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.

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 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. 

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An update on publications from Dr. Tamer Ibrahim's lab: (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)

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.

Dr. William Wagner’s (editor-in-chief) new biomaterials journal, Acta Biomaterialia, in its third year of publishing and now listed on Medline, just received its first impact factor or 2.132.  This places the journal 5th of 14 journals in the biomaterials category of Journal Citation Reports. For reference the official journals of the Society for Biomaterials, The Journal of Biomedical Materials Research A & B have impact factors of 2.497 and 1.778 respectively and The Annals of Biomedical Engineering has an impact factor of 2.276.

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.

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.

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.

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

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. 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

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.

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.

_____________

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.

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.

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, 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.

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 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.

A recent publication by BioE graduate students, Jonathan Kirk and Research Associate, Caroline Evans, who are conducting this research in Professor Sanjeev Shroff's lab.  Pressure-calcium relationships in perfused mouse hearts. Guy A. MacGowan, Jonathan A. Kirk, Caroline Evans, and Sanjeev G. Shroff. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 290: H2614-H2624, 2006.

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.

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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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, 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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Jonathan Grashow's M.S. thesis paper entitled;  "BIAXIAL MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF THE MITRAL VALVE ANTERIOR LEAFLET AT PHYSIOLOGIC STRAIN RATES,"  authored by Professor Michael Sacks (Corresponding Author) Jonathan S Grashow, M.S.; Ajit P Yoganathan, Ph.D. has been accepted for publication in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering.  Jonathan performed his research 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

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. Alicia Koontz’s paper entitled "Scapular range of motion in a quasi-wheel chair push" published in International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 33, Number 3, has won the Liberty Mutual Best Paper Award for 2004.

Recent publications by Drs. Michael Boninger and Rory Cooper: (1) Algood SD, Cooper RA, Fitzgerald SG, Cooper RM, Boninger ML, Effect of a Pushrim Activated Power Assist Wheelchair on the Functional Capabilities of Persons with Tetraplegia, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 380-386, March 2005.  (2) Ding D, Cooper RA, Electric Powered Wheelchairs: A Review of Current Technology and Insight Into Future Directions, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 22-34, April 2005.

Recent publications by Drs. Michael Boninger, Rory Cooper and AM Koontz.  One of the authors, Brad Impink, is a BioE graduate student working in Dr. Boninger's lab.  (1) Ding D, Cooper RA, Electric Powered Wheelchairs: A Review of the Current State and Insight Into Future Directions, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, in press, 2005.  (2) 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, in press, 2005.

Two recent publications from BioE graduate students working in Professor Rory Cooper's lab.  Andrew Kwarciak just completed his MS in BioE and Erik Wolf his finishing his PhD in BioE.  (1) Kwarciak AM, Cooper RA, Ammer WA, Fitzgerald SG, Boninger ML and Cooper R.  Fatigue Testing of Selected Suspension Manual Wheelchairs using ANSI/RESNA Standards.  ARCH PHYS MED REHABIL Vol 86, pp. 123-129, 2005.  (2) Cooper RA, Wolf E, Fitzgerald SG, Kellerher A, Ammer W, Boninger and Cooper R. THE JOURNAL OF SPINAL CORD MEDICINE Vol 27, pp. 468-57, 2004

Professor Michael Sacks has been invited to write a chapter for an issue entitled "Engineering of the Heart" to be published in the very prestigious Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 

Two recent publications below; for Eric Wolf, a BioE PhD candidate in Dr. Rory Cooper's lab, is the 2nd author.  (1) Fitzgerald SG, Cooper RA, Thorman T, Cooper R, Guo SF, and Boninger ML, The GAMECycle Exercise System: Comparison with Standard Ergometry, The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 453-459, 2004 and (2) Cooper RA, Wolf EJ, Fitzgerald SG, Kellerher A, Ammer W, Boninger ML, Cooper R, Evaluation of Selected Sidewalk Surfaces for Vibration Experienced by Users of Manual and Powered Wheelchairs, The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 468-475, 2004

Please see the URL for a terrific story about Dr. Russell in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.  http://www.postgazette.com/pg/04363/433202.stm 

The first issue of Dr. William Wagner's journal, ACTA BIOMATERIALIA, is now in print.

Two recent publications by Professor TK Hung:  Hung, TK & T. T-M. Tsai, "Nonlinear Pulsatile Flows in Rigid and Distensible Arteries," J. of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 4, Nov. (2004), 1-16 and Hung, TK,"Unsteady Flows with Moving Boundaries: Pulsating Blood Flows and Earthquake Hydrodynamics", to be published in Reflection and Outlook of Engineering Mechanics: In Honor of Theodore Y.-T. Wu, World Scientific, 2005.

