accomplishments to date clearly suggests that the years ahead will bring contributions of significance benefiting your discipline, this University and the broader society.”

Effective May 1, 2007 Professor Savio Woo is appointed University Professor of Bioengineering by Chancellor Nordenberg. University Professorship “constitutes the highest honor that the University can accord a member of the professorate.”  Appointment as University Professor recognizes “eminence in several fields of study, transcending accomplishments in and contributions to a single discipline.  National and where appropriate, international recognition in at least one field is required.”  It is a singular honor for our faculty to be the home academic department of Professor Savio Woo, who is dedicated to helping Pitt Bioengineering and the School of Engineering achieve new heights of academic excellence.

Professor Rory Cooper was selected to receive the 2007 da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ford Motor company. The Award will be presented at a black tie dinner on Friday, September 28, 2007 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan.

Dr. Steve Little has recently been selected as a Clinical Research Scholar (CRSP) through the NIH K12 mechanism. Dr. Little's K12 will focus on research at the interface of the fields of Chemical/Bioengineering and Immunology/Transplantation, in particular to engineer biomimetic immunotherapeutic strategies through the use of biodegradable materials and the principles of drug delivery.

The company founded by Professor Michael Pinsky and colleagues, iNtelomed, was one of four local firms that won awards from the Pittsburgh Technology Council for the annual EnterPrize Business Plan Competition.  iNtelomed is a medical device company focused on commercializing technology to enable recognition of cardiovascular instability, or a nonambulatory patient's ability to adapt to stress.

Dr. Mariah Hout who completed her PhD in BioE in 2003 in Professor William Federspiel's lab is now working at Abiomed as an Advanced Clinical Applications Engineer.  Dr. Hout's job is to assist in the clinical reintroduction of the AbioCor total artificial heart.  While a graduate student with us, Dr. Hout worked on a part-time basis for the Clinical Artificial Heart Program.

Dr. George Stetten’s research was featured in the rankings edition of the US News & World report (found online here http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/articles/brief/gbeng_brief.php).  Another excellent example of Pitt BioE research accomplishments being cited in top lay publications in addition to your archival publications.

Dr. Wei Sun, who completed his PhD in BioE in 2003 under the mentorship of Professor Michael Sacks, and is now employed at Edwards Lifesciences, has accepted a tenure stream faculty position at University of Connecticut in Mechanical Engineering.  Dr. Sun will be starting there this fall and will help setup a Biomechanics track.

BioE graduate student’s Erdrin Azemi has been awarded a one year CNBC IGERT fellowship starting May 1st and William Stauffer has received a follow-on year of IGERT funding starting September 1st.  Both Erdrin and Bill are performing their research in Dr. Xinyan (Tracy) Cui's lab.

BioE graduate student, Brad Impink’s recent publication in ARCHIVES OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION.  Sv Drongelen, Boninger ML, Impink BG and Khalaf T. Ultrasound Imaging of Acute Biceps tendon Changes After Wheelchair Sports. ARCHIVES OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION 88:381-385, 2007.  Brad is conducting this work in Professor Michael Boninger’s lab.

BioE’s graduate student, Josh Woolley’s abstract entitled, “Ovine Platelet Aggregation Sensitivity to Anticoagulant and Anti-platelet Agents,” has been selected as an ASAIO Paul S. Malchesky Student Award finalist for the 2007 ASAIO Annual Conference in Chicago, IL this June.  Josh is conducting this work in Professor William Wagner’s lab.

Dr. David Vorp is an invited speaker at the 11th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Applied Cardiovascular Biology (ISACB) to be held this coming September in Bordeaux, France.  The title of Dr. Vorp's presentation is: "Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: Evolving Concepts in Pathobiology and Therapy."

A 1st author publication by BioE graduate student, John Stella, who is conducting this research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.  John A. Stella, Jun Liao, and Michael S. Sacks.  Time Dependent Biaxial Mechanical Behavior of the Aortic Heart Valve Leaflet. Journal of Biomechanics (in press).

BioE undergraduate student,  Margaret Bennewitz has been awarded the Elizabeth U. Baranger Predoctoral Fellowship for the fall and spring terms during the 2007-2008 academic year.  Margaret is certainly most deserving of this award, with a 3.96 QPA (including at least 17 A+ grades), outstanding research work in Dr. Timothy Corcoran’s lab, and a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship as several undergraduate highlights.  She will also be honored at our upcoming Senior Recognition Night.

A recent publications by Dr. George LaVerde, who completed his BioE PhD in Dr. Fernando Boada’s lab.  LaVerde G, Nemoto E, Jungreis CA, Tanase C and Boada FE. Serial Triple Quantum Sodium MRI During Non-human Primate Focal Brain Ischemia.” MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE 57:201-205 (2007) and LaVerde G, Jungreis CA, Nemoto E, and Boada FE. Sodium Time Course Using 23Na MRI in Reversible Focal Brain Ischemia in the Monkey.  STROKE (submitted)

Three undergraduate students in the bioengineering program have received an undergraduate research fellowship from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC). 1) Craig LeHockey (mentor - Dr. Aaron Batista), 2) Amy McCarty (mentor - Dr. Donald DeFranco), 3) Shawn Burton (mentor - Dr. Henry Zeringue).  The CNBC funded six undergraduates (3 Pitt, 3 CMU) for the next year and Bioengineering students won all three slots from Pitt!  The fellowships enable the students to participate in the computational neuroscience program and provide financial support for one year. In addition, they are required to take six related courses.

Professor T. K. Hung has been invited by the editor of World Scientific to write a textbook.  Professor Hung’s textbook will be completed in August 2008. 

BioE graduate student, Nicholas Drury has received Honorable Mentions from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).  Nick is one of only 7 students at Pitt who received the Honorable Mention designation.  He is conducting his graduate research @MSRC under the direction of Dr. Richard Debski.

BioE first-year graduate student, Serena Augustine, has been selected to receive a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) award.  The title of Serena's proposed research is “Mechanisms of SIS Improvement on Ligament and Tendon Healing.”   Serena is conducting this work in the MSRC under the mentorship of Professor Savio Woo.  The NSF GRF award is among the most competitive and highly sought graduate fellowships a student can receive.  BioE is extremely proud to now list two NSF Fellows among our graduate student population, Serena Augustine and Jennifer Mercer, a BioE PhD candidate in Professor Michael Boninger's lab.

A recent publication from Professor Sacks' lab:  W. David Merryman, Howard D. Lukoff, Rebecca A. Long, George C. Engelmayr, Jr., Richard A. Hopkins, and Michael S. Sacks. SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS of CYCLIC TENSION and TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR-b1 on the AORTIC VALVE MYOFIBROBLAST. Cardiovascular Pathology (in press). Rebecca and David are both BioE PhD candidates in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

BioE graduate student, Sabrina Noorani won the Best Student Paper Award at the 7^th International Symposium on Ligaments & Tendons (ISL&T-VII) held in San Diego, CA on February 10, 2007.  Sabrina’s paper was entitled, “An Alternate Single Femoral Tunnel Method for Double Bundle Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction with the Use of an Over-the-top Graft.”  Sabrina is conducting this research in the MSRC.

Edward Kastebhuber, a junior undergraduate BioE major, will receive an Italian Room Committee Grant that will allow him to study abroad in Sicily this summer and complete a minor in Italian.  Dr. Jack Patzer assisted Edward in the application by submitting a letter of recommendation for this terrific opportunity.

On behalf of the US National Committee for Biomechanics, Dr. David Vorp has been invited to participate in a Summit of Experts in Biomechanics, to be held in the Keystone Resort and Conference Center, Keystone, Colorado, June 18-20.  This will be a small meeting with approximately 50 invited participants who will be grouped according to their interests for the purpose of identifying new pathways for biomechanics research and applications for the next 10 years.  Dr. Vorp will participate in the Organ-specific mechanics sub-field.

Dr. George Stetten's sonic flashlight is the cover story in the Department of Radiology's newsletter at UPMC.  http://www.radiology.upmc.edu/pitt_rad_winter_2007.pdf

BioE graduate student, Timothy Maul who is conducting his dissertation research in Dr. David Vorp’s lab, has been invited by Provost Beeson to speak on behalf of all graduate and professional students at the Honor’s Convocation to be held Friday, February 23 in the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh Music Hall at 2:00 pm.  The Honor’s Convocation celebrates the accomplishments of the University’s faculty and students.  Part of the ceremony this year is a 2 minute commendation of Pitt graduate/professional students by Dr. Beeson followed by a 2 minute response from Tim.  The criteria for nomination/selection of a student speaker for the Honor’s Convocation are, “The person should be very accomplished; having received distinguished awards and/or fellowships, and should present his/herself well before an audience.”  Mr. Maul certainly fulfills all these criteria.

Two recent publications from Dr. Tamer Selim Ibrahim's lab, which are co-authored with Dr. Ibrahim's former student Roney Abraham.  (1) R. Abraham, and T. S. Ibrahim, "RF body-coil design for homogenous and localized 7 Tesla imaging", Magnetic Resonance In Medicine, Vol 57 (2), pp 236-243, 2007.  COMMUNICATIONS: Opening Article of the February 2007 Issue.  (2) T. S. Ibrahim, C. Mitchell, R. Abraham, and P. Schmalbrock, "In-depth study of the electromagnetics of ultra high field MRI", NMR in Biomedicine, Vol 20 (1), pp 58-68, Feb., 2007.

Dr. James Wang served as the Program Chair for the 25^th Scientific Conference Program of the Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine, January 10-13, 2007, Honolulu, Hawaii.  The papers from this meeting have been published in the journal, MCB: Molecular and Cellular Biomechanics, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2006.  Dr. Wang is the Guest Editor for this edition of MCB.

Publications in 2006 from Dr. James Wang and the MechanoBiology Lab:

1. Thampatty BP, IM HJ, Wang JH-C. Ep₄ Receptor regulates collagen type-i, mmp-1, and mmp-3 gene expression in human tendon fibroblasts in response to il-1ß treatment, Gene 386(1-2):154-161, 2007.

2.  Wang JH-C., Thampatty, B.P. An introductory review of cell mechanobiology (review), biomech model mechanobiol., 1-16, 2006.

3.  Wang JH-C., Iosifidis, M., Fu, F. Biomechanical basis of tendinopathy (review), corr, 443:320-332, 2006.

4.  Thampatty, B.P.; IM, H.J., Wang JH-C. Leukotriene b₄ at low dosage negates the catabolic effect of pge₂ in human patellar tendon fibroblasts. Gene 372:103-109, 2006. 

5.  Agarwal, C., Britton, Z.T., Alaseirlis, D.A., Li, Y., Wang JH-C. Healing and normal fibroblasts exhibit differential proliferation, collagen production, a-sma expression, and contraction. Ann biomed eng 34:653-659, 2006.

6.  Wang JH-C. Mechanobiology of tendon (invited review), I Biomech. 39:1563–1582, 2006.

7.  Yang, Z.C., Chen, J.X., Lin, J-S., Wang JH-C. Determining substrate displacement and cell traction fields - a new approach, J Ttheor. Biology 242:607–616, 2006.

8.  Li, B., Chen, J., Wang JH-C. Rgd peptide-conjugated poly(dimethylsiloxane) promotes adhesion, proliferation, and collagen secretion of human fibroblasts. J Biomedical Materials Research 79 (4): 989-98, 2006.

9.  Thampatty B.P., Wang JH-C. A new approach to study fibroblast migration. Cell motility & Ccytoskeleton 64 (1):1-5, 2006.

10. Wang JH-C., Lin, J-S., Yang, Z.C.  Cell traction force microscopy. Advanced bioimaging technologies in assessment of quality of bone and scaffold biomaterials (review chapter), in press.

11. Wang JH-C., Thampatty, B.P. Mechanoregulation of fibroblast function, the encyclopedia of biomaterials and biomedical engineering (review), in press.

12. Wang JH-C., Lin, J-S.  Cell traction force and measurement methods, biomech model mechanobiol, in press.

13. Chen, Jj.; li, H.; Sundarraj, N.; Wang JH-C. Alpha-smooth muscle actin expression linearly enhances cell traction force. Cell motility & cytoskeleton, in press.

14. Wang JH-C., Thampatty, B.P., Lin, J-S., Im, Hj. Mechano-regulation of gene expression in fibroblasts (invited review), gene, in press.

Dr. George Stetten's Visualization and Image Analysis (VIA) laboratory and their colleagues have had 3 papers accepted at this year's International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI) meeting in 

Washington.  This symposium is a joint effort of the IEEE and NIH.  The papers are: (1) R. Tamburo, G. Siegle, G. Stetten, C.A. Cois, K. Rockot, J. Galeotti, C. Reynolds, H. Aizenstein, "Localizing amygdala structure differences in late-life depression," ISBI 2007 (2) C.A. Cois, K. Rockot, J. Galeotti, R. Tamburo, D. Gottlieb, J. Mayer, A. Powell, M. Sacks, G. Stetten, "Automated segmentation of the right heart using an optimized shells and spheres algorithm," ISBI 2007 (3) D. Shelton, B. Wu, R. Klatzky, and G. Stetten, "Design and calibration of a virtual tomographic reflection system," ISBI 2007. 

The following paper has also been accepted for publication at the ACM Transactions on Applied Perception.  R. Klatzky, B. Wu, D. Shelton, G. Stetten, "Learning to perform actions in near space under perceptual vs. cognitive control."  Among the authors: Robert Tamburo completed his Ph.D. in BioE in Dr. Stetten's lab; Aaron Cois is a current BioE Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Stetten's lab; Ken Rockot is a former graduate student in Dr. Stetten's lab; and Damian Shelton is a baccalaureate graduate of our Department.

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Professor Michael Sacks’ publication in the current issue of ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING.  H Kim, KB Chandran, MS Sacks and J Lu. An experimentally derived stress resultant model for heart valve dynamic simulations. ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 35, January 2007, pp. 30 – 44.

