[cid:image001.jpg@01D90313.DFA11C80] BME MONDAY ROUNDTABLE NOVEMBER 28, 2022 HEADS NOTE Hello everyone- welcome back to the home stretch of the semester. This week we have series of high impact special seminars in addition to our weekly Wednesday Seminar. Wednesday, Dr. Arnab Mukherjee will present on Engineering reporters for MRI, on Thursday- Dr. Chulhong Kim, Chair of Convergence IT engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), will present “Multi-modal imaging: Photoacoustic imaging plus more,” and on Friday, Dr. Tatiana Foroud, Executive Associate Dean for Research Affairs and Chair, Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine will present “Discovery to Translation in Neurodegenerative Disorders.” Dr. Foroud has been a key partner of the new Institute for Engineering in Medicine. Please see below for all detailed times and locations. Have a great week! UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES Week of November 28 Mon., Nov. 28 through Fri., Dec. 2: BMES Food Drive. Join Food Finders and BMES to unite in helping to stock the food bank’s supply to ensure that our neighbors facing hunger have enough resources to care for their families this winter. Visit the drop-off box by MJIS 1021. Most needed items: 100% fruit juices, baking items, beans, boxed rice, potatoes, canned fish and meat, cereal, meals in a can/box, peanut butter, canned soups and stews. Mon., Nov. 28: BME Master's Defense Announcement for Aiswarya A Ramanujam (T. Kinzer-Ursem, advisor). Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation beginning at 9:30AM EST via Zoom. Title of thesis research: Assay Optimization for Point-Of-Care Detection of HIV Viral Load. Mon., Nov. 28: BME Master's Defense Announcement for Umm E Hani Abdullah (T. Kinzer-Ursem, advisor). Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation beginning at 11:30AM EST (Please note revised start time) in MJIS 2001 and via Zoom. Title: Deep brain stimulation in the Syngap1+/- mouse model of autism and intellectual disability. Tues., Nov. 29: BRAG Meeting for BME postdocs, visiting scientists and research staff, 2:00-3:00 p.m., MJIS 2001. Dr. Elsje Pienaar, Assistant Professor in BME will discuss “Strategies and challenges in learning about DEI”. The session will be in the format of a short presentation followed by Q&A, and the speaker has specifically asked us to send suggestions on topics, questions and thoughts ahead of time to best tailor the sessions to us. Please RSVP and email your suggestions to kejendal@purdue.edu. You are of course welcome with spontaneous questions as well! Welcome! Bring a postdoc friend! Wed., Nov. 30: Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Distinguished Seminar, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 1001 or via Zoom. Arnab Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at University of California, Santa Barbara will be presenting “Engineering protein reporters to image molecular events with magnetic resonance.” Wed., Nov. 30: BME Master's Defense Announcement for Alexandra Plummer (L. Solorio, advisor), 9:00 a.m., via Webex. Thesis Title: Collagen Matrix Modifications Impact on Matrix Microstructure and Mass Transport of Macromolecules. This defense is open only to those who have signed the Lilly NDA. Thesis Committee: Luis Solorio, Chair, Arezoo M. Ardekani, Julie C. Liu Webex link: https://purdue-student.webex.com/meet/plummera Wed., Nov. 30: BME PhD Defense Announcement for Joseph C. Muskat (V. Rayz and C. Goergen, Co-Chairs), 2:00 p.m., MRGN 121 and via Zoom. Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation. Dissertation Title: Application of Multiscale Hemodynamic Models to Explore the Action of Nitrite as a Vasodilator during Acute Cardiovascular Stress. Wed., Nov. 30: Seminar for Neurotrauma and Diseases, 4:00 p.m., via Zoom. Dr. Shihuan Kuang, Cancer Center Chair in Stem Cell Biology and Professor of Animal Sciences at Purdue University will present “Targeting stem cells in neuromuscular diseases.” Zoom link: https://bit.ly/3QN4YhL . This seminar series is sponsored by the Center for Paralysis Research and Plexon Neurotechnology Systems and is supported by the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience and Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery. Wed., Nov. 30: Frontiers in Biophysics Seminar, 1:30 p.m. via Zoom. Susan Buchanan of the NIDDK/NIH will present “Structural analysis of the Ton motor complex.” Register in advance at https://purdue.edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/UUtd-2rrTlqEt28s1D20iZPi-9RRDGj7... Seminar series is co-sponsored by Structural and Computational Biology & Biophysics (SCBB) and the NIGMS-funded Molecular Biophysics Training Program (MBTP) in partnership with the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry, Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry, and Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology; and the following Institutes: PI4D, PCCR, and PIDD. Thurs., Dec. 1: Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Special Seminar, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 2001 and via Zoom. Chulhong Kim, Department