Recent IEEE paper published by Professor Rory Cooper,  Ding D, Cooper RA, Guo S, Corfman TA, "Analysis of Backwards Driving in an Electric-Powered Wheelchair," IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, Vol. 12, No. 6, pp. 934-944, 2004.

BioE Graduate student, David Merryman's paper has been accepted in the Journal of Biomechanics.  David is doing this work in Dr. Michael Sacks' lab.  Co-author Hsiao-Ying Shadow Huang received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering last year from Dr. Sacks' lab.  The Effects of Cellular Contraction on Aortic Valve Leaflet Flexural Stiffness, W. David Merryman, Hsiao-Ying Shadow Huang, Frederick J. Schoen, and Michael S. Sacks

BioE Graduate student, Pui-Yan Lee, who is a student in Professor Leaf Huang's lab, has recently published a peer-reviewed paper:  Lee, P-Y; Chesnoy, S.; and Huang, L. Electroporatic delivery of TFG-B1 gene works synergistically with electric therapy to enhance diabetic wound healing in db/db mice. J. of Investigative Dermatology. 123: 791-798. 2004.  This is Pui-Yan’s second first-authored paper.

Latest article published by Drs. Jiro Nagatomi and Michael Sacks.  Dr. D. Claire Gloeckner is a former BioE graduate student, who completed her Ph.D. dissertation in Dr. Michael Sacks' lab.  Nagatomi J, Gloeckner D. Claire, Chancellor MB, DeGroat WC and Sacks MS.  "Changes in the Biaxial Viscoelastic Response of the Urinary Bladder following Spinal Cord Injury."  ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING Vol 32; pp 1409-1419, 2004.

Please refer to the URL for a very nice article about Dr. Andrew Schwartz's research in Pittsburgh Post Gazette on October 27, 2004.  http://www.postgazette.com/pg/04301/402431.stm

Professor Mark Redfern's newly published article:  Muller M LTM and Redfern MS, "Correlation between EMG and COP onset latency in response to a horizontal platform translation."  JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS 37(2004) 1573-1581.

Professor James Wang's newly published article:  Yang G, Crawford RC and Wang JH-C, "Proliferation and collagen production of human patellar tendon fibroblasts in response to cyclic uniaxial stretching in serum-free conditions."  JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS 37(2004) 1543-1550.  The 2nd author, Mr. Richard Crawford, is a BioE Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Wang's lab.

Professor Rory Cooper's newly published invited review article:  Cooper RA, "Bioengineering and Spinal Cord Injury: A Perspective on the State of the Science." JOURNAL OF SPINAL CORD MEDICINE 2004; 27:351-364.

News updates from Dr. Michael Sacks' Engineering Tissue Mechanics Lab.  PUBLICATIONS: Hildebrand DK, Wu ZJ, Mayer JE and Sacks MS: "DESIGN AND HYDRODYNAMIC EVALUATION OF A NOVEL PULSATILE BIOREACTOR FOR BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE HEART VALVES." Annals of Biomedical Engineering 2004 (in press).  Mr. Hildebrand completed his MS in BioE in Dr. Sacks' lab.  BMES MEETING: Dr. Michael Sacks will be chairing three heart valve podium sessions at this years Annual Fall BMES meeting, including one on heart valve tissue engineering.  Dr. Sacks' Engineering Tissue Mechanics lab will be presenting 13 abstracts at this meeting.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04215/355296.stm

Featured in the text, "International Leaders in Biomedical Engineering Science." are the computational biomechanics work of Professor T-K Hung and tissue biomechanics work of Professor Savio Woo.  Both are cited as being "pioneering researchers in modern biomedical fluid and solid mechanics." 

Professor Marina Kameneva's most recent publication:  “Survival in a Rat Model of Lethal Hemorrhagic Shock is Prolonged Following Resuscitation with a Small Volume of a Solution Containing a Drag-reducing Polymer Derived from Aloe Vera,”  SHOCK, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 151-156, 2004

Dan Debrah, a BioE graduate student in Professor Sanjeev Shroff's lab, has published the following article:  Relaxin Modifies Systemic Arterial Resistance and Compliance in Conscious, Nonpregnant Rats  KIRK P. CONRAD, DAN O. DEBRAH, JACKIE NOVAK, LEE A. DANIELSON, AND SANJEEV G. SHROFF, Endocrinology 145: 3289-3296, 2004.  The next paper in the series will be published next month, and a 3rd manuscript is currently being reviewed.