A recent publication by Professor Savio Woo. TISSUE ENGINEERING just released its issue on "Contributions from the NIH Workshop. Tissue Engineering: The Next Generation."  Professor Woo is among the distinguished authors on the article: "Translation from Research to Applications."  TISSUE ENGINEERING Volume 12, Number 12, December 2006,  pp. 3341 ff.

Recent publication from Dr. Steven Abramowitch’s lab: Biomechanical Adaptations of the Rat Vagina and Supportive Tissues in Pregnancy to Accommodate Delivery, Jerry L. Lowder, Kristen M. Debes, Daniel K. Moon, Nancy Howden, Steven D. Abramowitch, and Pamela A. Moalli Obstet. Gynecol. 2007; 109:136-143. 

Professor Michael Sacks’ most recent publication in the JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS:  Ali Mirnajafi, Jeremy Raymer, Leigh McClure and Michael Sacks. “The flexural rigidity of the aortic valve leaflet in the commissural region.” JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS 39 (2006) 2966 - 2973

Professor Savio Woo’s and Dr. Steven Abramowitch’s most recent publication in the JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS:  Daniel K. Moon, Steven D. Abramowitch and Savio L.-Y. Woo. “The development and validation of a charge-coupled device laser reflectance system to measure the complex cross-sectional shape and area of soft tissues.” JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS 39 (2006) 3071 – 3075.

Professor Marina Kameneva’s and Dr. James Antaki’s most recent publications:  Lee SS, Antaki JF, Kameneva MV, Ahn KH, Lee SJ. “Strain hardening of red blood cells by accumulated cyclical supraphysiological stress”. Artificial Organs, 31(1):80-86, 2007.

Several recent publications from Professor Guy Salama’s lab:  Guy Salama and Barry London. “Mouse models of long QT syndrome.”J Physiol (Lond) 2007;578 43-53 http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/content/abstract/578/1/43?etoc and Barry London, Linda C. Baker, Polina Petkova-Kirova, Jeanne M. Nerbonne, Bum-Rak Choi, and Guy Salama. “Dispersion of repolarization and refractoriness are determinants of arrhythmia phenotype in transgenic mice with long QT.  J Physiol (Lond) 2007;578 115-129 http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/content/abstract/578/1/115?etoc.  Co-author Linda C. Baker, Ph.D. completed the Ph.D. in BioE @Pitt in Professor Salama’s lab.

BioE shines again.....  Drs. Harvey Borovetz and Sanjeev Shroff has been selected to receive prestigious awards at the 11^th Annual Carnegie Science Center Awards for Excellence.  Dr. Borovetz received the 2007 Carnegie Science Center Life Sciences Award and Professor Shroff received the University / Post-Secondary Educator Award.  Congratulations, these are most deserved award in recognition of their lifetime of accomplishments and leadership as truly outstanding educators.

BioE PhD Candidate, Gulshan Sharma’s abstract acceptance at the 2007 Orthopaedic Research Society Meeting on February 11-14, 2007, in San Diego.  Sharma GB, Robertson DD, Smolinski PJ, Gilbertson LG, Debski RE and McMahon PJ. “Glenoid Bone Remodeling: Numerical Simulation and Validation.”  Gulshan is conducting his work under the direction of Dr. Douglas Robertson.

Dr. Tamer Ibrahim has been nominated and has accepted a 3-year term position as an associate editor on the new "International Journal on Antennas and Propagation."  Please see http://hindawi.com/journals/ijap  Dr. Ibrahim will be responsible for manuscripts regarding the biomedical applications of antennas.

Professor Sanjeev Shroff has been appointed as a member of the new standing (charter) study section, "NHLBI Institutional Training Mechanism (NITM)," that will be responsible for evaluating all NHLBI Institutional Training mechanisms, including T32s.  The NITM charter and study section roster were just approved by Drs. Nabel (NHLBI Director) and Zerhouni.  BioE extends our congratulations to Professor Shroff for this significant honor in recognition of his exceptional work and service to NHLBI.

A recent publication by BioE graduate student, Rui Zhao;  Zhao R, Antaki JF, Naik T, Bachman TN, Kameneva MV, Wu ZJ.  Microscopic investigation of erythrocyte deformation dynamics. Biorheology. 2006;43(6):747-65.  This work was conducted in the laboratories of Professors James Antaki and Marina Kameneva.  Also a co-author is BioE graduate student,Tim Bachman, who is working in Dr. James Antaki’s lab.

Drs. Alan Russell and William Wagner have been appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board of the new journal, Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.

William David Merryman, who is completing his PhD in Professor Michael Sacks' lab, has accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Bioengineering at University of Alabama at Birmingham to start August 1, 2007.

The ASME publications board has approved Dr. Richard Debski as a new associate editor for the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.  Dr. Debski’s three-year term will begin on Jan. 1, 2007 and coincides with Professor Sacks’ tenure as the new editor of the Journal.

Dr. David Vorp has been invited to serve on the Editorial Board of the Annals of Vascular Surgery.  Dr. Vorp is the sole Ph.D. BioE to be so honored.  Dr. Vorp’s invitation to serve is recognition of his many, important contributions and innovations in vascular biomechanics research, both experimental and computational, highlighted by Dr. Vorp’s breakthrough work in AAA biomechanics.

Dr. Tamer Ibrahim's first peer reviewed publication since joining our BioE faculty.  T. S. Ibrahim, "Ultra High Field MRI Whole-Slice and Localized RF Field Excitations Using the Same RF Transmit Array", IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Vol 25 (10), pp 1341-1347, October, 2006.  IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging is the highest cited Medical Imaging journal and the second highest cited Biomedical Engineering Journal and the second highest cited IEEE Journal.

The following publication which is the lead article in the current issue of ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING.  The first author, Jonathan Grashow, completed his M.S. in Professor Michael Sacks’ lab.  Grashow JS, Sacks MS, Liao J, and Yoganathan AP. Planar biaxial creep and stress relaxation of the mitral valve anterior leaflet. ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING. Vol 34, No 10, October 2006, pp. 1509-1518.

BioE graduate student, Jennifer Mercer’s most recent publication;  Yang Y-S, Koontz AM, Triolo RJ, Mercer JL and Boninger ML. “Surface electromyography activity of trunk muscles during wheelchair propulsion.” CLINICAL BIOMECHANICS 21 (2006) 1032-1041.  Jen is conducting this work in Professor Michael Boninger’s lab.

Professor Rory Cooper’s new textbook published by CRC Press (Catalog no. IP834). BioE offers our congratulations to Professor Cooper for “providing the first text to offer the blueprints to product development and the science of assistive technology.”  “An Introduction to Rehabilitation Engineering.” Edited by Rory A. Cooper, Hisaichi Ohnabe and Douglas A. Hobson. A volume in the Series in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering. 17 chapters, 352 pages.

The Faculty Retreat for the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute on 11/18/06, Dr. George Stetten and Ralph Hollis won a competition for new collaboration between faculty for a project entitled, “Scaled Teleoperation with Haptic Feedback and Registered Virtual Images”  This project aims to produce the most sensitive and effective interface between manually operated tools and the microscopic environment.  The award consists of a $10K seed fund.

Two recent publications from Professor Marina Kameneva's lab. (1) Dr. Brendon Repko (2nd author, 2nd paper) completed his M.S. research in Professor Kameneva's lab, Pacella JJ. Kameneva MV. Csikari M. Lu E. Villanueva FS.  A novel hydrodynamic approach to the treatment of coronary artery disease.   European Heart Journal. 27(19):2362-9, 2006 Oct. (2) Sakai T, Repko BM, Griffith BP, Waters JH, Kameneva MV  I.V. infusion of a drag-reducing polymer extracted from aloe vera prolonged survival time in a rat model of acute myocardial ischaemia. Br J Anaesth. 2006 Nov 9.

Dr. Robert F. Labadie is the 1^st Ph.D. graduate of BioE (1995).  Following completion of his M.D. degree also at Pitt, and completion of his internship, residency and fellowship programs, Dr. Labadie joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University as assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology.  Dr. Labadie will receive his 1^st RO1 award for the project entitled, “Clinical Validation and Testing of Percutaneous Cochlear Implantation.”  Quoted from the 1^st reviewer of Dr. Labadie’s RO1 application:  “Dr. Robert Labadie earned his Ph.D. degree in bioengineering and M.D. in medicine, both from the University of Pittsburgh.  He has extensive research experience in cochlear implant, particularly in the imaging guided cochlear implant surgery.  His background and experience make him a perfect leader for this project.”  Naturally BioE is very proud of Dr. Labadie for this wonderful accomplishment!  As we are quickly approaching 200 M.S & Ph.D. graduates in total, if you have any information to share regarding professional accomplishments of your former graduate students, I welcome receiving this information from you.

Peter Sandrian will be working for a small company called Daedalus Excel, which is located in North Oakland, near the border of Shadyside. The firm specializes in mechanical and industrial design of numerous devices. Some of their clients are medical device companies, but there are many other non-medical clients.  This is another indication of the varied and interesting professional interests and talents of our graduate students.  Peter completed his M.S. degree in the labs of Drs. Mark Redfern and Rakie Cham.

Dr. Steven Abramowitch will be delivering a plenary lecture at the lecture at the Opening Ceremony of the International Conference on Mechanics in Medicine and Biology, 15^th Annual Meeting, this December in Singapore.  The title of Dr. Abramowitch’s lecture is, "New Bioengineering Approaches for Management of Soft Tissue Injuries."

The Board of Editors of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine has selected Drs. Michael Sacks and William Wagner for inclusion in their 5th annual SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 50.  The award from SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN honors 50 individuals, teams, companies and other organizations whose accomplishments in research, business or policymaking during 2005 - 2006 demonstrate outstanding technological leadership.  Honorees are selected for their contributions to a wide variety of areas, such as biotechnology, microelectronics, energy and genetics.  Winners over the past several years have included Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google, research philanthropists, and Nobel prize-winning neurobiologists as just several examples. Drs. Sacks and Wagner are selected for their research contributions to the development of a novel biodegradable scaffold.

Dr. Lance Davison has been invited to speak at American Physical Society Workshop on Opportunities in Biological Physics; in particular, the 4th APS Workshop on Opportunities in Biological Physics Organized by the Division of Biological Physics.  The session overview follows:  "Modern Biomedicine provides a host of research and employment opportunities for physicists. New techniques for monitoring and manipulating complex biological processes at the molecular level promise to revolutionize our ability to understand and control normal and disease states. This workshop will introduce some of the most exciting recent and prospective areas of this rapidly expanding field. Topics will include tissue mechanics, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, microfluidics and micro-optics.  Speakers from academia and industry will provide extensive tutorial overviews, accessible to non-specialists. Breaks and a lunch with speakers will allow ample time for participants to discuss their current and future scientific and career directions with the speakers. The workshop is aimed at all physicists who are curious about the interface between physics and biology, especially graduate students and post-docs who are eager to apply their expertise in novel ways in the life sciences."  Dr. Davidson is one of 10 confirmed speakers from across the U.S., both faculty and industrial experts.

Gaurav Shukla's submission was selected for an AMA student section poster competition, Nov. 10th, 2006, at the AMA National Meeting.  Gaurav is conducting this work in Dr. George Stetten's lab.  G Shukla, B Wu, D Schwartzman, G Stetten.  The Sonic Penlight for Guidance of Superficial Subdermal Access.  American Medical Association-Medical Student Section Poster Competition, November 10th, 2006, Las Vegas, NV.

BioE has two published articles in the current issue of Artificial Organs:  (1) Snyder TA, Eash HJ, Litwak KN, Frankowski BJ, Hattler BG, Federspiel WJ and Wagner WR. “Blood Biocompatibility Assessment of an Intravenous Gas Exchange Device. ARTIFICIAL ORGANS 2006;9:657-664.  (2) Pless G, Steffen I, Zeilinger K, Sauer IM, Katenz E, Kehr DC, Roth S, Mieder T, Schwartlander R, Müller C, Wegner B, Hout MS and Gerlach JC. “Evaluation of Primary Human Liver Cells in Bioreactor Cultures for Extracorporeal Liver Support on the Basis of Urea Production.” ARTIFICIAL ORGANS 2006; 9:686-694.

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BioE contributions to the 2006 Annual BMES Meeting in Chicago, IL.  As in past years our Department is one of the most active departments at the annual BMES meeting in terms of abstract submissions, scientific podium and poster presentations.

For the presentations below, the “code” is as follows: underlined name = graduate student; italicized name = BioE faculty; bold, underlined name = former student;  bold, underlined, italicized name = undergraduate student

Thrombotic Complications Associated With The Berlin Heart Pediatric VAD, T.A. SNYDER, P.D. WEARDEN, V.O. MORELL, S.A. WEBBER, R.L. KORMOS, S. WINOWICH AND W.R. WAGNER.

Diameter Vascular Graft In A Rat Model,  A. NIEPONICE, L. SOLETTI, J.J. STANKUS, T.M. MAUL, J. GUAN1, W.R. WAGNER AND D.A. VORP.

PKC-Induced Troponin I Phosphorylation And The Dynamic Force-Length Relationship In Mouse Myocardium , S.H. SMITH, J.A. KIRK AND S.G. SHROFF

Multiscale Models Of Aortic Valve Mechanics And Mechano-Biology, M.S. SACKS AND D. SCHMIDT.

In vivo Biocompatibility Assessment Of A Magnetically Levitated Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device , T.A. SNYDER, C.A. JOHNSON, J.R. WOOLLEY, P.D. WEARDEN, M.V. KAMENEVA, J.S. RICHARDSON, A.J.KOERT AND W.R. WAGNER.

Development Of Flow Cytometric Assays For Biocompatibility Assessment In Ovines, C.A. JOHNSON, T.A. SNYDER, J.R. WOOLLEY AND W.R. WAGNER.