Chair of Convergence IT Engineering, Program Chair of Medical Science and Engineering and Mueunjae Chair of Electrical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea, will present “Multi-modal imaging: Photoacoustic imaging plus more.” Thurs., Dec. 1: BME PhD Preliminary Exam Announcement for Chun-Yi Chang (Chien-Chi Lin and Luis Solorio, Co-Chairs), 10:00 a.m. in SL220 at IUPUI and via Zoom https://iu.zoom.us/j/87266126712. Title: In situ generation of physiological gradients in cell-laden hydrogels. Fri., Dec. 2: BME Special Seminar, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 2001. Tatiana Foroud, Executive Associate Dean for Research Affairs and Chair, Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine will present “Discovery to Translation in Neurodegenerative Disorders.” Fri., Dec. 2: BME Master's Defense Announcement for Shaheryar Khan (T. Kinzer-Ursem, advisor), 11:00 a.m., MJIS 2001. Thesis Title: Biophysical measurement of protein-protein interactions. This defense is open only to those who have signed the Lilly NDA. Thesis Committee: Tamara L. Kinzer-Ursem, Chair, Jean-Christophe Rochet, Karin F. K. Ejendal Fri., Dec. 2: Please make note of the grading deadline for all research students (grad & undergrad) and your Fall classes: Full Term (16 Weeks) and Second Eight-Week Session (meeting between October 19 and December 17) Grade entry begins at 8 a.m. December 2 and ends at 5 p.m. December 20. Faculty at West Lafayette not meeting the submission deadline for their reporting window will be required to submit via the Grade change workflow found in their myPurdue portal. Sun., Dec. 4: Deadline for submission for The Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship provides support for outstanding PhD candidates in their final year or semester of doctoral degree completion. The goal of the fellowship is to allow exceptional candidates to focus exclusively on finishing their dissertation. The Graduate School Fellowship Manual has additional details https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/fellowship/fellowship-resources-for-staff/... Note: Students in other schools outside of BME should follow those schools’ procedures. Holiday Updates Purdue University will be closed beginning Friday, December 23rd and will reopen on Tuesday, January 3rd. This means all offices, labs and buildings will be closed. This translates to no mail or package delivery, so (hopefully) you haven’t ordered anything perishable that will languish until your return on Tuesday, January 3rd.. We will also be closing and locking the student club room (MJIS 1051) over this time. Any food left in the refrigerator as of 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 22nd will be put in the trash. REMINDER: users of the Club Room on the 1st floor ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CLEANING UP YOUR OWN MESSES. Lately, there has been an exponential increase in splattered food not being wiped out of the microwave, and other food debris left on the table surfaces, which has led to an influx of mice (and mice droppings) in this room. If you use the club room, YOU are responsible for cleaning up your mess. We don’t want to be forced to shut this area down, but if it continues to be left dirty, with unlabeled food in the refrigerator, we may have to take more drastic measures for everyone’s health safety. Researchers also need to make note that for the Winter Recess – The ordering deadline for research materials (animals, chemicals, drugs, etc.) will be noon on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, for delivery dates of December 19 – 22, 2022. There will be no deliveries of any kind on campus from December 22, 2022 through January 3, 2023. This same schedule will be followed for Drug Distribution Center orders. Please plan accordingly. Upcoming important deadlines and info. Tues., Dec. 6: BME PhD Preliminary Exam Announcement for Aditya Shanghavi (A. Sereno and B. Duerstock, co-advisors), 1:30 p.m. in MJIS 2001 and via Zoom. Title of presentation: A Study of Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease Using Signals From Wrist-Worn IMU Sensors Wed., Dec. 7: BME Distinguished Seminar Series, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 1001 and via Zoom. Henry H.N. Lam, Associate Head and Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology will present “Proteomics and its applications in antibiotic tolerance research.” Wed., Dec. 7: Frontiers in Biophysics Seminar, 1:30 p.m., MJIS 1001 and via Zoom. Cheng Zhu, Georgia Institute of Technology will present “Mechanosensing through immunoreceptors.” The seminar series is co-sponsored by Structural and Computational Biology & Biophysics in the Department of Biological Sciences and the NIGMS-funded Molecular Biophysics Training Program in partnership with the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry, Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry, and Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and the following Institutes: PI4D, PCCR, and PIDD. Zoom link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUtd-2rrTlqEt28s1D20iZPi-9RRDGj... Thurs., Dec. 8: BME