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.

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.

The 2007 impact factors for Professor William Wagner's journal, Acta Biomaterialia, have just been released.  This is the second impact factor for this journal which is now in its 4th year of existence.  Acta Biomaterialia has risen to the #2 ranked journal in the biomaterials category (16 ranked journals). The impact factor for 2007 is 3.113.  Journal submissions have tripled since the initial impact factor was released last summer!  Congratulations to Professor Wagner for his editorship/leadership of Acta Biomaterialia.

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."  

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.

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.

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.

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 Orthopaedic 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."

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.

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

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. 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.

Professor George Stetten has been appointed Co-Director of the Pitt/CMU Medical Scientist Training Program (MD, PhD Program). This appointment is most fitting for Professor Stetten who has been totally committed to the academic success of our outstanding MSTP Program. Professor Stetten has been particularly successful at recruiting top bioengineering recruits to our MSTP and Pitt BioE.

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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Professor Tin-Kan Hung has been invited to serve on the International Advisory Committee for the 2007 Indo-Australian Workshop on CFD, which is being organized by the Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee INDIA to be held in April 2007.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.”

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. 

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-Engineering, 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.

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 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.

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.

 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 Presentatio