Dr. Jack Patzer's article entitled, "Oxygen consumption in a hollow fiber bioartificial liver -- revisited," which is published in volume 28 of Artificial Organs, is in the top 25 articles viewed online in 2004 to date at Blackwell Synergy.

Susan Moore, a Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Richard Debski's lab @MSRC, is the 1st author on the following recent publication:  Moore SM, Musahl V, McMahon PJ, Debski RE. Multidirectional kinematics of the glenohumeral joint during simulated simple translation tests: impact on clinical diagnoses. J Orthop Res. 2004 Jul;22(4):889-94.

A new publication from Dr. Michael Sacks' lab:  Hildebrand DK, Wu ZJ, Mayer JE and Sacks MS: "Design and Hydrodynamic Evaluation of a Novel Pulsatile Bioreactor for Biologically Active Heart Valves."  ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Vol 32, pp. 1039-1049, 2004.  The 1st author, Dan Hildebrand, did both his B.S. and M.S. (working in Dr. Sacks' lab) in the BioE Department.

Dr. Linda Baker, who completed her Ph.D. thesis in Dr. Guy Salama's lab, has published the following paper:  Linda C. Baker, Robert Wolk, Bum-Rak Choi, Simon Watkins, Patricia Plan, Anisha Shah, and Guy Salama Effects of Mechanical uncouplers, Diacetyl Monoxime and Cytochalasin-D on the Electrophysiology of Perfused Mouse Hearts, Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol (June 10, 2004). 10.1152/ajpheart.00234.2004.  The paper may be accessed on line at:  http://ajpheart.physiology.org/papbyrecent.shtml

BioE PhD graduate, Dr. Claire Gloeckner, along with BioE faculty Dr. Michael Sacks and Dr. Johnny Huard have the following paper accepted and in press in BIOMATERIALS:  "Biaxial mechanical properties of muscle-derived stem cell seeded small intestinal submucosa for bladder wall reconstruction" by Lu, Sacks, Chung, Gloeckner, Pruchnic, Huard, de Groat, and Chancellor.

BioE recent graduates Wei Sun (PhD 2003) and Greg Fulchiero (MS 2002), whose research was performed in Dr. Michael Sacks' lab, are co-authors on the following paper:  W. Sun, M.S. Sacks, G. Fulchiero, J. Lovekamp, N. Vyavahare, and M.J. Scott, "Response of heterograft heart valve biomaterials to moderate cyclic loading" Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, vol. 69, pp. 658-669, 2004.

The following paper has just been published with BioE PhD candidate, Susan Moore, as the 1st author.  Susan is from Dr. Richard Debski’s lab.   Moore SM, McMahon PJ, Debski RE. Bi-directional Mechanical Properties of the Axillary Pouch of the Glenohumeral Capsule: Implications for Modeling and Surgical Repair. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 2004. April;126(2):284-288.

Dr. Marina Kameneva's most recent paper published in BIORHEOLOGY.  Kameneva MV, Wu ZJ, Uraysh A, Repko B, Litwak KN, Billiar TR, Fink MP, Simmons RL, Griffith BP, Borovetz HS.  Blood soluble drag-reducing polymers prevent lethality from hemorrhagic shock in acute animal experiments. Biorheology. 41(1):53-64, 2004.

Dr. James Wang’s, former BioE graduate student Brian Campbell, and current BioE graduate student Charu Agarwal have authored the following paper.  "TGF-B1, TGF-B3, and PGE2 regulate contraction of human patellar tendon fibroblasts". This paper has been accepted for publication in Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology (BMMB).

BioE graduate student, Ms. Karin Corsi, was selected by the Provost's Office as the graduate student representative at this Friday's Honors Convocation.  Ms. Corsi will make the response for all graduate and professional students honored at the Honors Convocation, after their achievements are recognized in the ceremony.  Ms. Corsi is doing her Ph.D. research in Dr. Johnny Huard's lab.

Dr. Ali Mirnajafi's paper was accepted for publication::   A. Mirnajafi, J. Raymer, M.J. Scott, and M.S. Sacks, "The effects of collagen fiber orientation on the flexural properties of pericardial heterograft biomaterials," Biomaterials, (in-press).  Also listed as a contributing author is Jeremy Raymer, a BioE undergraduate working under the direction of Dr. Mirnajafi.

George Engelmayr Ph.D. candidate and Wei Sun, Ph.D have two papers that were accepted for publication:  G.C. Engelmayr, Jr., E. Rabkin, F.W.H. Sutherland3, F.J. Schoen, J.E. Mayer, Jr., and M.S. Sacks, “The independent role of cyclic flexure in the early in vitro development of engineered heart valve tissue,” Biomaterials, (in-press) and W. Sun, M.S. Sacks, G. Fulchiero, J. Lovekamp, N. Vyavahare, and M.J. Scott, “Response of heterograft heart valve biomaterials to moderate cyclic loading” Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, (in-press).

