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Weldon School Friends and Colleagues,
It’s one of my greatest privileges each year to write you with updates from the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue. The past year has been a tremendous year for the School with a new undergraduate incoming class of 171 students, over 70 new graduate
students, three new faculty, one returning faculty member who brings back rich entrepreneurial leadership experience, and many faculty and staff successes that are in this newsletter. This year also brings new opportunities with our colleagues in Indianapolis
in BME at IUPUI and the IU School of Medicine (IUSM) that I expand upon below. We also had an opportunity to work as a faculty and staff team to update our
Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Core Values that define who we are as a school, how we train and mentor, how we form partnerships and joint ventures, and how we position ourselves for success in research. These
are our updated guiding principles that define who we are as a school, how we train and mentor, how we form partnerships and joint ventures, and how we position ourselves for success in research. This community-building process is paying dividends as we take
the next giant leaps as the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue.
Evolving student training for greater success
Our program continues to grow at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. With this growth comes new opportunities to tailor experiences at the undergraduate level in interest areas in bioelectricity, biomechanics, computational biomedicine, and others.
Students now have the option for enrichment in particular specialties of biomedical engineering to provide the added depth that potential employers are seeking. At the graduate program level, we have refined a high-contact mentorship process with regular milestones
that includes professional development and additional training in grantsmanship and scientific writing. These endeavors lead to new student successes including Ph.D. student
Sarah Libring becoming a recipient of the National Cancer Institute F99/K00 Pre-Doctoral to Post-Doctoral Fellowship, and undergraduate student
Carl Russell III being named a Purdue Engineering Fellow.
IUPUI Merger – Combining forces for biomedical engineering in Indiana
In a
joint announcement from the Boards of Trustees from both IU and Purdue University, a new direction for the future of Purdue and IU was established for Indianapolis. For the Weldon School, this means that the IUPUI Department
of Biomedical Engineering will join forces with us, and we have already started the process!
Joey Wallace, chair of the department of biomedical engineering at IUPUI is excited for the new opportunities that our unification will bring about and he wanted to share the following message: “From its inception
in 1996, the BME program at IUPUI was intimately linked with the Weldon School through a joint PhD program and shared governance. The faculty and staff in Indianapolis look forward to reestablishing and bolstering that relationship to build something truly
special for the city and state and I am excited to work with David to make the merging of our two departments as efficient and synergistic as possible."
The Purdue and IUPUI Biomedical Engineering programs have a longstanding collaborative relationship at multiple levels. The recent announcement takes this to the next level and by 2024 we will be one BME program with unique capabilities and the best of
both worlds – Purdue Engineering in West Lafayette and the engineering in medicine ecosystem with our partners in Indianapolis including the IU School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children.
New Institute – Increasing collaboration at the intersection of our strengths
In the same Trustees’ message, they announced a new joint institute that bridges Purdue Engineering and health-related sciences at Purdue University with the IU School of Medicine and health-related sciences at Indiana University. The institute between universities
will build a premier program in engineering, science, and medicine to train the next generation workforce, make new breakthrough discoveries, and develop innovative solutions and life-saving technologies in medicine. This new initiative grew out of the strengths
of existing collaborations between the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and the IU School of Medicine, and we are kicking things off with a Purdue Engineering/IUSM
joint research grant program. I have been deeply involved in the Institute planning as the leader of the Purdue team, working closely with our IU colleagues in this new initiative. I will continue to update this community
as the exciting new initiative develops.
New faculty
Over the past year we welcomed three new faculty and one returning faculty from industry to the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.
Steve Steinhubl, MD, joins us from Scripps as Reilly Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Steve is a cardiologist and expert in digital medicine and clinical trial design. He was selected as a “Health
Equity Faculty Champion ” to work closely with former U.S. Surgeon General and Purdue Distinguished Professor of Practice
Jerome Adams, MD, to lead a team focused on health equity as it relates to infectious diseases.
Taimoor Qazi, PhD, joins us to lead research and teaching in biomaterials and biomechanics. Taimoor is an innovator who couples AI and simulation to guide research in granular biomaterials research with applications in
regenerative medicine.
Matthew Ward, PhD, is an expert in neuroengineering, device development, and is an alumnus of Purdue BME. Matthew will lead the development of new devices and technologies related to vagal nerve stimulation, gastroparesis,
and other areas of neuroengineering.
Eugenio Culurciello, PhD, returns to BME after a three-year hiatus in industry and brings back a highly successful experience to support further training and entrepreneurial activities in the School.
We’ve had an exciting year in the Weldon School. We look forward to the changes ahead as it will help us to realize a greater vision for Biomedical Engineering and Medicine. We are thankful for our eager partners in the IU School of Medicine and IUPUI, and
I’m impressed by the unity of vision for the next generation of engineering advances in medicine. Purdue’s strengths lie in its mission and its people, and I will continue to tirelessly evoke the highest standards as Head of BME as we take this next giant
leap in Engineering in Medicine. Thank you for your ongoing support, and Boiler Up!