Faculty Coffee Chats for Grad Students, 2:00-3:00 p.m., MJIS 2041. Faculty host: Deva Chan. Potential discussion topics: AMA work-life, teaching & diversity statements, time management Thurs., Dec. 15 The BME Senior Design Expo will be from 3:30 - 5:30pm in MJIS 1097, 1001, and Atrium. There will be 24 projects presented followed by awards ceremony. Stay tuned for additional details. Fri., Dec. 23 through Mon., Jan. 2: Winter Recess. No classes, all university offices and buildings closed. Purdue will reopen Tuesday, January 3. PURDUE ADVERSE WINTER WEATHER POLICY If adverse weather conditions necessitate that a wind chill, snow or ice emergency be declared for the West Lafayette campus, special procedures pertaining to classes, operations, parking, pay and/or attendance will become effective. Jay Wasson, vice president for physical facilities and chief public safety officer, describes procedures for adverse winter weather in this memo<https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/emergency-preparedness/docs/adverse-winter-weather.pdf>. Committee Updates Academic Programs Update Fri., Dec. 2: Please make note of the grading deadline for all research students (grad & undergrad) and your Fall classes: Full Term (16 Weeks) and Second Eight-Week Session (meeting between October 19 and December 17) Grade entry begins at 8 a.m. December 2 and ends at 5 p.m. December 20. Faculty at West Lafayette not meeting the submission deadline for their reporting window will be required to submit via the Grade change workflow found in their myPurdue portal. Undergraduate Programs Update The BME Senior Design Expo will be Thursday, December 15 from 3:30 - 5:30pm in MJIS 1097, 1001 and Atrium. There will be 24 projects presented followed by awards ceremony. Stay tuned for additional details. Graduate Office Update It is officially Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition season! To increase academic representation in our 3MT® competition, we are asking that West Lafayette graduate faculty members nominate talented graduate student(s) to represent their academic units. This is an exciting year to participate, as we have increased the cash prizes, which include $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place, and $2,000 for the People’s Choice Award winner. Nominees must be current Purdue graduate students studying at the West Lafayette campus. Each nominee will be contacted by Graduate School staff and encouraged to register for the competition. Nominations are not required for students to submit a draft video; they are simply intended to help the Graduate School identify and encouraged talented students to participate. The link to the nomination form below, as well as some additional information about the Graduate School’s 3MT® competition. Please email me, Allison Loy (Loy2@purdue.edu<mailto:Loy2@purdue.edu>), with any questions! Virtual 3MT® 2023 Nomination Form: * Nomination Deadline: January 13, 2023 https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_204r4KOtt2fUIbI What is 3MT®? Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a research communication competition that helps graduate students develop academic, presentation, and research communication skills so that they can effectively explain their research to a non-specialist audience. During each competition, graduate students will have three minutes to present a compelling discussion on their research topic, including its significance and relevance, to the general public. This is a fast-paced competition where the top 10 finalists compete by summarizing their two to three-plus years of research in only three minutes with only one slide. The cash awards for this year’s competition have been increased substantially, including $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place, and $2,000 for the People’s Choice Award winner. The first-place winner will also be invited to compete in the Midwestern Association of Graduate School’s (MAGS) annual 3MT® competition. 3MT® Timeline * Friday, February 10: Draft Video Submission Deadline – Learn more about making a draft video!<https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/professional-development/documents/Virtual_3MT_Competitors_Guide.pdf> * Friday, February 24: Semifinalists Announced * Friday, March 3: Semi-Finals * Monday, March 6: Finalists Announced * Monday, April 10: 3MT® Rehearsal * Tuesday, April 11: 3MT® Competition Learn more about the Purdue University Graduate School’s 3MT® competition here: https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/professional-development/competitions/3mt/... BME Coffee Chats We are once again hosting are faculty coffee chats for grad students. Remember, we need attendance for this event to be successful so get these on your calendars today😊. These coffee chats will attempt to accomplish some priorities that have been shared with us by you: 1. First year students—what a great opportunity to find out more about other labs and find potential mentors for your qual committee. 2. Grad student professional development—to learn/ask/chat about topics of interest to the student either about research or other topics. 