Aortic Valve Interstitial Cell Mechanobiology: Response To Cyclic Tension And Tgf-1,   W.D. MERRYMAN, H.D. LUKOFF, R.A. LONG, G.C. ENGELMAYR, R.A. HOPKINS AND M.S. SACKS.

Pressure-Calcium Relationships In Perfused Mouse Hearts,  J.A. KIRK, G.A. MACGOWAN, C. EVANS AND S.G. SHROFF

Mn2+ Enhances Integrin 51 Binding Affinity By Resisting Ca2+ Induced Down Regulation,  N.A. PERRUSQUIA, H. LIN AND S.G. SHROFF

Identifying The Lifting Patterns Of Chronic Lower Back Pain Subjects With A Data Reduction Procedure,  J.C. SLABODA, J.R. BOSTON AND T.E. RUDY

Conducting Polymer/Hydrogel-Based Skin Electrodes For High Quality Multi-Channel EEG Acquisition,  G. JUSTIN, R. WADHWA, K. LESK, R. SCLABASSI, M. SUN AND X.T. CUI

Changes Of Structural And Biomechanical Properties Of Inner Limiting Membrane During Development,  J.E. CANDIELLO, W. HALFTER AND H. LIN.

A Novel Clinical Cardiovascular Internship For Undergraduate BME Students, R. SCHAUB

Electrically Controlled Drug Release System Based On Electroactive Conducting Polymers,  X.T. CUI

Whole Blood Biocompatibility Of A Hollow Fiber-Based Four Compartment Bioreactor,  K.L. GAGE, M.J. BAUN, D.T. MCKEEL, M.S. HOUT AND J.C. GERLACH

Role Of Contraction Dyssynchrony On Global Left Ventricular Mechanics And Performance, L. JOHNSON, H.K. KIM, M.P. CANNESSON, S.G. SHROFF AND M.R. PINSKY

The Cardiologists Toolbox,  M. SIMON

Mechanisms of Heart Failure, S.G. Shroff

Supporting The Failing Lung: The Need For New Strategies, W.J. FEDERSPIEL

Application Of Carbonic Anhydrase For Improved CO2 Gas Exchange In Artificial Lungs, H. OH, J.L. KAAR, A.J. RUSSELL AND W.J. FEDERSPIEL

Effects Of Decellularization On Mechanical And Structural Properties Of Porcine Aortic Valve Leaflet, E.M. JOYCE, J. LIAO AND M.S. SACKS

Biocompatibility Challenges In The Design Of A Pediatric VAD, W.R. WAGNER

Specific Antibody Filter (SAF) For Removal Of Anti-A Antibodies For ABO-Incompatible Transplantation, E.M. CIAK, S. GAUTAM, A. ALIKHANI AND W.J. FEDERSPIEL

Design Of A Novel Scaffold For Autologous Stem Cells In Peripheral Nerve Tissue Engineering, L.E. KOKAI, L. SANTIAGO, J. CLAVIJO, L. SOLETTI, D.A. VORP, J. RUBIN AND K. MARRA

Diabetes Induced Alternations In The Biomechanic Properties Of The Urinary Bladder Wall, C. WANG, J. NAGATOMI, K. TOOSI, N. YOSHIMURA, M.B. CHANCELLOR AND M.S. SACKS

Synergistic Effects Of EGF And Adhesion Ligands On Differentiation Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells,  N.A. MARCANTONIO, A. AU, C.A. BOEHM, A.M. MAYES, G.F. MUSCHLER, A.WELLS AND L. GRIFFITH

Regional Dynamic Strains Of The Native Aortic Valve, D.M. GAITAN, P. BIENEK, B. ZUBIATE AND M.S. SACKS

Utilizing Surface Plasmon Resonance To Increase Antibody Removal Of Specific Antibody Filters,  A. ALIKHANI, N.V. BOVIN AND W.J. FEDERSPIEL

PID Control Of An Ex-Vivo Vascular Perfusion System, M.S. EL-KURDI, J.S. VIPPERMAN AND D.A. VORP

Mathematical Model Of Adsorption Column Used In Treatment Of Liver Failure, S.A. SAFTA, R. MILLER AND J. PATZER II

Structural Constitutive Model Of The Urinary Bladder Wall With Basal Smooth Muscle Tone,  S. WOGNUM AND M.S. SACKS

Ex Vivo Alterations Of The Female Rat Urethra After Spinal Cord Injury,  R. PRANTIL, W. DE GROAT AND D.A. VORP

Application Of Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics To Analyze Monocyte Adhesion,  R.W. LYCZKOWSKI, B.R. ALEVRIADOU, M. HORNER, C.B. PANCHAL AND S.G.SHROFF

Bone Marrow Derived Cells Express More Collagen When Seeded On Elongated Small Intestine Submucosa,  A.J. ALMARZA, G. YANG, T. NGUYEN, S. ABRAMOWITCH AND S.L. WOO

Comparing The Remodeling Capabilities Of Aortic And Pulmonary Valve Interstitial Cells,  W.D. MERRYMAN, J. LIAO, A. PAREKH, J.E. CANDIELLO, H. LIN AND M.S. SACKS

Relaxin Mediates Systemic Vasodilation And Increased Arterial Compliance In Early Pregnancy, D.O. DEBRAH, J. NOVAK, J.E. MATTHEWS, R.J. RAMIREZ, S.G. SHROFF

Fabrication Of Planar Patch Clamp Chip,  K.V. UPADHYE AND H. LIN

Subspace System Identification Of An Ex-Vivo Vascular Perfusion System,  M.S. EL-KURDI, J.S. VIPPERMAN AND D.A. VORP

Constitutive Models For Cell-Integrated Elastomeric Scaffolds For Soft Tissue Engineering,  T. COURTNEY, J. LIAO, J. STANKUS, J. GUAN, W.R. WAGNER AND M.S. SACKS

Development Of Flexible Thermosensitive Hydrogels For Soft Tissue Engineering,  J. GUAN AND W.R. WAGNER

Fabrication Of A Cell Integrated Tissue Engineered Vascular Graft,  J. STANKUS, L. SOLETTI, K.L. FUJIMOTO, J. GUAN, D.A. VORP AND W.R. WAGNER

Gene Regulation By Controlled Release From A Biodegradable Poly(Ester Urethane)Urea,  P. RAMASWAMI, J. FRIZ, D. CRESS, J. GUAN AND W.R. WAGNER

The reference for the 16^th publication in 2006 from Professor Sacks’ Engineering Tissue Mechanics Lab.  The 1^st author, Jonathan Grashow, received both his B.S. and M.S. from Pitt’s Bioengineering Department.  Grashow J, Sacks MS, Liao J and Yoganathan A. Planar Biaxial Creep and Stress Relaxation of the Mitral Valve Anterior Leaflet.  ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING; 2006 Oct 3 (online)

BioE has two articles in the current edition:

(1) VandeGeest JP, Sacks MS and Vorp DA. “A planar biaxial constitutive relation for the luminal layer of intra-luminal thrombus in abdominal aortic aneurysms.”  J BIOMECHANICS 2006;13:2347-2354.  The 1^st author, Jonathan VandeGeest, received his PhD in BioE with us (research conducted in Dr. David Vorp’s lab).  Jonathan is currently assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona.

(2) Darcy SP, Kilger RHP, Woo SL-Y and Debski RF. “Estimation of ACL forces by reproducing knee kinematics between sets of knees: a novel non-invasive methodology.” J BIOMECHANICS 2006;13:2371-2377  The 1^st author, Shon Darcy, received his M.S. degree with us working at the MSRC.

BioE Graduate student, Gusphyl Justin’s recent publication; Gus performed this work in Professor Mingui Sun’s and Professor Robert Sclabassi’s labs.  Brian Wessel is a B.S. graduate from BioE.  Mingui Sun, Gusphyl Justin, Paul Roche, Jun Zhao, Brian Wessel, Yingze Zhang and Robert Sclabassi.  “Harnessing the Body’s Own Energy and Communication Resources.” IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, September/October 2006, pp. 39-46.

Professor Michael Sacks’ recent 1^st author publication: Michael S. Sacks, Yoshiharu Enomoto, Jeffrey R. Graybill, W. David Merryman, Ahmad Zeeshan, Ajit P. Yoganathan, Robert J. Levy, Robert C. Gorman and Joseph H. Gorman III. “In-Vivo Dynamic Deformation of the Mitral Valve Anterior Leaflet.”  Annals of Thoracic Surgery 2006;82:1369-1378.  Jeff Graybill is a BioE PhD candidate now working in Dr. Andrew Schwartz’s lab.  David Merryman is completing his PhD in Professor Michael Sacks’ lab.  An invited commentary follows Professor Sacks’ paper, which states:  “The study at hand provides important in vivo mechanical data with clinical implications, and simultaneously challenges the surgeon to embrace an integrated biomechanical, histological, and ultrastructural approach in the clinical evaluation of mitral pathophysiology. It is through such multidisciplinary efforts that the intricate puzzle of the mitral valve will continue to take its proper form.”

BioE graduate student, Tom Gilbert served as a presentation chair and invited speaker at the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) 2nd International Symposium entitled, "Fusion of Advanced Technologies for Regenerative Medicine," which was held in Tokyo on September 14, 2006.  The title of Tom's presentation was, "Development of Medical Devices from Extracellular Matrix Scaffolds."  Tom will be defending his PhD dissertation research, which was conducted in Dr. Stephen Badylak's lab, next month.  Dr. Badylak also was an invited presentation chair and keynote speaker at the recent JSPS Symposium.

This past summer, the Provost’s Office made a series of short videos highlighting undergraduate research at the University.  One of our outstanding BioE undergraduates, Adam Iddriss, who last year was awarded a highly prestigious Truman Fellowship, was featured in one of the videos.  Adam has conducted his undergraduate research in Dr. Kacy Marra’s lab.  The  video has been played during Pitt football games at Heinz Field.  In Dr. Marra’s absence, Dr. William Wagner represented BioE faculty in the video.  There is also a 2^nd video featuring Adam to be played at the Petersen Event Center during Pitt basketball games.  

BioE student, Philip Marascalco’s new 1^st author publication: Marascalco PJ, Ritchie SP, Snyder TA, Kameneva MV. Development of standard tests to examine viscoelastic properties of blood of experimental animals for pediatric mechanical device evaluation. ASAIO J 2006; 52:567–574.  Phil is conducting this work in Professor Marina Kameneva’s lab.  The 2^nd author, Mr. Sean Ritchie, is a senior B.S. candidate with us.  The 3^rd author, Dr. Trevor Snyder completed his BioE PhD degree in Professor William Wagner’s lab this past spring.

Dr. Richard Debski has been appointed to a William Kepler Whiteford Faculty Fellowship effective September 1, 2006.  This award is for two years.  In his letter to Dr. Debski, Dean Gerald Holder writes that “this appointment is in recognition of your outstanding productivity as a member of the faculty.  Your selection reflects the high value placed upon your contribution to scholarship, graduate and undergraduate education, external research support, research quality and contributions to diversity.  Further, it reflects the strong support of your faculty colleagues and your Chairman.”

BioE graduate student, Jen Mercer’s recent 1^st author publication: Mercer JL, M Boninger, A Koontz, D Ren, T Dyson-Hudson and R Cooper. “Shoulder joint kinetics and pathology in manual wheelchair users.” CLINICAL BIOMECHANICS 21 (2006) 781-789.  Ms. Mercer is conducting this research in Professor Michael Boninger’s lab.

BioE graduate student, John Stella's first manuscript entitled, "ON THE BIAXIAL MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE LAYERS OF THE AORTIC VALVE LEAFLET," has just been accepted for publication in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.  John is the first author on this work which was conducted in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

The Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) voting membership has elected Dr. David Vorp to serve on the 2006 – 2009 Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Board of Directors.  Dr. Vorp joins BioE’s Dr. Savio Woo who is also a BMES Board Member.

Professor Rory Cooper is the keynote speaker for the Governor’s conference on Employment of People with Disabilities, “It’s Simply Do-Able”.  The Conference will be held on Wednesday, October 4 @Greentree Radisson Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA.

BioE graduate student, Silvia Wognum won 2nd place in the Student Competition yesterday at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Engineering Science held at Penn State for her talk on bladder biomechanics.  SIivia is conducting this work in Professor Michael Sacks’ lab.

A new 1^st author publication by Dr. Jonathan Vande Geest, a recent PhD graduate from the Bioengineering Department.  The 2^nd author, David Wang, is also a PhD graduate in Bioengineering.  This work was conducted in Dr. David Vorp’s lab.  Jonathan P. Vande Geest, David H.J. Wang, Stephen P. Wisniewski, Michel S. Makaroun and David A. Vorp. “Towards a Noninvasive Method for Determination of Patient-Specific Wall Strength Distribution in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms.”  ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 34 (7), July 2006, pp. 1098-1106.

A new 1^st author publication by Bronwyn Uber, who recently completed her M.S. research in Dr. James Antaki’s lab.  Bronwyn is attending medical school this fall @Vanderbilt.  Hemodynamic Guidelines for Design and Control of a Turbodynamic Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device, BRONWYN E. UBER STEVEN A. WEBBER, VICTOR O. MORELL, AND JAMES F. ANTAKI ASAIO Journal 2006; 52:471–478.

W. David Merryman was selected to attend the first annual NIH National Graduate Student Research Festival and present his research poster.  The event is scheduled for October 12 - 13, 2006 on the main NIH campus. One interesting focus of the Festival is to introduce attendees to NIH investigators with whom they might want to pursue postdoctoral training. David is completing his PhD work in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

Dr. Susan Moore’s 1^st author publication in this month’s JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS.  Dr. Moore completed her dissertation research in Dr. Richard Debski’s lab.  Moore SM, Thomas M, Woo SL-Y, Gabriel MT, Kilger R and Debski RE.  A Novel Methodology to Reproduce Previously Recorded Six-Degree of Freedom Kinematics on the Same Diarthrodial Joint.  JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS 39 (2006) 1914-23

Dr. Lance Davidson has been invited to speak at the annual meeting of FASEB, Experimental Biology 2007 in the Symposium, "MORPHOGENESIS MEETS MATHEMATICS: HOW EMBRYOGENESIS CAN BE QUANTIFIED,"  Dr. Davidson has also been invited by Steve Quake, James Glazier, and Gabor Forgacs to speak at a pre-meeting workshop, "Opportunities in Biological Physics," (focus this year on applications of biological physics, including microfluidics, tissue mechanics and tissue engineering) at the American Physical Society Annual March Meeting in Denver Colorado.

