BME ~~Monday~~ TUESDAY ROUNDTABLE

May 30, 2023

Important MJIS Alerts

REMINDER: Purdue University is a NON-SMOKING campus. You are not permitted to smoke/vape in or around MJIS. There is a smoking area on the other side of Martin Jischke Drive, near the police station. Remember that the air intakes for the entire building are located externally. If you smoke on the sidewalk outside of MJIS, it is drawn into and distributed throughout the building! Don’t do it! Here is a map of all the smoking areas on campus: https://www.purdue.edu/smokefree/Smoking_map.pdf The closest to MJIS is labeled “4”

UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES

Week of May 29

Tues., May 30: C.R.A.S.E. (Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events) training is available through the Purdue University Police Department. Contact Sarah Clark (sclark32@purdue.edu) to sign up for your 9:30, 1:30 or 5:30 session. All faculty and staff are encouraged to attend. For additional information see: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/purduetoday/releases/2023/Q2/pupd-to-offer-free-active-threat-training-on-may-30.html

Wed., May 31: BME Summer Seminar Series, 9:30 a.m. via Zoom. This week’s presenters: Eugene Kim (Tamara Kinzer-Ursem, advisor) will present “The Role of CaMKII, Drebrin-A and F-actin Tripartite in Homeostatic Plasticity” and Rachel Stingel (Riyi Shi, advisor) will present “Excitotoxicity and acrolein damage caused by spinal cord injury – the role of GLT-1.”

Wed., May 31: Purdue Department of Health & Kinesiology World Class Research Seminar, 3:00 p.m., Lawson B151. Graham Fraser, PhD, will be the guest speaker for the Department of Health & Kinesiology on Wednesday, May 31st, at 3:00 p.m. in Lawson B151. His presentation is entitled "Dynamics of Capillary Blood Flow Regulation in Skeletal Muscle."

Thurs., June 1: BME PhD Final Defense Announcement for Jongcheon Lim (H. Lee, advisor). Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation beginning at 3:00 PM in MJIS 2001 and via Zoom. Title: Toward Advanced Neural Interfaces for Selective Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Thurs., June 1: BME PhD Preliminary Exam announcement for Claudia Benito Alston (L. Solorio, advisor). Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation beginning at 3:00 PM in DLR 131 and via Zoom. Title: Optimization of a patient-specific 3D printed bone graft for increased osteoinduction through finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, as well as in vitro to in vivo modeling

Upcoming Opportunity for Fun!

Do you play a band instrument? Purdue Bands and Orchestras has just opened registration for the 2023 Purdue University Summer Band! This ensemble is open to all area musicians that are high school age and up. Participation in Purdue’s Summer Band is FREE to all. We plan to begin rehearsals on Tuesday, June 20, and rehearse on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 4:00-5:30 PM in Hagle Hall, Room 178. Our concert will be held on Thursday, July 20, 6:30 PM at Columbian Park Memorial Island Amphitheater immediately prior to a performance by the Lafayette Citizens' Band.

Upcoming important deadlines and info.

Wed., Sept. 6: BMES Early Bird Registration Deadline! Register now to lock in savings with early-bird pricing for the 2023 BMES Annual Meeting (to be held in Seattle, WA, October 11-14). Thousands of biomedical engineers will attend this year’s meeting to learn, collaborate, and network. As a BMES member, you can save more than 10% with reduced early bird rates, so if you’re not already a member, now would be a good time to join! Click here for details: https://mailchi.mp/e3958bb463f2/o8cvhb9q5x-9335625?e=ea10e317a2

Mon., July 24: Final Grade Entry Begins. (Ends promptly at 5:00 p.m., Tues., August 8^th).

Committee Updates

Academic Programs Update

Summer Grading Deadlines:

Final Grading windows are found here:

Full 12-week summer session (includes all undergrad and grad-level research students)

Grade entry begins at 8 a.m. Monday July 24th and ends promptly at 5 p.m. Tuesday August 8th.

Guidance on Final grading
Now is the perfect time for faculty to take the 15 minutes to get all your required certifications up to date BEFORE the deadline approaches.

FERPA
GLBA
Data Handling
Protecting SSNs

This page provides myPurdue grade entry instructions.
This page provides BrightSpace final grade submission instructions.

Those not making the deadline must use the Grade Change Workflow to submit a grade for each student.

Instructions may be found here.

Graduate Office Update

The Purdue Office of Engagement is sponsoring an ”Advancing Graduate Research Impact in Society Professional Development Program for Future Engaged-Scholars.” The purpose of the Advancing Graduate Research Impact in Society certification program is to foster the development of engaged scholarship. This professional development program will help increase knowledge, skills, and experience translating your research in ways that help solve societal problems. The program is open is any graduate student or post-doctoral fellow enrolled at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus. Participants will meet weekly to learn how to become engaged scholars, develop community partnerships, engage with diverse communities, evaluate engagement activities, and communicate your engaged work.