3. Increase faculty involvement with graduate students outside of their own lab. 4. Help build community between grad students. Here are the dates and faculty for fall: December: Date: December 8th Time: 2:00 pm-3:00 pm Location: MJIS 2041 Faculty host: Deva Chan Potential discussion topics: AMA work-life, teaching & diversity statements, time management Please plan to participate in as many as your schedule will allow. There will be free snacks and drinks included. Graduate Admissions Update Fall 2022 (Fall 2023 Admit Term) BME Graduate Admissions DateDATE Activity Now Research Areas create a plan and potentially agree on dates to meet ranking deadlines. December 19th—All Fellowship Nominations Due Dec 1 Complete applications due for priority admission and funding consideration Dec 2 Prescreening of eligibility of Purdue Doctoral and George Washington Carver sent to faculty Dec 2 Spreadsheet and applications posted to Engineering Intranet for Research Area and faculty review Dec 19 DUE: All Fellowship Nominations and Additional Invite Lists Dec 20 Grad office to process admission for all fellowship-nominated applicants to the Purdue Graduate School and any additional applicants you would like to admit from the open house invitation list. Dec 20 Tammy to send invitations to invited students to participate in our virtual open house. Jan 3 Deadline for students to respond to Open House RSVP (hotels released today). Jan 26 Agendas for all invited students due from faculty to Tammy and sent to student. Feb 2-4 Weldon School Visitation Days (Hybrid) Feb 8 Last chance for Research Areas / Faculty to remove students from fellowship consideration Feb 10 Fellowship offers announced and complete rankings list made available to BME faculty; BME Graduate Office will notify students by email (offer letters distributed as soon as signed by BME Head and COE Dean) Mar 10 DUE: All Master’s students to be decisioned as either admit, deny or hold Mar 31 Due: All PhD students to be decisioned as either admit, deny or hold April 15 Graduate applicant acceptance deadline Resources, attachments, further information BME Master's Defense Announcement for Aiswarya A Ramanujam (T. Kinzer-Ursem, advisor). Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation on Monday, November 28 beginning at 9:30AM EST via Zoom. Title of thesis research: Assay Optimization for Point-Of-Care Detection of HIV Viral Load. Zoom Link - https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/94260591743?pwd=U3c3ekVlM01FTkJCT1V6bDlRdXZmdz0... Advisory committee: Dr. Tamara Kinzer-Ursem, Dr. Jacqueline Linnes, Dr. Robert V. Stahelin Abstract: As of 2021, 38.4 million people worldwide are living with HIV, with Eastern and Southern Africa having the highest prevalence. The efficacy of treatment is determined by identifying acute HIV infections and prompting early Antiretroviral therapy initiation to achieve viral suppression and reduce the risk of transmission. Existing rapid tests that detect host antibodies are affected by long seroconversions which allow the viruses to remain undetected until long after infection. On the contrary, highly sensitive NAAT-based assays, serving as the gold standard for detection are restricted by their long turnaround time and high cost of implementation thus, restricting their use in low resource settings. Further, drug resistance cases and patient non-compliance to treatment may lead to HIV progression to AIDS; therefore, effective viral load monitoring is a critical component in the HIV care continuum. To address the gaps in viral load monitoring and early HIV detection, I propose to develop assays for handheld self-test platforms to detect low concentrations of HIV via two different approaches: 1) I will optimize an existing NAAT-based assay to semi-quantitatively detect HIV particles that were spiked in clinical samples and 2) I will probe the binding kinetics of the HIV p24 - antibody interaction. Thus, I will lay the foundation for the development of a novel and highly sensitive p24 detection assay. Overall, this work will enable detection of early Acute HIV Infection detection as well as support PLHIV management, all while remaining connected to healthcare and provider support. BME Master's Defense Announcement for Umm E Hani Abdullah (T. Kinzer-Ursem, advisor). Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation on Monday, November 28 beginning at 11:30AM EST (Please note revised start time) in MJIS 2001 and via Zoom. Title: Deep brain stimulation in the Syngap1+/- mouse model of autism and intellectual disability. Thesis Committee: Dr. Tamara Kinzer-Ursem (Major Professor), Dr. Maria Dadarlat Makin, Dr. Karin Ejendal Abstract: Syngap1+/- haploinsufficiency is phenotypically characterized by autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), and epilepsy. SynGAP as a protein, is also known as Synaptic Ras GTPase-activating protein, regulating the function in synapses. Treatment-resistant severe ASD in particular, presents concurrently with ID in 31% patients, where patients exhibit minimal speech formation, self-injurious behavior, and cognitive impairment. Previously, success in alleviating