A recent accepted manuscript for publication in the high-impact factor Journal of Cell Science is first authored by Zhijie Ding, a second year BioE grad student in Dr. Partha Roy's lab.  Ding Z., Lambrechts A., Parepally M., Roy P: Silencing profilin-1 inhibits endothelial proliferation, migration and cord morphogenesis.

The F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA application submitted by BioE M.D., Ph.D. candidate Ken Urish: Title of Grant: Inflammation and Stem Cell Transplantation, Grant#: 1F31EB006292-01A1, Score: 101 (0.2 percentile).  Ken is conducting his research in Dr. Johnny Huard's lab.

BioE graduate students, William Stauffer was awarded a one year IGERT fellowship from CNBC starting September 1, 2006 and Erdrin Charley received a "mini IGERT" for this July and August to learn neurophysiological recording and stimulation techniques with Dr. Doug Weber.  Both Erdrin and William are working in Dr. Tracy Cui's lab.

Recent publication by Amy Marcinkowski and Kevin Mihelc in the American Journal of Transplantation:  Corcoran, T.E., Venkataramanan, R., Mihelc, K.M., Marcinkowski, A.L., Ou, J., McCook, B.M., Weber, L., Carey, M.E., Paterson, D.L., Pilewski, J.M., McCurry, K.R., Husain, S., Aerosol Deposition of Lipid Complex Amphotericin-B (Abelcet) in Lung Transplant Recipients, Am J Transplant, Accepted for Publication.  The American Journal of Transplantation has the highest impact factor of any of the transplant journals and the second highest amongst surgical journals. This work was conducted in Dr. Timothy Corcoran's lab.  Amy just completed her M.S. degree in BioE and is attending medical school in the fall.  Kevin is currently conducting research in Dr. William Federspiel's lab.

Dr. David Vorp's NIH R21 A1 proposal entitled, “Bioengineered Urethral Augmentation,” has received a Priority Score of 159, and a percentile of 2.5.  Co-investigators include Drs. Naoki Yoshimura and Michael Chancellor. This research is also the backbone of the PhD dissertation work of Dr. Vorp's BioE graduate student, Donna Haworth.

There are several honors won by our students at the 2006 ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference held recently at Amelia Island, FL from June 21-25.

·     Michael Anderson, who received his B.S. with us this past April, presented his poster in the B.S. Student Paper Competition and received 2^nd Place in the Solids/Design/Rehab division. The details of Mike’s abstract are listed below:  Anderson M, Stehle J, McMahon PJ, Debski RE: “Rotator Cuff Muscle Forces are Inversely Related to the Value of the Glenohumeral Joint Constraint Angle”. 2006 Summer Bioengineering Conference, Amelia Island, FL, Abstract BIO2006-152620, June 21-25, 2006.  Michael was mentored by Professor Richard Debski @MSRC.

·     An undergraduate student @MSRC, Nicole Bailey, also presented @ASME.

·     BioE graduate students, Eric Rainis in Professor Richard Debski’s lab and Matt Fisher, in Professor Savio Woo’s lab, were 1^st authors of papers presented at the ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference.  Susan Moore, a recent BioE PhD from the MSRC also presented at this conference.

·     Dan Hubbard (a Pitt BioE baccalaureate who is currently a doctoral student in BioE @Penn): Dan received 1^st place for the Ph.D. Student Paper Competition (podium) in the Solids/Design/Rehab division.

Professor Michael Sacks is an invited speaker at the FASEB meetings in Washington DC in April 2007.  Professor Sacks will lecture in the symposium entitled, "Bioengineering in Development and Disease."

BioE graduate student, Silvia Wognum has been awarded funding to attend the 43rd Annual Technical Meeting Society of Engineering Science at Penn State.  Silvia is performing her thesis research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

A few months ago, Engineering World Health requested that BioE graduate, Sara Doll write an essay about her experience last summer working in a hospital in Nicaragua and how her life has changed since.  After many hours, this is what she wrote.

BioE graduate student, Carl Johnson's poster presentations at the 2006 ASAIO meeting entitled, "Development Of Flow Cytometric Assays For Biocompatibility Assessment In Ovines," and "Biocompatibility Evaluation Of The Levitronix Pediatric VAD In Ovines," received outstanding poster presentations designations.  Carl is conducting this work in Dr. William Wagner's lab.

Please find below the following presentations by Pitt BioE at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) in Chicago:

(1) Adsorption Column Kinetics In Treatment Of Liver Failure, Stefan Safta (Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Jack Patzer’s lab) 

(2) Development Of Flow Cytometric Assays For Biocompatibility Assessment In Ovines, Carl Johnson (M.D., Ph.D. candidate in Dr. William Wagner’s lab)

(3) Biocompatibility Evaluation Of The Levitronix Pediatric VAD In Ovines, Carl Johnson (M.D., Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Jack Patzer’s lab)

(4) Functional Platelet And Heparin Activity Assays Applied To Ovines, Joshua Woolley (M.S. Candidate in Dr. William Wagner’s lab)

(5) Validity Of Normalized Index Of Hemolysis In Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Assist Devices, Dr. Marina Kameneva, PhD

(6) Optimization, Validation, And Re-Optimization Of PediaFlow Maglev Turbo-VAD, James Antaki, PhD

(7) A Biohybrid Lung Prototype With Active Mixing And Oxygenation Of Endothelialized Microporous Hollow Fibers, Alexa Polk, (Ph.D. candidate in Dr. William Wagner’s  lab)

(8) Rheological Properties Of Bovine Blood Assessed By A Viscoelasticity Analyzer.  Potential Applications In Testing Of Heart-Assist Device Biocompatibility, Philip Marascalco (Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Marina Kameneva’s lab)

(9) Effects Of Drag-Reducing Polymers On Blood Flow In Microchannels, Joie Marhefka (Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Kameneva’s lab)

(10) System To Assess Perfusion Adequacy In Pediatric Patients, Mark Gartner, Ph.D.

(11) Progress With The Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Assist System, Mark Gartner, Ph.D.

(12) Porous Media Technique For Computational Modeling Of A Novel Pump-Oxygenator, Mark Gartner, Ph.D.

Professor Jack Patzer has been invited by the Liver Diseases Research Branch of NIDDK, in collaboration with the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the Acute Liver Failure (ALF) Study Group, to attend a two-day meeting on Acute Liver Failure, scheduled for December 4-5, 2006 in Bethesda.  Dr. Patzer will speak on the topic of “Issues in hepatitis assist devices for ALF.” 

Professor David Vorp has been invited to speak at the 33rd Annual VEITHSymposium, "Vascular and Endovascular Issues, Techniques, Horizons," which will be held November 15-18, 2006 at The Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers in New York City.  The VEITH Symposium has become THE premier vascular meeting in the country.  Dr. Vorp is one of only 5 non-physicians from among more than 200 invited faculty to the VEITH Symposium.  This invitation recognizes Dr. Vorp's many significant contributions to vascular medicine, and in particular Dr. Vorp's breakthrough work in the area of the biomechanics of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Professor Michael Sacks has been invited to serve as an ad hoc member of the Bioengineering, Technology and Surgical Sciences (BTSS) Study Section for the October meeting.  Serving as an ad hoc member is a prelude to becoming a regular member of BTSS for a four year period.

Professor T.K. Hung has been honored in the Sigma Xi Center Honor Roll of Donors.  Dr. George Bugliarello made a donation to the Sigma Xi building fund in honor of Professor Hung.  As an FYI, Dr. Bugliarello is the former president of Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute which is now called Polytechnic University.  Dr. Bugliarello is also the founding chair, in the late 1960s, of biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, where Professor Hung began his distinguished academic career.

Professor Michael Sacks’ NIH competitive renewal application entitled, “Biomechanical Optimization of TE Heart Valves,” received a Priority Score: 126 and Percentile: 2.0 by the Bioengineering, Technology and Surgical Sciences Study Section. This is a truly fantastic score and reflects Professor Sacks’ stature as an internationally recognized expert and leader in this discipline.

BioE student, Phil Marascalco was selected as one of two Bioengineering award winners at this week's 2nd International Conference on Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Support Systems and Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Perfusion in Toronto.  The title Phil's presentation was, "Development of Standard Tests to Examine Viscoelastic Properties of Blood of Experimental Animals for Pediatric Mechanical Support Device Evaluation."  Phil is conducting this work in Professor Marina Kameneva's lab. 

BioE graduate student, Eric Tom's American Heart Association Pre-doctoral Fellowship application entitled, "Non-Invasive Detection of Endothelial Dysfunction Using an Optimized Multitargeted Ultrasound Contrast Agent," has been awarded funding.  In addition and on the basis of his outstanding Fellowship application, Eric has been selected to receive the first Claude R. Joiner award, in honor of the inventor of echocardiography, who is also chair-emeritus of medicine at Allegheny General Hospital.  Eric is undertaking his research in the laboratories of Dr. William Wagner and Dr. Liza Villanueva (Presby Cardiology).

Dr. David Vorp has been invited to give a lecture entitled, “Biomechanical Determinants of Aortic Rupture,” in the session entitled, “Mechanisms of Aortic Disease,” at this year’s American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2006 in Chicago.

BioE graduate student, David Merryman’s 1^st author publication:  Merryman WD, Engelmayr GC, Jr., Liao J, Sacks MS. Defining biomechanical endpoints for tissue engineered heart valve leaflets from native leaflet properties. Progress in Pediatric Cardiology. 2006;21:153-160.  The 2^nd author, George Engelmayr, PhD is a recent BioE PhD graduate who is doing a post-doc in the Langer Lab @MIT.  Both David and Georger performed this research in Professor Michael Sacks’ lab.

BioE graduate student, David Merryman’s paper entitled, “Aortic Valve Interstitial Cell Phenotype and Bio Sythesis: Synergistic Effects of Cyclic Tension and TGF-B1,” has been selected as one of six papers highlighted in the PhD Student Paper Competition: Tissue Eng and Cell Biomechanics at 2006 Summer Bioengineering Conference.  David is performing this research in Professor Michael Sacks’ lab.

Professors T.K. Hung and Savio Woo have been invited to give keynote addresses at the 15th International Conference on Mechanics in Medicine and Biology to be held Dec 6 – 8, 2006 in Singapore.  Professor Woo’s lecture is titled, "New Bioengineering Approaches for Management of Soft Tissue Injuries."  Professor Hung’s lecture is titled, "Fluid Mechanics Analyses of Cardiac Pumping and Balloon Assist."

On May 3, 2006, Professor Savio Woo received the Life Sciences Award from the Carnegie Science Center Awards for Excellence.  Dr. Woo’s research has revolutionized the field of orthopedic biomechanics and has served as the foundation upon which many patients’ surgical management and rehabilitation protocols following various ligament and tendon injuries are currently based.

Professor Michael Sacks has been invited to give a keynote presentation at the upcoming SES meeting at Penn State.  Professor Sacks' keynote address will be part of the symposium on mechanics of soft materials and soft tissues.

BioE student presentation at the Regenerate meeting.  Philip Marascalco and Joie Marhefka are both BioE PhD candidates in Professor Marina Kameneva’s lab.  Marascalco PJ, Marhefka JN, and Kameneva MV. Drag-reducing polymer effect on RBC mechanical properties and microcirculation. Potential applications in regenerative medicine. Regenerate World Congress, Pittsburgh, PA on April 25, 2006 (poster).  

The following presentations by our BioE students were presented at the Regenerate and the Society for Biomaterials April 2006 conference.  Alicia DeFail, Christina Lee and Candace Brayfield are BioE PhD candidates in Dr. Kacey Marra’s lab; William Stauffer is a BioE graduate student in Dr. Xinyan Cui’s lab; and Tim Maul is working in Dr. David Vorp’s lab.  Adam Iddriss is a BioE undergraduate student. 

(1) DeFail, A.J.;* Edington, H.D.; Matthews, S.L.; Lee, W.C.; Marra, K.G. “Controlled Release of Bioactive Doxorubicin from Microspheres Embedded within Gelatin Scaffolds,” Society for Biomaterials National Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA on April 28, 2006. 

(2) DeFail, A.J.;* Iddriss, A.; Marra, K.G. “Injectable PEG-Genipin Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering,”  Society for Biomaterials National Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA on April 28, 2006 (poster). 

(3) Brayfield, C.A.;* Marra, K.G.; Leonard, J.P.; Stauffer, W.R.; Cui, X.T.; Gerlach, J.  “Compartmentalized In Vitro Neuronal Cell Culture Models with Excimer Laser Modified Polyethersulfone Hollow Fibers,” Society for Biomaterials National Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA on April 28, 2006 (poster).

(4) Lee, W.C.;* Maul, T.M.; Vorp, D.A.; Rubin, J.P.; Marra, K.G. “Effects of Uniaxial Cyclic Strain on Adipose-derived Stem Cell Morphology, Proliferation, and Differentiation,” Regenerate World Congress, Pittsburgh, PA on April 27, 2006.

(5) DeFail, A.J.;* Marra, K.G.; Cartieri, F.;* Rajendran, N.; Edington, H.E.; “In Vivo Anti-Tumor Effect of a Novel Drug Delivery System for Breast Conservation,” Regenerate World Congress, Pittsburgh, PA on April 25, 2006.

