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BME MONDAY ROUNDTABLE

November 29, 2021

Upcoming Events

Quick note: We are streamlining communications with the “BME Monday Roundtable” that consolidates information for the school for upcoming important events, new updates from committees, and other important and timely information.

Week of Nov. 29

Mon., Nov. 22-Fri., Dec. 3 –College of Engineering food drive to benefit Food Finders Food Bank. Non-perishable food items can be dropped off at ARMS 3000, GRIS 163, MSEE 140, ME 2007, or in the Wang Lobby. Most wanted food items: canned meats (tuna, chicken, salmon, etc.), canned vegetables and fruits, past/rice/cereals, peanut (or other nut) butter, cooking oils, canned or dried beans or peas, 100% fruit juice (no glass containers), shelf-stable milk (powdered/condensed).

Wed., Dec. 1, 9:30 a.m. – Virtual seminar: Dr. Ron June, Associate Professor from Montana State University who specializes in Cellular Mechanotransduction and Osteoarthritis. Via Zoom: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/95028921977

Wed., Dec. 1: Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship Nominations Due

Wed., Dec. 1, 12:00 noon, MJIS 2001 – Post Doc Panel: “What to Do with a PhD?” ! This will be a Q&A event where graduate students can learn about what a post doc position is, how to apply for one, how funding works for positions like these, why choose a post doc, etc. Hosted by BMEGSA. Pizza will be served.

Thurs., Dec. 2, 10:00 a.m. via Zoom: IBSC PhD Defense Announcement for Bhavani Gopalakrishnan (R. Shi and L. Solorio, co-advisors). Title: Therapeutic Immunomodulation of Microglia α-GAL Nanoparticles: Implications for Spinal Cord Injuries. Join Zoom Meeting

https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/92776776835?pwd=dS9OL1pRQXlkeVU1MEJlTDBZVkNudz09

Meeting ID: 927 7677 6835

Passcode: CPR

Thurs., Dec. 2, 12:30 p.m., MJIS 2001: BME Defense Announcement for Carolina Vivas Valencia (N. Kong, advisor). Title: Essays on Health Claims Data-Enabled Combat of Current Opioid Epidemic. Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation beginning at 12:30PM EST.

Fri., Dec. 3, 8:00 a.m. – Grade entry begins (and ends at 5:00 p.m. December 21). Faculty not meeting the submission deadline for their reporting window will NOT be allowed to enter grades online at a later date. They will need to submit individually via the Grade change workflow found in their myPurdue portal.

Tues., Dec. 7 – Deadline to sign up for BME Faculty Preview Event (to be held virtually on Jan. 13^th). The faculty preview event gives recruiting faculty the opportunity to share their research with applicants prior to you nominating/inviting students to the open house visit (outside of diversity as those deadlines are prior to this event). Our office will create a schedule and will send invites out to those who have completed applications but you are encouraged to personally invite students you are interested in as well. This event will be followed by a virtual social hour if you would like to get to know some of the applicants better. faculty will sign up for one 10 minute presentation slot; only one zoom room will be set up (no breakout rooms) so speakers will enter and exit the same room for your presentation time.

Sign up link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qiY1p5IrtNToQFF8JCO2vjDZ8coLuIOh5fUcFJWbP7E/edit?usp=sharing

Deadline to Sign Up: December 7^th

Wed., Dec. 8, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 1001 and via Zoom: BME Distinguished Seminar Series. Steven Steinhubl, MD, Associate Professor, Scripps Research. “The Role of Wearable Sensors in Better Understanding Post Acute Sequelae of COVID-19.”

Wed., Dec. 8, 3:00 p.m., via Zoom: BME PhD Preliminary Exam Announcement for Hui Ma (T. Kinzer-Ursem and J. Linnes, co-advisors). Title: Computational and Experimental Investigation of Microfluidics into Biophysical Interaction.