self-injurious behavior along with speech formation was demonstrated in adolescent patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the basolateral amygdala (BLA). In addition, SynGAP protein is an integral component of the post-synaptic density and its role in signaling pathway converges with other autism risk genes and consequently autism risk proteins. A critical gap exists in understanding how electrical stimulation as part of the Hebbian theory, can induce neuroplasticity. Therefore, we sought to develop a chronic DBS model in Syngap1+/- haploinsufficient mice that can be used to assess the behavior and proteomic correlates due to DBS in BLA. We optimized the DBS surgery and anesthesia requirements to ensure survival of Syngap1+/- mice as they are more susceptible to isoflurane anesthesia. Additionally, we optimized the DBS stimulation parameters in accordance with behavior responses from Syngap1+/- mice by performing multiple trials of DBS paremeters. These methods ensure attainment of local field potentials from Syngap1+/- mice – future directions include verifying the role of DBS in producing theta oscillations for the purposes of memory retrieval. Zoom link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/98616521806?pwd=clUrVkhVa1plTE5kSDduZlJIREZaQT0... Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Distinguished Seminar, Wed., Nov. 30, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 1001 or via Zoom. Arnab Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at University of California, Santa Barbara will be presenting “Engineering protein reporters to image molecular events with magnetic resonance.” Abstract: Answers to some of the most pressing biological questions – such as how cancer cells metastasize, how neurons communicate, and how therapeutic cells find (or miss) their targets – are buried deep inside the body, beyond the reach of conventional optical reporter genes, such as fluorescent and bioluminescent proteins. Conversely, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is well-suited to imaging at any depth but lacks robust genetic reporters to visualize biological functions at the molecular and cellular levels. Our research is conducted at this somewhat unusual interface, where we engineer biological molecules, such as water channels, bacteriophages, and paramagnetic proteins, to guide the design of conceptually new biomolecular reporters for MRI. In this talk, I will highlight our recent efforts in this area by focusing on three examples of engineering proteins for MRI: (1) modulating water movement in and out of cells to image gene expression and protease activity, (2) reducing ambiguity in imaging studies by exploiting ligand-induced protein stabilization for background-free MRI, and (3) engineering antimicrobial immunity proteins into calcium biosensors. Bio: Arnab Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where his lab started in the summer of 2018. Prior to arriving at UCSB, he completed a Boswell fellowship in Molecular Engineering at Caltech and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Mukherjee lab takes advantage of the unique physical and chemical properties of biological molecules to guide the design of conceptually new technologies for MRI, allowing the latter’s application in molecular-level studies in living organisms. Research in the Mukherjee group has been recognized with notable recent awards, including an Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the NIH (MIRA R35), a Discovery Award from the DoD, the NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and a Scialog Fellow in Advanced Bioimaging award. ~BME Faculty Host: Dr. Uzay Emir ~ NOTE: Students registered for the seminar are expected to attend in-person. Zoom: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/7731446991?pwd=RHdkZTVnRkxTM3J3dnRvY1VLWTlYUT09 BME PhD Defense Announcement for Joseph C. Muskat (V. Rayz and C. Goergen, Co-Chairs), Wednesday, November 30, 2:00 p.m., MRGN 121 and via Zoom. Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation. Dissertation Title: Application of Multiscale Hemodynamic Models to Explore the Action of Nitrite as a Vasodilator during Acute Cardiovascular Stress. Advisory Committee: Vitaliy L. Rayz, Co-Chair, Craig J. Goergen, Co-Chair, Charles F. Babbs, Elsje Pienaar Abstract: The fluid dynamics of blood in the systemic circulation modulates production of nitric oxide (NO), a potent vasodilator. Non-invasive techniques such as the flow-mediated dilation (FMD) test and physiologic phenomena associated with autonomic stress induce hyperemia and subsequently higher levels of wall shear stress (WSS), stimulating endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression. In the current clinical practice, WSS–a key regulator of endothelial function–is commonly estimated assuming a parabolic velocity distribution, despite the evidence that the temporal changes of pulsatile blood flow over the cardiac cycle modulates vasodilation in mammals. This work investigates the effect of cardiovascular stress on local WSS distributions and the potential for accumulation of near-wall nitrite, the vasoactive storage