(6) Brayfield, C.A.;* Rubin, J.P.; Marra, K.G.; Baun, M.; Gerlach, J.  “3D Adipogenic Differentiation of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in a Four-Compartment Hollow Fiber-Based Bioreactor,” Regenerate World Congress, Pittsburgh, PA on April 25, 2006 (poster).

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A recent 1^st author publication by BioE PhD candidate Tim Maul, and co-author BioE PhD candidate Lorenzo Soletti.  Both Tim and Lorenzo are performing this work in Dr. David Vorp’s lab.

Recent 1^st author publication by BioE PhD candidate Weiqun Yu.  Weiqun  is performing his research in Dr. Gerard Apodaca’s lab.  Yu, W., Zacharia, L., Jackson, E., and Apodaca G. Adenosine receptor expression and function in bladder uroepithelium. American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology, 2006, In press.

Recent publications by BioE PhD candidates Alicia DeFail, Christina Lee, and Tim Maul.  Alicia and Christina are BioE PhD candidates in Dr. Kacey Marra’s lab; and Tim is working in Dr. David Vorp’s lab.  (1) Lee, W.-C.C.; Maul, T.; Vorp, D.A.; Rubin, J.P.; Marra, K.G. “Effects of Uniaxial Cyclic Strain on Adipose-derived Stem Cell Morphology, Proliferation, and Differentiation," Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 2006, In Press.

(2) DeFail, A.J.; Edington, H.; Matthews, S.; Lee, W.-C.C; Marra, K.G. “Controlled Release of Bioactive Doxorubicin from Microspheres Embedded within Gelatin Scaffolds,” J. Biomedical Materials Research, 2006, In Press. 

(3) Ferreti, M.; Marra, K.G.; Kobayashi, K.; DeFail, A.J.; Chu, C.R. “Controlled In Vivo Degradation of Genipin Crosslinked Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Hydrogels within Osteochondral Defects,” Tissue Engineering, 2006, In Press.

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BioE’s graduating student Amy McNeal will deliver the keynote address at the School of Engineering Senior Recognition Night on April 29, 2006.  Amy is the 3^rd consecutive BioE student to deliver the keynote address.  Last April (2005), BioE graduating senior Jason Woods delivered the address; and this past December (fall graduation), BioE graduating senior Perry Tiberio delivered the keynote address.

Dr. Richard Debski has been awarded tenure and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Bioengineering, effective September 1, 2006.  In his letter to Dr. Debski the Chancellor writes, “The conferral of tenure provides clear evidence of the institutional respect earned by your academic work to date.  It is also an expression of our confidence that the years ahead will bring many additional accomplishments and contributions – to your discipline, to the University and to the broader community.”

A recent publication 1^st authored by BioE PhD candidate, Joie Marhefka. Joie is conducting this work in Professor Marina Kameneva’s lab.  The 2^nd author, Phil Marascalco, is also a BioE PhD candidate in Professor Kameneva’s lab.  Joie N. Marhefka, Philip J. Marascalco, Toby M. Chapman, Alan J. Russell, and Marina V. Kameneva. Poly(N-vinylformamide)-A Drag-Reducing Polymer for Biomedical Applications. Biomacromolecules  Web Release Date: 04-Apr-2006; (Article) DOI: 10.1021/bm060014i

A recent paper acceptance that is 1^st authored by Jennifer Mercer.  Jeniffer is conducting this work in Professor Michael Boninger’s lab.  Mercer JL, Boninger ML, Koontz AM, Ren D, Dyson-Hudson T, Cooper RA.  “Shoulder Joint Kinetics and Pathology in Manual Wheelchair Users,” Clinical Biomechanics, in press.

BioE graduate student, Dan Freytes' F31 NRSA Ruth L. Kirschstein Pre-doctoral Fellowship application entitled, "Hybrid ECM Gels for Regenerative Medicine," received a 137 score - 4th percentile!  Dan is working in Dr. Stephan Badylak's lab.  Dan will be our 6th F31 Fellow, with two other applications hopefully to be funded by the end of the year. 

BioE graduate student, Erica Authier's project entitled, "Wheelchair Mounted Pelvic Restraint," has received NCIIA E-Team funding.  Erica is a student in Professor Rory Cooper's lab.  The faculty sponsor for the NCIIA Project is Dr. Linda Van Roosmalen, Department of Rehabilitation Science & Technology.

BioE graduate student, David Montag's manuscript entitled, "Successful Simultaneous Measurement of Cell Membrane and Cytokine Induced Phosphorylation pathways (CIPP) in Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear cells," has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Immunological Methods.  David is performing this work in Professor Michael Lotze's lab.

A very recent publication by BioE students, Erica Authier and Garrett Grindle, who are conducting this work in Professor Rory Cooper’s lab.  Guo S, Grindle GG, Authier EL, Cooper RA, Fitzgerald SG, Kelleher A and Cooper R. “Development and Qualitative Assessment of the Game Cycle Exercise System.”  IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, Vol 14, pp 83 – 90, 2006.

The following BioE PhD candidates have been awarded funding through 2006-2007 Provost’s Development Fund:  Joie Marhefka (adviser: Dr. Marina Kameneva), Alicia DeFail (adviser: Dr. Kacey Marra), Laurel Kuxhaus (adviser: Dr. Jeffrey Vipperman), Jill Slaboda (adviser: Dr. J. Robert Boston), Kristie (Henchir) Burgess (adviser: Dr. William Federspiel)

During the March 2006 International Symposium for Ligament and Tendons (ISLT) organized by Professor Savio Woo, 165 invited attendees presented their state-of-the art research in the field.  Particularly impressive were the many outstanding presentations by MSRC faculty and staff.  The MSRC clearly leads the way in this field.  Next year’s 2007 ISLT meeting will be held San Diego, CA which is appropriate as San Diego is the place where Professor Woo’s career in Orthopedic research began almost 36 years ago.

BioE graduate student, Tom Gilbert’s poster entitled, “Fate of Bone Marrow Derived Cells Recruited to the Site of ECM Remodeling,” was selected as “best poster” at the March 2006 International Symposium on Ligaments and Tendons.  Tom is performing this work in Dr. Stephen Badylak’s lab.

Poster winners at the recent 2006 MIRM RETREAT:

MARIAH HOUT – 1^st place, category A – 3D Expansion of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells in Four-Compartment Bioreactors (Mariah is completing a post-doctoral fellowship in Dr. Jorg Gerlach’s lab).

ALEXA POLK – Honorable Mention, category A - A Biohybrid Lung Prototype with Active Mixing and Oxygenation of Endothelialized Microporous Hollow Fibers (Alexa is a PhD candidate in Dr. William Wagner’s lab)

LORENZO SOLETTI – 1^st place, category B – In-vitro Assessment of a Biodegradable Electrospun Vascular Graft Surface-seeded with Muscle-derived Stem Cells and Subjected to Shear Stress (Lorenzo  is a PhD candidate in Dr. David Vorp’s lab)

JOLENE (HODGE) VALENTIN – Honorable Mention, category B - Host Response to Orthopaedic ECM Bioscaffolds (Jolene is a PhD candidate in Dr. Stephen Badylak’s lab)

MITRA LAVASANI – 1^st place, category C – Muscle-Derived Stem Cells Spontaneously Express Neuronal Markers In Vitro And Promote Peripheral Nerve Repair (Mitra is a PhD candidate in Dr. Johnny Huard’s lab)

TOM PAYNE – Honorable Mention, category C - Functional Repair of Infarcted Hearts Mediated by Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells and Their Secretion of VEGF (Tom is a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Johnny Huard’s lab)

BioE undergraduate student, Adam Iddriss has just been awarded a Truman Scholarship, one of the very most prestigious and competitive scholarships that an undergraduate can receive.  BioE extends our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Iddriss for this spectacular achievement!

The article below which is just published in the BIORHEOLOGY Journal includes a dedication to Professor Tin Kan Hung as follows:  “Dedicated to Dr. T. K. Hung, Professor of Civil and Bio-Engin

eering, University of Pittsburgh, USA,  for his sustained encouragement with computational biofluid dynamics research, since 2003, and his inspiring contributions to computational methods in biomechanics over four decades.” These very important words from international colleagues indicate the magnitude of Professor Tin Kan Hung’s life-long professional contributions to research and education.

BIORHEOLOGY Journal

Biorheology: Journal of the International Society of Biorheology

Editor-in-Chief:

Dr. Harry Goldsmith, Room C10-148, The Montréal General Hospital,
1650 Cedar Avenue, Montréal, Québec H3G 1A4, Canada.
E-mail: harry.goldsmith@mcgill.ca

March 2006

 QUASI-STEADY PULSATILE MAGNETO-HEMODYNAMIC FLOW AND MASS TRANSFER IN A NON-DARCIAN CHANNEL USING THE NAKAYAMA-SAWADA BIVISCOSITY MODEL:  FINITE ELEMENT SOLUTIONS

Tim Maul, a PhD candidate in Dr. David Vorp’s lab, is one of three University recipients of the 2006 Outstanding Graduate Student Award.  Tim will be traveling to Neumann College in March to give a 20 minute research presentation and receive the award. Tim as many outstanding contributions and many accomplishments including receiving an F-31 Ruth L Kirschstein NRSA Pre-doctoral Fellowship Award.

BioE undergraduate student, Margaret Bennewitz is one of two University of Pittsburgh students awarded a Goldwater Scholarship.  As you know the Goldwater Scholarship is one of the most competitive awards that an undergraduate student can receive.  Margaret’s exceptional QPA (3.95) and outstanding work in Dr. Timothy Corcoran’s lab clearly were major factors in receipt of this award.

Dr. Wilson Chang, who completed his PhD in BioE in Dr. George Stetten’s lab and who will receive his M.D. degree this spring, has matched at Stanford for a residency in Radiology.

Professor Michael Sacks has been selected to serve on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Bioengineering Division Technical Committee which is the governing board for the Bioengineering Division.

The mag lev VAD technology that Dr. James Antaki developed was about to undergo clinical testing.  View the details below of this historic achievement. 

First Human Implant of WorldHeart’s Next-Generation Rotary VAD

Clinical Trial Initiated in Europe

Oakland, CA, USA – March 14, 2006: (NASDAQ: WHRT, TSX: WHT) - World Heart Corporation (WorldHeart), a global technology leader in mechanical circulatory support systems, announced today that the first human implant of its advanced rotary ventricular assist device (VAD) took place on March 8, 2006. The successful implant, performed at St. Luke's Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece, marks the start of the feasibility clinical trial of WorldHeart’s next-generation rotary VAD.

A surgical team, whose members had completed training at WorldHeart’s Salt Lake City facility last month, successfully implanted the device into a 67-year-old man with advanced congestive heart failure, as part of an operation that included heart valve repair as well as a coronary artery bypass graft.

Initial Rotary VAD Implant

“Our surgical and clinical team is extremely pleased to perform the first implant of this unique new device,” said Dr. Antonis Pitsis, cardiac surgeon and Director of the Thessaloniki Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Hospital, and principal clinical investigator of the feasibility trial. “The WorldHeart rotary VAD has, thus far met our high expectations and it has been particularly rewarding to see the patient doing well. The patient is enjoying interacting with his family.”

Dr. James Long, cardiac surgeon and Director of the Utah Artificial Heart Program at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, assisted on the operation. Dr. Long said, “It is encouraging to see the field of long-term mechanical circulatory support expand with exciting new technologies being utilized in new high quality centers worldwide. I believe growth of the field will be enhanced by the introduction and validation of such next-generation devices designed for ease of use, enhanced quality of life and improvements with performance, blood compatibility and durability.”

Dr. Petros Sfirakis, Deputy Director of Cardiac Surgery at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Athens, Greece, also assisted with the operation. The Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center has experience with WorldHeart’s CE-marked Novacor pulsatile VAD and is collaborating with St. Luke’s in the initial clinical trial of the WorldHeart rotary VAD.

Jal S. Jassawalla, WorldHeart’s President and Chief Executive Officer said, “We are pleased with the successful first clinical use of our advanced rotary system, starting our European feasibility trial on schedule. This is a significant milestone in the development and commercialization of our next-generation products, and it supports our goal of meeting the long-term needs of patients across a wide spectrum of heart failure conditions, with both rotary and pulsatile VADs.”

WorldHeart Rotary VAD

The WorldHeart rotary VAD is the only bearingless, fully magnetically levitated implantable centrifugal rotary pump in clinical trials. It is an advanced, next-generation, continuous flow pump that uses magnetic levitation to fully suspend the spinning rotor, its only moving part, inside a compact housing. The pump's proprietary levitation technology employs a combination of passive magnetic suspension and single-axis active control, which is expected to provide optimal system simplicity and reliability.

Unlike most rotary pumps currently in clinical trials, it does not rely on either a mechanical bearing or a film of blood (blood bearing) to support the rotor. Relative to pumps with blood or mechanical bearings, full magnetic levitation eliminates wear mechanisms within the pump and is expected to provide improved blood compatibility by allowing greater clearances and more favorable, obstruction-free, blood flow around the rotor.

About World Heart Corporation

World Heart Corporation is a technology leader in mechanical circulatory support systems, headquartered in Oakland, California, USA with additional facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah and in Heesch, Netherlands. WorldHeart’s registered office is Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. WorldHeart is dedicated to working with physicians to provide the most reliable long-term mechanical circulatory support products and services to the broadest patient population through technology, leadership and innovation.

Any forward-looking statements in this release including those about planned clinical studies and breadth of the company’s product platform are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, including without limitation: risks in product development and market acceptance of and demand for the Company’s products; possible delays in successfully completing preclinical testing and planned clinical trials; possibility of unsuccessful results in initial feasibility studies with the rotary VAD and other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Amended Annual Report on Form 10-KSB/A for the year ended December 31, 2004.

WORLD HEART CORPORATION · 7799 PARDEE LANE, OAKLAND, CA 94621

PHONE: (510) 563-5000 · FAX: (510) 563-5005 www.worldheart.com 

Dr. David Vorp has been elected to the Executive Council of the International Society of Applied Cardiovascular Biology (ISACB).  The ISACB represents an integration of the spectrum of clinicians to clinician-scientists to applied scientists to basic scientists.