Thurs., Jan. 13, 3:00-5:00 p.m. – BME Faculty Preview Event (Virtual)

Upcoming important deadlines and info.

Mon. Dec. 6: QLA major revisions due.

Mon. Dec. 6 – Sat. Dec. 11 – “Dead Week” The final examination period is intended for the end-of-semester examination. No examination or quiz may be given during the week preceding the final examination period of the semester (examinations for laboratory, intensive, or minicourses excluded). It will be the responsibility of the department head or, where appropriate, the school head to ensure that none of the departmental or school faculty use the week preceding the final examination period to administer an examination.

Tues., Dec. 7: Deadline to sign up for speaker slot for faculty preview event; see above

Fri., Dec. 10, 2:00 p.m., MJIS 2001: Biomedical Research Associates Group (BRAG) talk and Q&A with Dr. Douglas Brubaker, “Passions and Priorities: Academic and Industry Careers in Biomedical Sciences.”

Mon., Dec. 13 – Sat., Dec. 18: FINAL EXAMS: Final Exam Policy here: https://catalog.purdue.edu/content.php?catoid=9&navoid=10509#final-examinations

Thurs., Dec. 16: Senior Design Expo from 3:30-5:30pm in MJIS. I would like to encourage all faculty and staff to attend, interact with design teams, and learn about the accomplishments of the seniors this year. More details to come.

Fri., Dec. 17: Graduate applications made available for review

Sat. Dec. 18: Deadline for pending Fall 2020 Incomplete Grades to become Failing Grades

Tues., Dec. 21 BEFORE 5:00 p.m. – GRADES DUE. (This includes classes and grades for all graduate and undergraduate research students)

Wed., Jan. 12: Research area nominations and rankings for diversity fellowships due to grad office

Thurs., Jan. 13: Admissions Faculty Preview Event—virtual

Mon., Jan. 24 by NOON: Research area nominations and ranking for non-traditional and research excellence fellowships due to grad office (hotel rooms need to be released today so I have to have a name tied to a room by 5 pm)

Thurs., Feb. 24 – Sat., Feb. 26: Admissions Open House visit—planning for hybrid (virtual and in-person) event

January 2022 – Microsoft Multi-Factor Authentication will be mandatory for all faculty, staff and students on the West Lafayette campus. This will ensure you have continued access to your email plus an added layer of protection from phishing attacks. More details: https://www.itap.purdue.edu/mfa/

Updates from the head

The University is continually monitoring the national and local information regarding COVID-19, including new strains such as Omicron, and there are currently no changes in masking or vaccination policy at this time.

The awards committee is seeking nominations for the University Faculty Scholars award. Young Kim received it in the previous round this past year. Details are attached.

Committee Updates

Graduate Admissions:

Recruiting season is upon us. Please be proactive about talking to candidates to build rapport and to increase our recruiting pool.
Each Research Area is advised to make a plan to nominate fellowship candidates by the deadline

Updated fellowship evaluation rubric will be provided late Nov or early Dec.
Jan 13 for George Washington Carver, PDF, Knox
Jan 21 for Remaining fellowships

In lieu of extensive research area introduction, we will have a virtual “meet-the-faculty” meeting in Dec to finalize the in-person visitation list.

This is an optional event.
It will be live for invited (applied) students to meet you but could be pre-recorded (i.e., CoE Showcase event that happened before) to introduce your lab.
The premise is to increase our touchpoints with candidates.

We are looking to revive the “Science on Tap” event during our open house.

So we need a volunteer speaker!
We hear it’s a great exposure and highly recommended (by Maria!)