Recent publications by BioE graduate students while working @MSRC.

Woo, S.L-Y., Moon, D., and Hanford, S.:  Biomechanics of Ligaments:  From Molecular Biology to Joint Function in New Frontiers in Biomedical Engineering (World Congress of Chinese Biomedical Engineers 2002 Proceedings).  Ed. Ned H-C. Hwang, Kluwer/ Plenum Academic Publishers, New York, NY, December, 2003.

Musahl, V., Abramowitch, S., Gilbert, T., Tsuda, E., Wang, J.H-C., and Woo, S.L-Y.:  The Use of Porcine Small Intestinal Submucosa to Enhance the Healing of the Medial Collateral Ligament - A Functional Tissue Engineering Study in Rabbits.  J. of Orthopaedic Research, 22:214-220, January 2004.

Dr. Michael Sacks and two of his students, George Engelmayr and Dan Hildebrand, have written a book chapter that  will be published by Kluwer in 2004.  The title of the chapter is: "Biomechanical considerations for tissue engineered heart valve bioreactors," by M. S. Sacks, G.C. Engelmayr, D.K. Hildebrand, J.E. Mayer, Jr.  An invited chapter for Bioreactors for Tissue Engineering, Julian Chadhuri and Mohamed Al Rubeai,Eds., Kluwer pub.

Recent publications for Drs. Michael Boninger's and Rory Cooper's publications from the Human Energy Research Lab:

Cooper RA, Wolf E, Fitzerald SG, Boninger ML, Ulerich R, Ammer WA, Seat and Footrest Accelerations in Manual Wheelchairs With and WIthout Suspension, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilition, Vol. 84, No. 1, pp. 96-102, January 2003.

Wainner RS, Fritz JM, Irrgang JJ, Boninger ML, Dekutti A, Allison S, Reliability and Diagnostic Accuracy of the Clinical Examination and Patient Self-Report Measures for Cervical Radiculopathy, Spine, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 52-62, January 2003.

Cooper RA, Boninger ML, Cooper R, Robertson RN, Baldini FD, Wheelchair Racing Efficiency, Disability and Rehabilitation, Vol. 25, Nos. 4-5, pp. 207-212, February 18-March 4, 2003.

Boninger ML, Cooper RA, Fitzgerald SG, Lin J, Cooper R, Dicianno B, Liu B, Investigating Neck Pain in Wheechair Users, American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 82, No. 3, pp. 197-202, March 2003.

Cooper RA, Boninger ML, Cooper R, Dobson A, Kessler J, Schmeler M, Fitzgerald SG, Technical Perspectives: Use of the Independence(tm) 3000 IBOT(tm) Transporter at Home and in the Community, Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 79-85, Spring 2003.

Corfman TA, Cooper RA, Boninger ML, Koontz AM, Fitzgerald SG, Range of Motion and Stroke Frequency Differences Between Manual Wheelchair Propulsion and Pushrim Activated Power Assisted Wheelchair Propulsion, Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, Vol. 26, No. 2, Summer 2003.

Recent publications co-authored by BioE graduate students in the MSRC. Faculty advisors are Drs. Richard Debski and Savio Woo:

Costic RS, Jari R, Rodosky MW, Debski RE: Joint compression alters the kinematics and loading patterns of the intact and capsule-transected AC joint.  Journal of Orthopaedic Research.  2003 May; 21 (3): 379-85.

Debski RE, Moore SM, Mercer JL, Sacks MS, McMahon PJ; The collagen fibers of the anteroinferior capsulolabrum have multiaxial orientation to resist shoulder dislocation.  Journal of Shoulder Elbow Surgery. 2003 May-Jun; 12(3):247-52.

Abramowitch SD, Papageorgiou CS, Debski RE, Clineff TD, Woo SL-Y: A biomechanical and histological evaluation of the structure and function of the healing medial collateral ligament in a goat model.  Knee Surgery Sports Traumatology and Arthroscopy. 2003 May; 11(3):155-62.

Abramowitch SD, Papageorgiou CD, Withrow JD, Gilbert TW, Woo SL-Y: The effect of initial graft tension on the biomechanical properties of a healing ACL replacement graft: a study in goats. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 2003 Jul;21(4):708-15.

BioE PhD graduate student Tom Gilbert is a co-author on the first paper with Dr. Wang and Professor Woo.  BioE M.S. graduate (and current Pitt medical student) Brian Campbell is the first author on the second article.