BioE graduate student, Joie Marhefka’s abstract entitled, "Effects of Drag-Reducing Polymers on Blood Flow in Microchannels," has been selected for presentation in a Slide Session at the 52nd Annual Conference of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) to be held this June in Chicago.  Joie is performing this work in Professor Marina Kameneva’s lab.

BioE graduate student, Stefan Safta’s publication in this month’s ASAIO Journal.  Stefan is doing this research in Dr. Jack Patzer’s lab.  John F. Patzer, Stefan A. Safta and Richard H. Miller, “Slow Continuous Ultrafiltration with Bound Solute Dialysis,”  ASAIO Journal 2006; 52:47-58.

The SoE Engineering Graduate Student Organization asked us to nominate BioE’s outstanding RA and TA for 2005-2006.  The outstanding BioE TA is Stephanie Glazar and the outstanding BioE RA is Ken Urish.  Stephanie has very ably assisted Dr. George Stetten and Dr. Mingui Sun this academic year (both fall and spring terms) in the implementation of our modified course sequence in the Biosignals and Imaging Concentration.  Ken is our 6^th and most recent recipient of a prestigious F31 NRSA Ruth L. Kirschstein Pre-doctoral Fellowship.  Ken is performing his PhD research in Dr. Johnny Huard’s lab.

Drs. George Stetten and Mingui Sun were inducted as part of the AIMBE Fellows Class of 2006.  Dr. Stetten’s AIMBE citation reads, “For outstanding contributions to the development of innovative ultrasound image guidance techniques and National Library of Medicine image analysis software.”  Dr. Sun’s citation reads, “For contributions to the field of biomedical signal processing, source localization, and biomemetic implantable communication channels.”

BioE graduate student, Phil Marascalco’s abstract entitled, “Development of standard tests to examine viscoelastic properties of blood of experimental animals for pediatric mechanical support device evaluation,” has been selected by the Scientific Program Committee of The Second International Conference on Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Support Systems and Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Perfusion as a Slide Presentation.  The meeting will be held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 18-20, 2006.  Phil is performing this research in Professor Marina Kameneva’s lab.

BioE Graduate student, Gulshan Sharma's abstract, (Sharma GB, Robertson DD, Rodosky MW, McMahon PJ, Glenoid Structural Analysis: Relevance To Arthroplasty) has been selected for Poster Session Presentation in the upcoming Orthopaedic Research Society’s (ORS) Annual Conference in Chicago from 18^th-21^st March 2006.  Gulshan is conducting this work in Dr. Douglas Robertson's lab.

Professor Marina Kameneva has been promoted to Research Professor of Surgery in the School of Medicine, Department of Surgery has been approved effective March 1, 2006.  Professor  Kameneva is among the world's leading authorities in the biorheology of drag reduction; and the biomechanical/biofluid dynamic mechanisms associated with cellular trauma in blood wetted organs.  Since the McGowan Center was 1st established, Professor Kameneva has been integral to all the innovative work that has been accomplished in the area of cardiopulmonary organ replacements.

Dr. Richard Debski has been selected to receive a 2006 Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award.  In his letter to Dr. Debski, Chancellor Nordenberg writes, “You have distinguished yourself as a “young star” in the fields of musculoskeletal biomechanics and sports medicine through your fundamental work on the structure and function of the soft connective tissues at the shoulder joints.  It is a measure of your intellectual depth that you are widely recognized in the fields of experimental biomechanics, computational biomechanics, and robotic technology.  This status has been highlighted by the numerous awards that you have received.  However, it was formalized when the American Society for Mechanical Engineering awarded you its Y.C. Fung Young Investigator Award, the most prestigious national award that a young scholar in your field can receive.”  This Award reflects Dr. Debski’s terrific accomplishments at the University.  This Award also reflects the truly outstanding mentoring Dr. Debski has received in his years at the University from Professor Woo, and the wonderful research and education opportunities available to Dr. Debski at the MSRC. 

Professor Michael Sacks has been invited to be a Keynote Speaker in the American Society of Bioemechanics Meeting, to be held at Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA, September 6-9, 2006.

Professor George  Stetten's IEEE publication: The 3rd author, Vikram Chib, is a BS graduate of our Undergraduate Program who is pursuing the BioE PhD @Northwestern.  Samuel Clanton, David Wang, Vikram Chib, Yoky Matsuoka, George Stetten, "Optical Merger of Direct Vision with Virtual Images for Scaled Teleoperation," IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), Vol. 12, No. 2, March/April 2006.

Professor Savio Woo has been selected to receive the Carnegie Science Center’s Life Science Award for 2006.  His work has revolutionized the field of orthopedic biomechanics and served as the foundation upon which many patient rehabilitation protocols are currently based for various types of ligament and tendon injury.

Professor Savio Woo has been invited to be a Plenary Speaker at the 5^th World Congress of Biomechanics to be held from July 29 through August 4, 2006, in Munich, Germany.  The title of Professor Woo’s presentation is:  Biomechanics Research and Sports Medicine’s Future:  Meeting the Challenges of Keeping Your Knee and Shoulder Healthy.

Dr. James Antaki has been promoted from associate professor with tenure @CMU to full professor with tenure @CMU effective July 1, 2006.  Also, Dr. Antaki’s blood pump development (HeartQuest) will soon undergo its 1^st clinical trials in Europe.

George Engelmayr's abstract entitled, "Cyclic Flexure and Laminar Flow Synergistically Accelerate Mesenchymal Stem Cell Mediated Engineered Heart Valve Tissue Formation," was chosen for a Young Investigator Award at the 2006 International Society for Applied Cardiovascular Biology meeting which will take place March 8-11, 2006 in La Jolla, California.  George performed his Ph.D. research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab, is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the Langer Lab @MIT.

Professor Andrew Schaefer was recently awarded with an NSF Career Award.  Dr. Schafer’s research addresses next-generation therapeutic optimization, which involves constructing quantitative models of disease progression, and optimizing a particular set of therapies. Dr. Schaefer's work focuses on three broad areas in end-stage liver disease, but the research applies to other diseases as well.

Dr. George Stetten’s proposal entitled, “Applying the Sonic Flashlight to the Guidance of Breast Tumor Biopsy,” has been selected for funding from the patent research development fund in the Office of Technology Management (OTM).  This award represents OTM’s commitment to support as appropriate BioE-based technology development efforts such as Dr. Stetten’s sonic flashlight.

The following paper was accepted for publication which includes BioE Graduate students Virginia Penascino and Greg Cooper as co-authors:  Dudas, J.R.; Marra, K.G.; Cooper, G.M.; Penascino, V.M.; Mooney, M.P.; Jiang, S.; Rubin, J.P.; Losee, J.E. "The Osteogenic Potential of Adipose-derived Stem Cells for Repair of Rabbit Calvarial Defects," Annals of Plastic Surgery, 2006, In Press.  This work was conducted in Dr. Kacey Marra’s lab.

BioE graduate student, Ellen Brennan was selected as one of only two oral presentation award winners at the Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine conference.  The title of the award Ellen received is the Yasuda Award, and the title of Ellen’s presentation was, “Antibacterial Activity within Degradation Products of Extracellular Matrix Scaffolds.”  Ellen is conducting this research in Dr. Stephen Badylak’s lab.

Dr. Johnny Huard is the newly appointed Editor for North America for the journal Current Genomics.  Current Genomics is becoming very successful. Now in volume 6 publishing 8 issues, the overall scientific quality of the journal is very impressive.

The publication entitled, "Effects of Boundary Conditions on the Estimation of the Planar Biaxial Mechanical Properties of Soft Tissues” was voted by the reviewers as one of the top nine papers published in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering in 2005.  Authors are: Wei Sun, Michael Sacks, and Michael Scott.  Dr. Wei Sun completed his Ph.D. in Professor Michael Sacks’ lab.

BioE graduate student, Erik Wolf conducting this work in Professor Rory Cooper’s lab has recently submitted a 1^st author paper;  Wolf E, Pearlman J, Cooper RA, Fitzgerald SG, Kelleher AM, Collins DM, Boninger ML and Cooper R.  “Vibration Exposure of Individuals Using Wheelchairs over Sidewalk Surfaces.”  Disability and Rehabilitation 2005; 27(23):1443-1449.

Two recent publications by George LaVerde, who is completing his PhD research in Dr. Fernando Boada’s lab.  (1) Boada FE, LaVerde G, Jungreis C, Nemoto E, Tanse C and Hancu I.  Loss of Cell Ion Homeostasis and Cell Viability in the Brain: What Sodium MRI Can Tell Us.  Current Topics in Developmental Biology, Vol 70, pp. 77-101, 2005. and (2) LaVerde G, Nemoto E, Jungreis CA, Tanase C and Boada FE.  Serial Triple Quantum Sodium MRI During Non-Human Primate Focal Brain Ischemia.  Magnetic Resonante in Medicine (Submitted).

Dr. David Vorp is an invited keynote speaker at the New York Academy of Sciences Symposium this April entitled, “The Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Genetics, Pathophysiology, and Molecular Biology Tenth Anniversary Symposium.”  The title of Dr. Vorp’s presentation is, “Finite-element analysis and bioengineering approaches to fine-tune prediction of rupture risk, independent of size alone.”  Dr. Vorp is recognized as the leading authority regarding the biomechanics of AAA rupture.

Two recent 1^st author publications by BioE graduate students, William Stauffer and Reecha Wadhwa, who are both working in Dr. Xinyan (Tracy)  Cui’s lab, Polypyrrole doped with 2 peptide sequences from laminin, Biomaterials, Volume 27, Issue 11, April 2006, Pages 2405-2413  by William R. Stauffer and Xinyan T. Cui and Electrochemically controlled release of dexamethasone from conducting polymer polypyrrole coated electrode, Journal of Controlled Release, In Press (Available online 19 December 2005), Reecha Wadhwa, Carl F. Lagenaur and Xinyan Tracy Cui.

A recent 1st author publication by Eric Wolf, who is completing his PhD research in Professor Rory Cooper’s lab.  Wolf EJ, Pearlman J, Cooper RA, Fitzgerald SG, Kelleher AR , Collins DM, Boninger ML, Cooper R, Vibration Exposure of Individuals Using Wheelchairs Over Sidewalk Surfaces, Disability and Rehabilitation, pp. 1443-1449, Vol. 27, No. 23, December 2005.

BioE student  Perry Tiberio has been selected to be the Keynote Speaker for the School of Engineering Senior Recognition Brunch to be held December 11th.  Perry was nominated by Dr. Richard Debski.  This past April, BioE student Jason Woods was also selected to the School of Engineering Keynote Speaker for April commencement.

BioE graduate student, David Merryman’s 1^st author paper in the just published volume of the Journal of Biomechanics.  Merryman WD, Huang H-Y S, Schoen FJ and Sacks MS.  The effects of cellular contraction on aortic valve leaflet flexural stiffness.  Journal of Biomechanics 39 (2006) 88-96.  David is conducting this work in Professor Michael Sacks’ lab.

Drs. Steven Abramowitch’s and Savio Woo’s lead article in the current issue of the Journal of Biomechanics:  Woo S. L.-Y., Abramowitch S.D., Kilger R. and Liang R.  Biomechanics of knee ligaments: injury, healing and repair.  Journal of Biomechanics 39 (2006) 1-20.

Professor Michael Sacks' presentation at the recent Materials Research Society entitled, "A new method of producing artificial heart valves that more closely mimic the properties of natural heart valves was demonstrated using novel electrospinning of polyester (urethane) ureas materials," was selected as one of the "Top 5 Hot Talks" presented at the meeting, judged on relevance to "changing our world."  Over 5000 scientists from around the world presented papers in Materials Research at this meeting.  The co-authors on this paper include BioE graduate student Todd Courtney, John Stankus, Jinjuan Guan, and Dr. William Wagner.

BioE graduate student, Alicia DeFail's recent first author publication in Biomaterials:  Alicia J. DeFail, Constance R. Chu, Nicholas Izzo and Kacey G. Marra, "Controlled release of bioactive TGF-β₁ from microspheres embedded within biodegradable hydrogels," Biomaterials, 2006, 27(8), 1579-1585.  Alicia is working in Dr. Kacey Marra’s lab.

Professor Michael Sacks has been elected to the Canada Research Chair College of Reviewers.  This appointment is analogous to NIH Study Section work, except that the review is for Chair positions at Canadian universities.

BioE graduate student, Ericia Authier, in Professor Rory Cooper's lab, along with student team partners from Mechanical Engineering, have been selected as one of only seven design team winners of the BIG IDEA Competition for their design entitled, "Wheelchair Mounted Pelvic Restraint."

BioE’s graduate student Ken Urish's NIH F31 NRSA Ruth L Kirschstein Pre-doctoral Fellowship Application entitled, "Inflammation and Stem Cell Transplantation," received a priority score of 138 or 9th percentile. Ken’s is doing his research in Dr. Johnny Huard's laboratory.  Ken will be our 6th BioE F31 recipient, and when you also consider that our faculty (Professors Alan Russell, Michael Sacks and Sanjeev Shroff) have each been awarded an NIH T-32 Pre-doctoral Training Grant, our Graduate Program is certainly among the very elite Programs in the U.S.

Dr. Michael Sacks has been invited to present, "Heart Valve Tissue Engineering," in December 2005 at the National University of Singapore & International Congress on Biomedical Engineering Pre-Conference Workshop on Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering, in Singapore.

A recent publication by BioE PhD candidate, Brad Impink.  Brad is conducting his research in Dr. Michael Boninger’s lab.  Koontz AM, Cooper RA, Boninger ML, Yang Y, Impink BG, van der Woude LHV, A Kinetic Analysis of Manual Wheelchair Propulsion During Start-Up on Select Indoor and Outdoor Surfaces, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, pp. 447-458, Vol. 42, No. 4, July/August 2005.