Resources, attachments, further information

Attachment: Fall 2021 BME Graduate Admissions Timeline

Attachment: University Faculty Scholars Process (jfs operational process 2022)

Wed., Dec. 1, 9:30 a.m. MJIS 1001 and via Zoom: BME Research Seminar - Ron June, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and Microbiology & Cell Biology (Affiliate Faculty), Montana State University, “Understanding osteoarthritis through mechanotransduction and metabolomics”

Abstract: Millions of Americans suffer from debilitating joint diseases such as osteoarthritis. These diseases involve deterioration of cartilage, the load-bearing biomaterial that lines the articulating joint surfaces. The function of cartilage is mechanical: it provides low-friction surfaces for articulation and deforms during joint contact to decrease contact pressure and increase joint stability. The first part of this seminar will describe novel mechanobiology approaches toward understanding cartilage and osteoarthritis. The second part of this seminar will describe results from various studies applying metabolomic profiling to synovial fluid in mouse and human studies.

Bio: Ron June has longstanding research interests in osteoarthritis and biomechanics related to improving human health. At Dartmouth College he studied Engineering Sciences focused on biomechanics and developed a novel wrist protection strategy, contributed to the design and manufacture of a system for monitoring 3D head accelerations in helmeted sports, and helped to develop a finite element model to understand the biomechanics of spinal pain in rats. As a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, Dr. June studied cartilage biomechanics. Specifically, he investigated a novel mechanism of cartilage flow-independent viscoelasticity. During the course of this project, he discovered novel biomechanical phenomena and made several experimental observations that are consistent with polymer dynamics as a potential physiological mechanism of cartilage viscoelasticity. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dr. June has implemented a surgical model of mouse osteoarthritis and studied protein transduction. He developed a pH-sensitive system for intracellular delivery of macromolecules and has investigated protein transduction in cartilage and chondrocytes. Dr. June’s laboratory at Montana State University was completed in March 2012, and his research involves applying modern techniques to advance understanding of osteoarthritis and joint biology. He has applied both targeted and untargeted metabolomic profiling to questions of osteoarthritis and mechanobiology. Dr. June has been named a GAANN Fellow, NIH Kirchstein Fellow, and the Montgomery Street Scholar by the ARCS Foundation. His long-term research interests lie in understanding cartilage and joint mechanobiology to develop novel therapeutic strategies for joint disease. His lab is currently funded by the NIH, NSF, and DoD.

~BME Faculty Host: Dr. Deva Chan ~

https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/92776776835?pwd=dS9OL1pRQXlkeVU1MEJlTDBZVkNudz09

Meeting ID: 927 7677 6835

Passcode: CPR

Abstract: Immune cells such as infiltrated macrophages are involved in diverse functions following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). In their classical activated M1 phenotype, macrophages help in phagocytosis of cell debris, secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α) and generation of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species. In contrast, anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages aid in tissue repair and remodeling. It has been suggested that the improper transition from the M1 to M2 phenotype post-SCI may lead to an inhibitory microenvironment that prevents proper wound resolution and axonal regeneration. Modulating the macrophage phenotype with cytokines after SCI has shown limited success in animal models as cytokine crosstalk is problematic. Alternatively, we propose an antigen based therapy using galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (α-gal) nanoparticles (liposomes containing a-gal epitopes) to mediate the injured CNS immune response. a-Gal epitope is a carbohydrate antigen, synthesized in non-primate mammals (mice, rats, pigs, rabbits) and New World monkeys via the enzyme a1,3galactosyltransferase (a1,3GT). Humans, on the other hand, do not synthesize a-gal but instead produce anti-Gal antibody. Early studies with a-gal nanoparticles applied to dermal wounds in anti-Gal producing mice (a1,3GT knock out) showed improved healing without scarring. The chemotactic peptides released during the binding of a-gal to anti-Gal (C5a, C3a) enhanced macrophage recruitment and the bound complex further polarized the macrophages towards a pro-healing state (via Fcg receptor interactions). Since SCI pathophysiology parallels some aspects of wound healing, we hypothesize that α-gal nanoparticles may also enhance the recruitment of anti-inflammatory macrophages to the lesion after SCI and facilitate tissue repair. Unlike wound healing, however, the lesion after SCI contains both migrated macrophages and native microglia. As a first step, we assessed whether microglia can also be activated by α-gal nanoparticles in the presence of serum containing anti-Gal. Using an in vitro model with human microglia cells (HMC3), we found that α-gal nanoparticles with serum activated HMC3 cells as observed by increased CD68 expression. Additionally, the activated cells exhibited a morphological change from circular to an amoeboid form. These cells also displayed anti-inflammatory markers Arginase-1 and CD206 and increased VEGF production while reducing IL-6 levels. The data suggests that the HMC3 cells were polarized towards the M2 phenotype. Subsequently, intracord injection of α-gal nanoparticles into a1,3GT knock out mice subjected to crush SCI revealed promising outcomes. A significant increase in macrophage recruitment was found in the treated cohort in comparison to saline controls. Mice injected with a-gal also showed increased expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, decreased iNOS production and decreased pro-apoptotic Bax expression at 24h and 72h, suggesting neuroprotection. At 7, 14 and 21 days post-injury, the a-gal treated mice expressed higher levels of M2 markers (Arginase-1, CD206) while the pro-inflammatory M1 marker, CD16/CD32 was reduced. Increased neurofilament staining and decreased astrocyte (GFAP) expression in α-gal injected mice was also noted at 45 days after injury. Behavioral experiments showed improved fine-skill locomotor recovery, increased open-field activity and faster paw withdrawal response in the α-gal treated group. Collectively, these results indicate that α-gal nanoparticles induce a pro-healing inflammatory response and has therapeutic potential in ameliorating the effects of SCI.