form of NO in the bloodstream. The specific aims of the project are therefore as follows: 1) develop a reduced-order model of the major systemic vasculature at rest, during a flight-or-flight response, and under moderate levels of aerobic exercise; 2) derive a velocity-driven Womersley solution for pulsatile flow to support accurate estimation of pulsatile WSS in the clinical setting; and 3) quantify cumulative transport of nitrite in a multiscale model of bifurcating vasculature utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Development of these open-source, translatable methods enable accurate quantification of hemodynamics and species transport during cardiovascular stress. Results detailed herein extend our knowledge about hemodynamics of vascular homeostasis during autonomic stress, suggest a convergent evolutionary theory for having a complete circle of Willis, and potentially clarify reproducibility concerns associated with the FMD test. Zoom: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/93964160161?pwd=Ui9Od2hTNU9sek04Y3gwTlZ2clZlZz0... Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Special Seminar, Thurs., Dec. 1, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 2001 and via Zoom. Chulhong Kim, Department Chair of Convergence IT Engineering, Program Chair of Medical Science and Engineering, POSTECH Young Distinguished Professor and Mueunjae Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering, Convergence IT Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, Director of Medical Device Innovation Center at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea, will present “Multi-modal imaging: Photoacoustic imaging plus more.” Abstract: Trans-energy imaging modalities have been significantly explored to overcome existing problems in conventional imaging modalities with respect to spatial/temporal resolutions, penetration depth, signal-to-noise ratio, contrast, and so on. Among them, photoacoustic imaging, an emerging hybrid modality that can provide strong endogenous and exogenous optical absorption contrasts with high ultrasonic spatial resolution, has overcome the fundamental depth limitation while keeping the spatial resolution. The image resolution, as well as the maximum imaging depth, is scalable with ultrasonic frequency within the reach of diffuse photons. In this presentation, the following topics will be discussed; (1) multiscale and multiparametric trans-energy imaging systems, (2) novel deep-learning powered image processing, (3) recent clinical study results, and (4) efforts to commercialization. Bio: Dr. Chulhong Kim studied for his Ph.D. degree and postdoctoral training under Prof. Lihong Wang at Washington University in St. Louis. He has published 200 peer-reviewed journal articles (Nat. Nanotech., Nat. Mat., Nat. BME, PNAS, Light Science & Applications, Advanced Science, Laser & Photonics Reviews, Cancer Research, Radiology, IEEE T. Medical Imaging, etc). He has currently served as a Section Editor of Photoacoustics Journal, an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, a Topical Editor of IEEE ACCESS, and an Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports, Applied Science, Sensors, etc. ~BME Faculty Host: Dr. Young Kim ~ Zoom link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/91214862961?pwd=T1ZiaytxZ0ZCM1F3c1paZVJBQkRYQT0... BME PhD Preliminary Exam Announcement for Chun-Yi Chang (Chien-Chi Lin and Luis Solorio, Co-Chairs), Thurs., Dec. 1, 10:00 a.m. in SL220 at IUPUI and via Zoom https://iu.zoom.us/j/87266126712. Title: In situ generation of physiological gradients in cell-laden hydrogels. Abstract: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal disease with 5-year survival rate of ~10%. A major hurdle to treating PDAC is the desmoplastic reaction in the tumor microenvironment (TME), which is a result of excess deposition of extracellular matrices (e.g., hyaluronic acid or HA) secreted by stromal cells. The desmoplastic reaction is a barrier blocking the therapeutics from entering the tumor, while allowing cancer cells to metastasize. To this end, we have developed a gelatin-based hydrogel system with biorthogonal click chemistries to mimic TME in PDAC. Gelatin was dually modified with norbornene and carbohydrazide (i.e., GelNB-CH) to form a primary gel network through thiol-norbornene chemistry and to allow dynamic stiffening via hydrazone click chemistry. The dynamic stiffening changed the cytokine and protein secretion of the encapsulated PDAC cells. Compared to gel stiffening with the bioinert control, matrix stiffening by oxidized HA (oHA) restored the spreading cell morphology and enhanced CD44 expression. To capture the heterogeneous ECM distribution in TME, we sought to create HA gradient in the hydrogel based on microporous annealed GelNB-CH microgels and the diffusion of oHA. The porous structure makes the annealed microgels more permeable for the diffusion of oHA than a nano-porous bulk gel. We expect the system can also be more permissive for cell protrusion or spheroid outgrowth. Future work will be focused on the EMT-related gene/protein expression and cell migration in response to the chemical and mechanical cues from the dynamic matrix. BME Special Seminar, Fri., Dec. 2, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 2001. Tatiana Foroud, Executive Associate Dean for Research Affairs and Chair, Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine will present “Discovery to Translation in Neurodegenerative Disorders.” Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are the two most common neurodegenerative disorders. The frequency of both has increased with the aging of the world’s population. Genetics has elucidated key mechanisms of disease risk which are now being targeted for novel therapeutics. Ameliorating symptoms once an individual has been diagnosed is likely too late to dramatically alter disease course. Current goals are to develop approaches to identify those at greatest risk and identify biomarkers which can then be used in trials to not only delay but potentially deter disease onset. This presentation will review the genetics underlying these disorders and discuss ongoing approaches to prepare for future trials in prodromal individuals. Bio: Tatiana Foroud, PhD<https://medicine.iu.edu/faculty/276/foroud-tatiana>, is the Executive Associate Dean for Research Affairs, the August M. Watanabe Professor for Medical Research, and remains as the Joe C. Christian Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics. Dr. Foroud is also a Distinguished Professor and a Chancellor’s Professor, IUPUI. Over the course of her more than 25 years with IU School of Medicine, Dr. Foroud has been actively involved in the genetics of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease as well as studies of alcoholism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. A statistical geneticist by training, she leads several large NIH-funded biorepositories focused on the development of effective biomarkers of disease onset and progression. ~BME Host: Craig Goergen~ The Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship provides support for outstanding PhD candidates in their final year or semester of doctoral degree completion. The goal of the fellowship is to allow exceptional candidates to focus exclusively on finishing their dissertation. The Graduate School Fellowship Manual has additional details https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/fellowship/fellowship-resources-for-staff/... Note: Students in other schools outside of BME should follow those schools procedures. Due Date: Sunday, December 4th (tsiemers@purdue.edu<mailto:tsiemers@purdue.edu>) Student Eligibility * At the time of nomination, students must have 1) completed their preliminary exam or, 2) submitted the paperwork scheduling their preliminary exam for a date before May 31. * Students who will complete their defense prior to September 1, 2023, are not eligible. * Students who need less than 1 semester of support are not eligible. * Nominees must be outstanding engineering PhD students. * The following criteria will be used to rank the nominees: * Merit. Includes publications, conference presentations, GPA etc. * Funding need. * Good citizen of the School and College. Includes service. * Career promise. Includes leadership, innovation, readiness and potential to make an impact. Application Package Should Include the following in one PDF: * A letter (limit 2 pages) from the major professor nominating the student and confirming that the student’s expected graduation date. This can be sent separately if the student is providing the rest of the information. * The student’s thesis abstract, * A copy of the preliminary examination paperwork (to confirm the student is on track to graduate next year), * The student’s CV, * A copy of the student’s most recent transcript – graduate work only. Salary & Usage: * This fellowship includes $28,600 annual salary, tuition remission, medical insurance premium contribution, and coverage of most fees. Engineering differential fee is not covered. * Bilsland Fellowships are administered as assistantships. It is expected that job duties will contribute to the completion of the student’s dissertation. * This year’s Bilsland allocation may be used Summer 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, or Summer 2024. * No additional work appointments may be added, but faculty may (and perhaps must; depending on our minimum salary requirement which may be set in BME) increase the salary or provide additional funds as scholarships, etc. * The fellowship is to be awarded for the full 12 months or until the student graduates, whichever comes first. * Fellowship recipients who graduate before the completion of the fellowship or otherwise stop the fellowship before the full 12 month duration forfeit any remaining funds. * If Bilsland Fellows do not graduate as expected this could hurt our funding allocation from the Graduate School, so please only nominate students you truly expect to graduate and are truly in their final year. The announcement will go out to the students as well. Please let me know if you have any questions. BME PhD Preliminary Exam Announcement for Aditya Shanghavi (A. Sereno and B. Duerstock, co-advisors), Tues., Dec. 6, 1:30 p.m. in MJIS 