BioE Graduate students, Dorian Arnold (who is working in Dr. James Antaki’s lab) and Carl Johnson (who is working in Dr. William Wagner’s lab) presented their pediatric VAD research at this week’s national American Heart Association meeting in Dallas.  Dorian’s presentation is entitled, “"Pediatric Cardiovascular Simulation for Assessment of the PediaFlow Ventricular Assist Device," authored by: DK Arnold, S Vandenberghe, Y-C Yu, HS Borovetz and JF Antaki.  Carl’s presentation is entitled, “Biocompatibility Assessment of the PediaFlow Ventricular Assist Device,” authored by C Johnson, T Snyder and W Wagner.

Dr. George Stetten's abstract entitled, "Fingertip Vibratory Transducer for Detecting Optical Edges using Regenerative Feedback," has been accepted for presentation @Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems, IEEE Virtual Reality 2006, Arlington VA, 25-26 March 2006.  The authors of the abstract are: Kimberly Zawrotny, Apryle Craig, Roberta Klatzky, George Stetten.  Kim Zawrotny is a current BioE undergraduate student and Apryle Craig is one of our recent baccalaureates.

Professor Marina Kameneva recently delivered the following lecture to the University of Pittsburgh Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering: "Drag-reducing polymers: Effects on macro- and micro-hemodynamics."  The abstract for Professor Kameneva’s talk can be found at this URL:  http://www.engr.pitt.edu/chemical/news/seminars/abstracts/2005_fall/kameneva.html

The following paper from Dr. Stetten's lab has been accepted in the journal, Radiology.  The 1st author, Wilson Chang, who completed his PhD in BioE in Dr. Stetten's lab, is currently completing the M.D. portion of the M.D., Ph.D. Program.  W. Chang, N. Amesur, R. Klatzky, G. Stetten, "The Sonic Flashlight Is Faster than Conventional Ultrasound Guidance to Learn and Use For Vascular Access on Phantoms."

Professor Savio Woo received the 2005-2006 School of Engineering Board of Visitors Faculty Award.  In presenting the award to Professor Woo, Pitt Chairman of the Board of Trustees and CEO of US Steel, Mr. Tom Usher, lauded Professor Woo for his most productive academic year, including Professor Woo’s contributions to the development of BioE and our graduate research programs; the many meritorious awards that Professor Woo receives annually at the national and international level; Professor Woo’s exceptional funding and publication records; and overall leadership to BioE and the School of Engineering.  BioE takes considerable pride in the fact that Professor Woo is the 3^rd consecutive BioE faculty member to receive the School of Engineering Board of Visitors Faculty Award.  In 2003-2004 Professor Sanjeev Shroff was selected; and last year, 2004-2005, Professor Michael Sacks received the School of Engineering Board of Visitors Faculty Award.

2005 Tissue Engineering Society International (TESI) Annual Meeting, which was held from October 22-25 at the Shanghai International Convention Center, Shanghai, P.R. China.  Listed below are the papers from BioE.   

Highlighted in Bold Font are BioE faculty; in Bold Italics Font, BioE graduate students.

 Tissue Engineering Based On Muscle-Derived Stem Cells: Potential Applications for Tissue Regeneration; Johnny Huard

 Surface Characteristics of Biologic Scaffolds Derived From Extracellular Matrix; Thomas W. Gilbert, Buddy D. Ratner, Daniel Graham, Bryan N. Brown, Stephen F. Badylak

 High Efficient Muscle Regeneration Capacity Displayed by Cells Isolated from Blood Vessels; Baohong Cao, Jessica Tebbets, Johnny Huard

 Characterization of Muscle Derived Stem Cells within a Novel Tissue Engineered Vascular Graft; Alejandro Nieponice, Bridget M Deasy, Lorenzo Soletti, Jianjun Guan, Johnny Huard, William R Wagner, David A Vorp

 Calcium Alginate Microencapsulation of Ovarian Follicles Reduces FSH Delivery to the Growing Follicle; Matthew Heise, Richard Koepsel, Alan J. Russell, Elizabeth A. McGee

 Assessment of a novel rotational vacuum seeding technique for tissue engineered Tubular structures; Lorenzo Soletti, Alejandro Nieponice, Jianjun Guan, John J. Stankus, William R. Wagner, David A. Vorp

 Enhancement of vasculature development in engineered scaffolds by drag reducing Polymers; Ravikumar Thangappan, Philip J. Marascalco, Joie N. Marhefka, Alan J. Russell, Marina V. Kameneva

Analysis and design of novel electrospun PEUU scaffolds for soft tissue engineering; Todd D Courtney, Michael S Sacks, John J Stankus, Jianjun Guan, William R Wagner

 The effects of substrate choice and mechanical stimulation on differentiation of muscle-derived stem cells; Rebecca A. Long, Johnny Huard, Michael B Chancellor, Michael S. Sacks

 Gradient scaffold in tissue engineering; Sara, L. Wargo, Thangappan Ravi Kumar, Alan J. Russell

Extracellular Matrix Scaffolds for Tracheal Reconstruction; Thomas W. Gilbert, Sebastien Gilbert, Stephen F. Badylak 

Tissue Engineered Esophageal Tissue in a Canine Model; Alejandro Nieponice, Thomas W. Gilbert, Stephen F. Badylak

___________________________

On October 25^th, Professor Michael Sacks delivered the Distinguished Speakers in Bioengineering Lecture @University of Toronto, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering.  The title of Professor Sacks' talk was on "Biomechanics of Native and Engineered Heart Valve Tissues"

2005 Honors Convocation Students

 GRADUATE STUDENTS

 Cois, Aaron: Cardiovascular Bioengineering Training Program (CBTP) Fellow

 Coley, Brooke: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31) for research on adaptive postural strategies and the impact of aging

 Collins, Charita: Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (CATER) Fellow

 Debrah, Dan: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31) for research on relaxin in systemic vascular mechanisms and function; First author, Relaxin increases cardiac output and reduces systemic arterial load in hypertensive rats in Hypertension

 DeFail, Alicia: Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (CATER) Fellow

 Ding, Zhijie: Travel award to the 2005 American Society of Cell Biology to present Effects of silencing profilin on endothelial cytoskeleton and migration

 Dvorznak, Michael: First author, Kinematic analysis for determination of bioequivalence of a modified hybrid III test dummy and a wheelchair user in Journal of Rehabilitation and Development

 Eckert, Chad: Biomechanics in Regenerative Medicine (BiRM) Fellow; George M. Bevier Fellowship in recognition of excellent academic record

 El-Kurdi, Mohammed: Finalist in the ASME MS/PhD student thesis contest; 3^rd place in the ASME Bioengineering Division Master’s Student Paper Competition in Anaheim, CA for his paper entitled Regulation of cell adhesion and de-adhesion proteins in veins perfused under arterial conditions ex-vivo

 Engelmayr, George: Finalist in the PhD Student Paper Competition (Cells and Tissue Engineering Category) at the 2005 Summer Bioengineering Conference, Vail, Colorado; Student Travel an Professional Development Award from the Society for Biomaterials (SFB) to attend the SFB Annual Meeting in Memphis, TN.  Selection for this award was based on outstanding scores of Mr. Engelmayr’s abstract.

 Fisher, Matthew: Biomechanics in Regenerative Medicine (BiRM) Fellow for research on improving the healing of the patellar tendon after injury using functional tissue engineering techniques; George M. Bevier Fellowship in recognition of excellent academic record

 Gaitan, Diana: Fulbright Scholar from Colombia

 Gilbert, Thomas: Finalist for the 2005 Young Researchers of Orthopaedics, Biomechanics/Biology, Operative Techniques and Sports (Y-ROBOTS) Award

 Heise, Matthew: Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (CATER) Fellow

 Impink, Bradley: IGERT Rehabilitative/Assistive Technology Award

 Johnson, Carl: 4-year Minority Graduate Research Supplement (MGRS) for research on pediatric circulatory support

 Kirk, Jonathan: Cardiovascular Bioengineering Training Program (CBTP) Fellow for research on compensatory effects on calcium handling in transgenic mice with altered myofilament function

 Kokai, Lauren: First author, The potential of adipose-derived adult stem cells as a source of neuronal progenitor cells in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

 Kuxhaus, Laurel: IGERT Rehabilitative/Assistive Technology Award

Lavasani, Mitra: Chosen by Chancellor Nordenberg as one of the outstanding students to whom the University will pay special tribute at the Honors Convocation on February 28, 2005; Abstract entitled Nerve growth factor increases transplantation efficiency of muscle-derived stem cells and significantly improves muscle regeneration in dystrophic muscle was chosen as a finalist for the Orthopaedic Research Society’s New Investigator Recognition Awards (NIRA) competition

 LaVerde, George: Second Place Poster, Neuroimaging Division, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 12^th Scientific Meeting

 Lee, Wen-Chi: First author, Registration of MR and CT images of the liver: comparison of voxel similarity and surface based registration algorithms in Comput Methods Programs Biomed

 Long, Rebecca: Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Delegate to attend the 55^th Annual Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students, Lindau, Germany

 Marascalco, Philip: 2004 ASAIO Biomedical Engineering Student Fellowship

 Marhefka, Joie: Fellowship recipient at the 51^st Annual ASAIIO Conference, Washington, DC

 Maul, Tim: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31); 2005 Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant

 Mercer, Jennifer: Paper entitled Effect of weight on wheelchair propulsion over various surfaces was selected for a Scientific Paper Award at the 2005 Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Conference; National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship

 Merryman, David: American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship for research on the effects of local tissue stress on aortic valve interstitial cell phenotype and resulting synthetic functions

 Meszaros, Laura: George M. Bevier Fellowship in recognition of excellent academic record

 Mihelc, Kevin: George M. Bevier Fellowship in recognition of excellent academic record

 Moore, Susan: Finalist in the ASME MS/PhD student thesis contest; Orthopaedic Research Laboratory Alumni Council (ORLAC) Award; International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), M.S. Level Finalist for Student Paper Competition, 2nd Place Prize; 2004 Engineering Graduate Student Organization’s Outstanding Research Assistant, University of Pittsburgh; 2005 Provost Development Fund Recipient 

Oberdier, Matt: Cardiovascular Bioengineering Training Program (CBTP) Fellow; George M. Bevier Fellowship in recognition of excellent academic record

 Park, Sung Hong: Poster Award (Honorable Mention) at ISMRM’s 13^th meeting

 Payne, Thomas: Young Investigator’s Award at the 2005 FASEB Summer Research Conference Skeletal Muscle Satellite and Stem Cells, Tucson, AZ.  Poster Presentation entitled Functional Repair of Infarcted Hearts Mediated by Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells and Their Secretion of VEGF

 Prantil, Rachelle: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31); McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine 3^rd Place Poster Winner; 3^rd Place Poster Winner, Annual Department of Pathology Retreat

 Ramaswami, Priya: Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (CATER) Fellow; 2^nd Place Poster Winner, Annual Department of Pathology Retreat

 Rath, William: George M. Bevier Fellowship in recognition of excellent academic record

 Ruffner, Melanie: George M. Bevier Fellowship in recognition of excellent academic record

Santelices, Linda: 1^st Place, ASAIOI Paul S. Malchesky Fellowship Award; 3^rd Place, SHPE National Poster Competition at the Graduate Level; 3^rd Place, University of Pittsburgh Engineering Graduate Student Poster Competition

 Sellaro, Tiffany: Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (CATER) Fellow

 Stauffer, William: Recipient of the 2004 Neural Prosthesis Travel Assistance Program for poster at the 2004 Neural Interface Workshop in Bethesda, MD entitled Effect of bioactive molecules immobilized in polypyrrole surfaces on neuronal cell attachment, differentiation, and growth

 Toosi, Kevin: Paper entitled Changes in the mechanical properties of the rat urinary bladder following long-term spinal cord injury was selected as one of the MS-level finalists for the Student Paper Competition at the Summer Bioengineering Conference sponsored by the ASME Bioengineering Division

 Uber, Bronwyn: Cardiovascular Bioengineering Training Program(CBTP) Fellow

 VanEpps, Scott: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31) for research on coronary arterial dynamics and atherogenesis; NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship to honor outstanding athletes who intend to continue their academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree

 Wolf, Erik: First author, Vibration exposure of individuals using wheelchairs over concrete paver surfaces in Disability and Rehabilitation; Predoctoral Associated Health Rehabilitation Research Fellowship Program for academic year 2004 - 2005

 Wu, Sai Kit: George M. Bevier Fellowship in recognition of excellent academic record

 Yarnall, Megan: Paper entitled Wrist range of motion during lateral transfers among persons with paraplegia was selected for Honorable Mention at the 2005 Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Conference

 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

 Anderson, Michael: Beckman Scholarship; Awarded for his academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society

 Bechtold, Stephanie: 3^rd Place in the BS Student Paper competition at the 2004 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition

 Calano, Sarah: Awarded for her academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society; Awarded a Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) grant by AEMB; Finalist in the BS-level Student Paper Competition for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Summer Bioengineering Conference 2005

 Callaghan, Michael: Awarded for his academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society

 Iddriss, Adam: Awarded for his academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society

 Malkiewicz, Andrew: Awarded for his academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society

 McNeal, Amy: Awarded for her academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society

 Moran, Sean: Druids’ Cathedral Fountain Scholarship Award

 Premraj, Senthil: Awarded for his academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society

 Rowland, Richard: Awarded for his academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society

 Shelly, Bryan: Awarded for his academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society

 Wickwire, Alexis: Rita Schaffer Undergraduate Award from the University of Pittsburgh chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES).  This award is given in honor of outstanding leadership and service in the BMES

Wyszomierski, Sarah: Awarded for her academic excellence in bioengineering by being inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Bioengineering Honors society

______________________

Eunji Cheong, who completed her BioE PhD in Professor Guy Salama’s lab, has published the following first author paper:  Eunji Cheong, Vassil Tumbev, Detcho Stoyanovsky, and Guy Salama: Effects of pO2 on the activation of skeletal muscle ryanodine receptors by NO: A cautionary note. Cell Calcium 38 (2005) 481–488

Professor Samjeev Shroff's competitive RO1 renewal with Dr. Kirk Conrad entitled, "Endogenous Relaxin Regulates Vascular Function in Males and Nonpregnant Females," received a fabulous Priority Score of 145, and Percentile of 9.5.