Committee Members: Dr. Nan Kong, Chair; Dr. Paul Griffin; Dr. Nicole Adams; Dr. Jacqueline Linnes; Dr. Denny Yu

Abstract

Health care has become a data-intense industry with billions of data generated at numerous healthcare encounters on a daily basis, through wearable devices, medical imagers, and from biomedical and biobehavioral research studies. These data are essential to driving improvements in population health to address issues related to cost, quality, and outcomes, as well as to promote personalized medicine and precision health. Even though significant progress has been made in harnessing the digitized administrative data, there is still a long way to ensure excellence in precision population health, especially on service utilization and delivery. This PhD dissertation focuses on developing innovative data-driven systems analytics solutions to understand opioid use disorder and its associated harms, with the aim of synthetizing today’s evidence to improve tomorrow’s prevention and treatment outcomes on opioid use disorder. Over the past 20 years, opioid epidemic has been responsible for numerous cases of overdose deaths among Americans and worldwide. The economic burden of opioid crisis to individuals and society is immense. Furthermore, the opioid overdose epidemic has not impacted communities equally, with increased barriers to care access in an already fragmented system. This thesis comprises five essays that aim to address unanswered questions within the public health and economic literature on opioid overdose disorder diagnosis and treatment. The first essay of the thesis aims to understand how physicians’ implicit (unconscious) bias contributes to opioid-based treatment disparities in Indiana. The second essay takes a closer look into health care disparities by examining the impact of social determinants on opioid user disorder diagnosis and treatment. The third essay studies how effectively the enactment of Indiana Public Law 194 reduced the percentage of doctor shoppers for prescription opioids among Indiana Medicaid enrollees. With the use of network analysis, the fourth essay takes a closer look into the interactions between prescription-opioid doctor-shoppers and providers prescribing opioids, under the influence of prescription opioid prescribing guidelines/regulations. Finally, the last essay compares the effect and cost-effectiveness of opioid use disorder treatments based on a self-developed individualized state transition model. These essays collectively provide a data-analytics framework to study population-level opioid use disorder outcomes, investigate the impact of current public approaches on the opioid overdose epidemic, inform policymakers and the general community about the social and structural determinants affecting communities and populations vulnerable to the epidemic.