2001 and via Zoom. Title of presentation: A Study of Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease Using Signals From Wrist-Worn IMU Sensors. Advisory Committee: Anne B. Sereno, Co-Chair; Bradley S. Duerstock, Co-Chair; Craig J. Goergen; Satyajit S. Ambike Abstract: Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder with resting tremor (RT) being its most common motor symptom. The literature has revealed that the need for lengthy, clinic-based subjective evaluation by trained neurologists of treatment effects in PD creates challenges for monitoring the progression of the disease and titrating optimal therapeutic therapies. Preliminary studies have shown that features of a power spectral density (PSD) analysis of wrist velocity and acceleration can be used as objective, reliable, and sensitive detectors of RT. Replacing the neurologist’s judgement on the progression of the disease is not feasible, yet some aspects of tracking the disorder and treatment may profit from more frequent remote sensor measurements. There is an opportunity to improve patient-care by introducing non-invasive, sensor-based objective measurements of RT using wrist movements that can aid the neurologist with the MS- UPDRS evaluation in the diagnostic process. Success in objectively quantifying RT with such a method would allow physicians to more frequently and remotely monitor patients to change the treatment plan as needed to reduce the severity of harmful side effects of PD medication. Virtual Link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/4520252995 BME Distinguished Seminar Series, Wed., Dec. 7, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 1001 and via Zoom. Henry H.N. Lam, Associate Head and Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology will present “Proteomics and its applications in antibiotic tolerance research” on Wednesday, December 7, at 9:30 a.m. in MJIS 1001 and via Zoom. Abstract: Proteomics has witnessed rapid technological advances in the past decade and a half. Despite its obvious promise, proteomics still poses a considerable barrier of entry for the average life scientist, and the adoption of this powerful technology across different areas has been uneven. In this talk, I will present two rather distinct stories that have the same underlying goal, namely, to suggest a roadmap for proteomics to become truly ubiquitous in all life science research. The first is in computational method development. Proteomics is a prototypical "Big Data" field, but it may be surprising to some that despite the rapid accumulation of LC-MS/MS data in public repositories, for the most part all these data have not been meaningfully reused. This unfortunate situation can be traced to how we are used to analyze data in proteomics in isolation without prior knowledge, and how we store and organize the data. I will discuss our ongoing efforts to change this by organizing proteomics data by spectral similarity, and our vision for a simpler and more user-friendly way to analyze proteomics data. The second is in the application of proteomics to an important problem in microbiology -- the fascinating but annoying ability of bacterial pathogens to survive antibiotic treatment. Antibiotic tolerance, defined as the ability of a bacterial population to outlive lethal doses of antibiotics in a non-proliferating and non-specific way, is distinct from, and less understood, than antibiotic resistance. I will discuss our recent work in applying proteomics and adaptive laboratory evolution to map the "tolerome" (the set of genes and proteins that affect tolerance) in two organisms, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and some hard-learned lessons of how to reduce distraction when dealing with hundreds of differentially expressed proteins. In doing so, I hope to show an example of what proteomics can and cannot do, and how it enables one to make progress towards addressing open-ended biological questions. Bio: Prof. Henry Lam is currently Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He obtained his Ph. D. (Chemical Engineering) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005, and received postdoctoral training in the Aebersold group at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle, Washington. At ISB, he participated in developing data analysis workflows in the then-nascent field of proteomics, some of which have become standard practice today. He has a longstanding interest in making the powerful technology of proteomics more reliable and more accessible to life scientists. Current research in his group focuses on method development in proteomics and metabolomics, particularly in algorithm design and data organization, and applications of proteomics in biological research, particularly in microbiology. ~BME Host: Young Kim~ NOTE:Students registered for the seminar are expected to attend in-person. Zoom link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/7731446991?pwd=RHdkZTVnRkxTM3J3dnRvY1VLWTlYUT09 -- Bmeroundtable-list mailing list Bmeroundtable-list@ecn.purdue.edu https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECN/mailman/listinfo/bmeroundtable-list