George Engelmayr's F32 (post-doctoral fellowship application) titled "Cell Adhesion and Guidance Motifs for Cardiac Grafts" received a priority score of 153, percentile 11.1%.  George is completing his PhD in Professor Michael Sacks' lab; the F32 is for George's post-doc position in the Langer lab @MIT.  George has truly been an exceptional graduate student in every academic measure imaginable. 

Professor David Vorp's July 1 NIH RO1 competing renewal application entitled "Biomechanical Evaluation of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm" received a priority score of 140 and percentile of 2.3!   Dr. Vorp's truly outstanding RO1 review reflects his recognized leadership in the field of AAA Biomechanics. 

BioE graduate student Ms. Lauren Kokai has recently published the following first author publication:  Kokai, Lauren E.; Rubin, J. Peter; Marra, Kacey G., "The Potential of Adipose-Derived Adult Stem Cells as a Source of Neuronal Progenitor Cells," Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2005, 116(5), 1453-1460.  Lauren is performing this work in the lab of Dr. Kacey Marra.  Dr. Marra served as Lauren’s undergraduate adviser and is continuing to provide outstanding mentorship for Lauren’s graduate research.

Dr. George Stetten’s new IEEE publication:  Bing Wu, Roberta Klatzky, Damion Shelton, George Stetten, “Psychophysical Evaluation of In-Situ Ultrasound Visualization,” Special Issue on Haptics, Virtual and Augmented Reality, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), vol. 11, no. 6, November/December 2005.   The 3^rd author, Mr. Damion Shelton, is a member of our first B.S. Bioengineering graduating class.

New publication co-authored by Brad Impink which is accepted for publication.  Brad is a student in Dr. Michael Boninger’s lab.  Fitzgerald SG, Collins DM, Cooper RA, Tolerico M, Kelleher AR, Hunt PC, Martin SG, Impink BG, Cooper R, Issues in the Maintenance and Repairs of Wheelchairs: A Pilot Study, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, in press, 2005.

Several BioE graduate students who work in Dr. Kacey Marra’s lab, Christina Lee, Alicia DeFail and Lauren Kokai, delivered podium presentations last week at the International Fat Applied Technology Society Meeting in Charlottesville, VA, Sept 10-13.  This is the premiere international meeting on fat-derived stem cells.  Also, one BioE undergraduate student working in Dr. Marra’s lab, Virginia Penascino, also was a co-author on a poster presentation.   Finally, BioE PhD candidate Tim Maul, a student in Dr. David Vorp’s lab, was a co-author on Christina’s presentation.

Dan Debrah's manuscript entitled, "Relaxin Increases Cardiac Output and Reduces Systemic Arterial Load in Hypertensive Rats," authored by Dan O. Debrah, Kirk P. Conrad, Arundhathi Jeyabalan, Lee A. Danielson and Sanjeev G. Shroff, has appeared in the journal HYPERTENSION (Hypertension. 2005;46:745-750).  This paper is Dan's second first-author publication and fourth overall, which reflects not only Dan's outstanding work, but more importantly, Professor Shroff's excellence in graduate research advising and mentorship.

Dr. Rakie Cham has been selected as the recipient of the 2004-2005 Robert O. Agbede Award for Diversity in the School of Engineering.  In his letter to Dr. Cham, Dean Gerald Holder writes “Your commitment to recruiting under-represented students into the School of Engineering has been outstanding.  Of particular note is your involvement in faculty mentoring of female Bioengineering students.  The committee was especially impressed with the level of involvement that you displayed with your students.  You are a key female role model in your department, and because of this you are encouraged to continue and grow in this outstanding capacity.” 

Dr. George Stetten has been reappointed to a Bicentennial Alumni Faculty Fellowship effective 9/1/2005.  The appointment is for two years.  In his letter to Dr. Stetten, Dean Holder writes “This appointment is in recognition of your outstanding productivity as a member of the faculty.  Further, it reflects the strong support of your faculty colleagues and Chairman.”

Dr. David Vorp has been invited to serve on the Ph.D. thesis committee of a student from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology.  Dr. Vorp's expertise in AAA biomechanics and modeling is being sought by Frans N. van de Vosse, Professor of Cardiovascular Biomechanics @Eindhoven. This is an honor both to Dr. Vorp and our Department, that our faculty are sought by programs worldwide for their expertise in order to guide graduate student research and Ph.D. projects.

A paper from Professor Michael Sacks’ lab appears in the current issue of THE ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING.   The complete reference is:  J Nagatomi, KK Toosi, JS Grashow, MB Chancellor and MS Sacks. Quantification of Bladder Smooth Muscle Orientation in Normal and Spinal Cord Injured Rats.  ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 33:1078-1089, 2005.  Kevin Toosi is a current graduate student and Jonathan Grashow is a recent M.S. graduate from Professor Sacks’ lab.

Professor Savio Woo has been honored with the “Grand Slam” of Bioengineering and orthopaedic awards and lectures: (1) Plenary Lecture: IEEE/EMBS, September 2004, followed by a repeat invitation to be a Theme Keynote Speaker in Shanghai, China, September, 2005. (2) Distinguished Guest Lecturer: The Herodicus Society (the elite society for orthopaedic sports medicine, only 98 members), July 2005  (3) BMES Distinguished Lecturer Award: Biomedical Society Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, September 2005  (4) Robert Henry Thurston Award: The American Society for Mechanical Engineers, November 2005.  Professor Woo has also received the following honorary memberships during the last fiscal year: (1) Arthroscopic Association of North America, (2) Society for Tennis Medicine (Professor Woo is the 1^st and only honorary member), (3) The Herodicus Society – “Godfather” (Professor Woo is the 1^st Ph.D. to receive this honor).

BioE graduate student, Rebecca Long's paper entitled, "MMP-I UP-REGULATION IS A POTENTIAL MECHANISM FOR INCREASED COMPLIANCE IN MUSCLE DERIVED STEM CELL-SEEDED SIS," has been accepted for publication in BIOMATERIALS.  The authors are: Rebecca Long, Jiro Nagatomi, Michael Chancellor, Michael Sacks.  Rebecca is conducting this work in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

BioE student, David Merryman’s paper has just been accepted for publication by the American Journal of Physiology: "Correlation between heart valve interstitial cell stiffness and transvalvular pressure: Implications for collagen biosynthesis", the authors are: David Merryman, Inchan Youn, Howard D. Lukoff, Paula M. Krueger, Farshid Guilak, Richard A. Hopkins, and Michael S. Sacks.  David is conducting his research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

BioE student, Rebecca Long's abstract entitled, "The Effects of Substrate Choice and Mechanical Stimulation on Differentiation of Muscle-Derived Stem Cells," and Todd Courtney's abstract entitled, "Ana;ysis and Design of Novel Electrospun Peuu Scaffolds," both have been accepted to the 8th Annual TESI Conference & Exhibition in Shanghai, P.R. China, October 22-25, 2005.  Rebecca and Todd are performing their research in Professor Michael Sacks' lab.

The publication 1^st authored by BioE graduate student, Christina Lee.  Christina Lee WC, Tublin ME, Chapman BE.   Registration of MR and CT images of the liver: comparison of voxel similarity and surface based registration algorithms. Comput Methods Programs Biomed. 2005 May;78(2):101-14.  Christina conducted this work for her M.S. degree in Dr. Brian Chapman’s lab.

Eric Wolf’s recent publication, who is completing his PhD in Professor Rory Cooper's lab.  Wolf EJ, Pearlman J, Cooper RA, Fitzgerald SG, Kelleher AR , Collins DM, Boninger ML, Cooper R, Vibration Exposure of Individuals Using Wheelchairs Over Concrete Paver Surfaces, Disability and Rehabilitation, in press, 2005.

BioE Ph.D candidate, Michael Dvorznak’s recent publication.  Michael is doing his thesis work in Dr. Rory Cooper’s lab.  Dvorznak MJ, Cooper RA, Boninger ML, Kinematic Analysis for Determination of Bioequivalence of a Modified Hybrid III Test Dummy and a Wheelchair User, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 343-352, May/June 2005.  JRRD’s full-text articles are free to the public on their website, http://www.vard.org/pubs/pubs.htm

Scott VanEpps, who is working in Dr. David Vorp’s lab, was awarded a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship from the NCAA.   Scott was an intercollegiate swimmer during his undergraduate years at the University of Pittsburgh.

Two recent abstract acceptances from Dr. George Stetten's lab.  David Weiser is an undergraduate BioE student working in Dr. Stetten's lab.  Dr. Wilson Chang completed the Ph.D. portion of his M.D., Ph.D. Program in Dr. Stetten's lab.   (1) D. Weiser, G. Stetten, "BLIP: A New Tool for Instrumentation Education," 2005 BMES Annual Fall Meeting Baltimore, MD.   (2) W. Chang, N. Amesur, D. Wang, A. Zajko, G. Stetten, "First Clinical Trial of the Sonic Flashlight - Guiding Placement of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters," 2005 meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

Dr. Richard Debski’s contract application entitled, "Computer Model of the Knee," has been approved for funding by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Acquisition and Assistance Field Branch.  Professors Savio Woo and Mark Redfern are co-investigators in this research.

Professor Michael Sacks has been invited to speak @the 4th Leibniz Symposium on "Transplantation and Regeneration of Thoracic Organs", Hannover, Germany on May 19th and 20th, 2006.  Professor Sacks will lecture for 30 minutes on his experimental work in cardiovascular tissue engineering including mechanical aspects and the influence of matrix composition and structure.

George Engelmayr was a Finalist in the PhD Student Paper Competition - Poster Presentation, Cells and Tissue Engineering Category, @2005 Summer Bioengineering Conference; Vail, Colorado.  George is completing his PhD in Professor Michael Sacks' lab, has been exceptionally productive during his years with us as far as these very competitive awards, peer-reviewed publications, and national fellowships. 

Zhijie Ding's application for a travel award to the summer meeting of 2005 American Society of Cell Biology has been selected for funding. Mr. Ding will present a paper entitled, "Effects of silencing profilin on endothelial cytoskeleton and migration."  Zhijie is conducting this work in Dr. Partha Roy's lab.

During the joint meeting of the International Society of Biorheology (ISB) and International Society for Clinical Hemorheology (ISCH) in Chongqing, China, May 31 - June 3, 2005, Professor Marina Kameneva was elected as a Member of Council and Treasurer of the International Society for Clinical Hemorheology.

Professor Rory Cooper was chosen to receive the EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award from Exceptional Parent Magazine. Exceptional Parent magazine and the Pittsburgh Pirates will honor Dr. Cooper for his efforts on behalf of the special needs community at PNC Park on Disability Awareness Night, Tuesday, July 19, 2005.

Jonathan Vande Geest, who is completing his Ph.D. in Dr. David Vorp’s lab, received and accepted an offer to join the faculty at the University of Arizona as an Assistant Professor in the tenure stream

The University of Pittsburgh’s Bioengoneering Department was very active at the 51st ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ARTIFICAL INTERNAL ORGANS (ASAIO) in Washington, D.C.  Listed are 20 presentations made by BioE faculty, BioE graduate students, and BioE undergraduate students. 

(1) "Development Of A 2D Microfluidic Oxygenation Device" -- A Vollmer, T Snyder, M Kamaneva, B Monzyk, E Burckle, K Dasse, P Martin, H Borovetz, W Wagner, R Gilbert, T Thorsen (Trevor Snyder is completing his PhD in Dr. William Wagner's lab); 

(2) "CFD Analysis Of Blade Tip Clearances On Hemodynamic Performance And Blood Damage In A Miniature Pediatric Blood Pump" -- J Antaki,  J Wu, T Snyder, W Wagner, H Borovetz, B Paden, C Diao;  (

(3) "Microscopic Flow Visualization Of Red Blood Cell Trajectory In The Blade Tip And Back Clearance Of A Mini Blood Pump" --  J Antaki, C Diao, J Wu, H Borovetz, W Wagner, T Snyder;

(4) "Evaluation Of The Levitronix® Centrimag® VAS For Pediatric Use" -- P Wearden, R Kormos, S Badylak, M Kameneva, T Snyder, W Wagner, H S Borovetz, J Marks, J Richardson, K Dasse;

(5) "Elimination Of Reversal Flow In Back Clearance Gaps Of A Miniature Pediatric Centrifugal blood Pump By CFD" -- J Wu, J Antaki, T Snyder, W Wagner, H Borovetz, B Paden, C Diao;

(6) "Blood-Soluble Drag-Reducing Polymers As A Potential Treatment Of Hemodynamic Impairment In Diabetic Rats" --P Marascalco, J N Marhefka, S Shaulis, C Johnson, M Kameneva (Phil Marascalco and Joie Marhefka are BioE PhD candidates in Dr. Marina Kameneva's lab);

(7) "Poly(N-Vinylformamide) As A Drag-Reducing Polymer For Biomedical Applications" -- J. Marhefka, P Marascalco, T Chapman, M Kameneva;

(8) "In Vitro Evaluation Of Pulsatile Use Of The New Medos Deltastream Pump" -- S Vandenberghe, P Segers, J Antaki, R Shihab, P Verdonck;

(9) "Clinical Decision Support System For Optimal VAD Weaning" -- L Santelices, M Druzdzel, R Schaub, B Uber, R Kormos, J Antaki (Linda Santelices is completing her BioE MS in Dr. Antaki's lab);

(10) "Advances In Quantitative Biomedical Models" -- James Antaki;