Wed., Dec. 8, 9:30 a.m., MJIS 1001 and via Zoom (https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/95028921977 ): BME Distinguished Seminar Series. Steven Steinhubl, MD, Associate Professor, Scripps Research. “The Role of Wearable Sensors in Better Understanding Post Acute Sequelae of COVID-19.”

Abstract: To date (Nov. 2021), there have been over 258 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, responsible for over 5 million deaths. For >50% of survivors, persistent symptoms, such as fatigue, dyspnea and cognitive impairment can persist for beyond 6 months following their acute infection. The massive scale, marked variability, and primarily subjective nature of these Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) has led to countless challenges to its diagnosis, mechanistic evaluation, and treatment.

Objective measures of the long-term impact of COVID-19 on an individual’s physiology are lacking, especially when an “abnormal” finding is determined relative to accepted population normals. However, by taking advantage of novel “digital vital signs” - measures that are based on an individual’s normal rather than a population’s normal – long-lasting, significant changes have been identified in subsets of COVID-19 survivors. These findings, identified using data from primarily consumer wearable sensor technologies like activity bands and smartwatches, are preliminary evidence of what can be achieved, in people with, or at risk for PASC, and well beyond, through a focus on individual health. As wearable sensor technologies continue to improve in the quality and quantity of physiologic measures they can track, supported by increasingly sophisticated data analytic techniques, they will become central to the ongoing efforts to transform health care.

Bio: Dr. Steinhubl is a career-long clinician-scientist and the founding Director of Digital Medicine at Scripps Research’s Translational Institute. In 2021 he began dividing his time between Scripps and physIQ where he is Chief Medical Officer. He also remains clinically active as a cardiologist for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. He received his undergraduate training in chemical engineering at Purdue University, medical degree at St. Louis University and cardiology training at the Cleveland Clinic. His research has focused on the implementation of clinical programs built specifically around the novel capabilities of digital technologies, especially those made possible through combining novel sensor technologies and AI-based insights to provide personalized, real-time analyses able to detect individual changes in health. Steve has been the principal investigator of dozens of nationwide and global clinical trials, has published over 280 peer-reviewed articles and was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Nature Partner Journal - Digital Medicine. He is also the occasional breakfast cook at his wife’s B&B, Susitna Place, in Anchorage Alaska.

~BME Faculty Host: Dr. Matthew Ward ~

Place: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/92468866334?pwd=OGt0cWRFUklzV2I0S2dhQnByd0t2UT09

Zoom ID: 924 6886 6334

Passcode: 47907

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Committee members: Dr. Jacqueline Linnes (co-chair), Dr. Tamara Kinzer-Ursem (co-chair), Dr. Arezoo Ardekani, Dr. Steven Wereley

Abstract: Microfluidic techniques have been widely applied in biomedical research such as protein-interaction measurement and point-of-care diagnostics, where experiments and computational models are both leveraged. However, there are still disadvantages and defects in many currently used protocols and models. These microfluidic methods usually need complicated external instrumentation for manipulation or analysis, and to achieve precise control. Solution volume is also much larger if syringe and tubing are necessary. In the theoretical field, models are important to help understand the mechanisms and design the devices. It remains a critical need to improve or develop new models. The goal of this work is in two aspects: optimize protein binding measurement using microfluidic methods and develop new models for rotational diffusion and partially saturated liquid flow in porous media. First, I use particle diffusometry (PD) to measure protein-interaction association constant by common lab equipment. Therefore, the instruments and consumables required in current gold standard are not necessary. Second, to reduce the solution volume needed in microfluidic experiments, I design a chip leveraging air/water two-phase flow, which only needs 2μL solution for protein-interaction analysis. Next, I develop a new method simulating rotational diffusion coefficients of particles based on the Navier-Stokes equation. This model is as accurate as the currently widely used shell model but more efficient and straightforward. Finally, a new model is built to investigate partially saturated flow in porous media. Experiments are implemented to confirm the validity. This model can be applied in hydrology, geology, paper-based biomedical devices and so on.