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David M. Umulis
Dane A. Miller Head and Professor
Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering
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Chi Hwan Lee addresses glaucoma diagnosis and management through smart soft contact lens
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The vision of Purdue University biomedical engineer Chi Hwan Lee to develop specialized smart soft contact lenses that can accurately measure intraocular pressure
(IOP) in a person's eye could be the latest answer to stopping glaucoma-related blindness.
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BME researchers develop edible QR code to take a shot at fake whiskey
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A silk tag with a QR code is a security measure that could reveal if whiskey is fake. Developed by biomedical engineers from Purdue University and the National Institute
of Agricultural Sciences in South Korea, a smartphone can scan the tag to confirm the drink's authenticity.
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Hunting for early biomarkers of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
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Medical providers currently lack standard imaging biomarkers to forecast cardiomyopathy's early onset or developmental pace. To facilitate those diagnoses, BME's
Craig Goergen and IU's Larry W. Markham have developed an innovative method to measure strain in three dimensions.
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Purdue team named winner of $1M first place prize in DOT’s Inclusive Design Challenge
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A team of Purdue engineering professors, led by Bradley Duerstock, professor of practice in biomedical engineering, was named the winner of the $1 million 1st place
prize on July 26 in the 2020 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Inclusive Design Challenge (IDC). The contest aimed at improving transportation access to persons with disabilities and individuals with mobility challenges.
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Opioid overdose detection and response startup receives four-year, $2.8M Fast-Track SBIR grant from NIH
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Rescue
Biomedical has received a Fast-Track Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop its technology that detects when a person is overdosing on an opioid and delivers naloxone to reverse the action.
Hyowon “Hugh” Lee, Rescue Biomedical CEO and associate professor of biomedical engineering at Purdue, said the company looks to partner with recovery clinics and clinicians to identify and work with opioid use disorder (OUD) patients at high risk of overdosing
again.
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Claridge receives Schmidt Science Polymaths award
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Shelley Claridge, associate professor of biomedical engineering and chemistry, is one of 10 recipients of the award, which provides $500,000 a year, paid through
their institution, for up to five years to help support part of a research group.
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Indiana University, Purdue University announce new vision for Indianapolis campus
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The MOU to transform IUPUI includes the creation of a joint biosciences engineering institute to harness the power of the universities' collective academic and research
strengths and ongoing collaboration between Purdue's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Indiana University's School of Medicine.
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Student success, collaborations highlight Wodicka’s legacy in BME
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George Wodicka's thinking has been bigger than big, transforming a small research center into the renowned Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, whose work impacts
millions of patients worldwide.
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Umulis, Weldon School featured on College Knowledge podcast
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David Umulis recently joined Dave Kozak, CEO of College Planning Network and host of the College Knowledge podcast to discuss biomedical engineering at Purdue, Weldon
School experiences and programs, and what high school students interested in a career in engineering should be thinking about.
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Libring, Purdue’s first recipient of National Cancer Institute F99/K00 pre-doctoral to post-doctoral fellowship, closes chapter on impressive Purdue career
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Sarah Libring first entered the Purdue BME program in August 2017 and has since contributed tremendously through her research, as well as through her involvement
with campus organizations.
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Graduate research assistant in BME lab chosen as LATinE Trailblazers in Engineering Fellow
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Current Purdue PhD student, Javier Muñoz Briones, was chosen as a LATinE Trailblazers in Engineering Fellow through Purdue University's College of Engineering for
the summer 2022 cohort. The LATinE program has a goal to prepare future trailblazing faculty in engineering with a focus on preparing outstanding scholars who are also committed to increasing the success of Latinx engineers. Trailblazers in Engineering Fellows
are selected not only for their outstanding scholarly achievements but also for their potential impact in expanding representation and diversity in engineering.
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Engineering Fellows program grows; seven graduating seniors to receive $20K including BME's Russell
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Seven Purdue College of Engineering seniors, including biomedical engineering student Carl Russell III, have been announced as 2022-2023 Purdue Engineering Fellows,
becoming the fourth class of recipients since the program’s inception. The program was designed to recognize the accomplishments, contributions, and potential of outstanding seniors.
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EMBRIO Institute hosts trainee summer workshop at Purdue
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This past summer, the inaugural EMBRIO Summer Workshop, themed “Computational Cabal,” was hosted in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. The three-day intensive
workshop engaged 44 diverse trainees in achieving new knowledge and skills they are now applying in their research as integral parts of the interdisciplinary whole that will move EMBRIO forward. The workshop brought together BME students with students from
biological sciences and engineering domains representing six universities (Purdue University, Indiana University, Morehouse College, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez).
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