Location: Purdue Grad Student Center, Northwestern Avenue, Room 105

Day & Time: Tuesdays 3:00-4:00 p.m., Fall 2023 Semester. (All sessions are in person)

Registration required: Open from May 18 to June 16.

If you are interested in learning more or registering, please scan the UR code:

Resources and further information

Eugene Kim (Tamara Kinzer-Ursem, advisor), “The Role of CaMKII, Drebrin-A, and F-actin Tripartite in Homeostatic Plasticity”

Abstract: Homeostatic plasticity is defined as the neuron’s ability to stabilize its activity to a particular set point, such as the average neuronal firing rate. There is much-emerging evidence that suggests disrupted homeostatic synaptic plasticity leads to neuropsychiatric and neurologic disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Out of many ways to regulate homeostatic plasticity, structure-based homeostatic plasticity is one of them. However, structural homeostatic plasticity at the spine head is mainly studied at the post-synaptic density (PSD) and shows wide variance across all studies, such as in-vitro and brain slices. Specifically, spine head enlargement is commonly seen through Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMKII) and filamentous actin (F-actin), but understanding how this translates into structural homeostatic plasticity is lacking. Recent studies have shed light upon the role of Drebrin-A, an actin-binding protein that forms stable F-actin meshes in dendritic spines, and its binding properties with CaMKII and F-actin. However, no studies have shown the interaction of CaMKII, Drebrin-A, and F-actin as a tripartite and how it influences structural homeostatic plasticity. We propose to define the localization of the tripartite in dendritic spine heads and characterize structural homeostatic plasticity due to the tripartite and its interaction with other cytoskeletal proteins using super-resolution microscopy (SRM). Contrary to PSD F-actin dynamics, this tripartite localized at the head-neck interface may serve as a critical indicator in structured-based homeostatic plasticity. Understanding the relationship between tripartite and homeostatic plasticity will open new avenues of pharmacological targets in neuropsychiatric and neurologic disorders.

Evaluation link Eugene Kim: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6msN1LlhsrNzY9g

Rachel Stingel (Riyi Shi, advisor), Excitotoxicity and acrolein damage following (or caused by) spinal cord injury - the role of GLT-1

Abstract: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition that causes variable and often significant sensory, motor, and autonomic dysfunction. Despite extensive research, the limited efficacy of clinical treatments highlights the need for a better understanding of the complex pathology underlying SCI in order to identify new treatment strategies for functional restoration. Immediately following the initial injury (primary injury), secondary inflammatory cascades (secondary injury) perpetuate the extent of damage, and worsen functional outcomes. Acrolein is a reactive α,β-unsaturated aldehyde that forms within hours and remains active for at least two weeks following SCI. It has been found to play an instrumental role in SCI-induced neurodegenerative mechanisms such as oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and lipid peroxidation. Excitotoxicity resulting from excess extracellular glutamate accumulation is also heavily implicated in cell death following SCI as well as other neurodegenerative disorders. Synaptic glutamate levels are primarily regulated by glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1) on astrocyte cell membranes. Evidence showing GLT-1 function is compromised by less reactive aldehydes suggests its potential as a key target for acrolein-mediated dysfunction that could lead to excitotoxicity and neurodegeneration. Thus, we sought to robustly characterize GLT-1 expression following acute SCI and determine if acrolein mediates these findings. Using a clinically relevant T10 contusion model of SCI, we show that: 1) GLT-1 and acrolein levels display an inverse expression pattern as revealed by immunoblotting and immunohistochemical labeling, 2) GLT-1 and acrolein co-localize and co-precipitate following SCI, and 3) the application of exogenous acrolein to intact spinal cord tissue sufficiently reduces GLT-1 expression. Together, these findings have important implications for understanding potential acrolein-mediated excitotoxicity, neuronal regions most at risk, and may reveal targets for therapeutic intervention following acute SCI.

Evaluation link Rachel Stingel: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0udG1PftA4ygOR8

*Join Zoom Meeting

https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/98231659969?pwd=T21Oa1B6QzFyQzFvckMzS1doNGlJUT09

Meeting ID: 982 3165 9969, Passcode: biomedical

Purdue Department of Health & Kinesiology World Class Research Seminar, Wed., May 31, 3:00 p.m., Lawson B151. Graham Fraser, PhD, will be the guest speaker for the Department of Health & Kinesiology on Wednesday, May 31st, at 3:00 p.m. in Lawson B151. His presentation is entitled "Dynamics of Capillary Blood Flow Regulation in Skeletal Muscle."

Abstract: Increases in oxidative metabolism, such as during exercise, necessitate increased skeletal muscle blood flow to match oxygen (O2) demand for generating ATP needed for muscular contraction. Skeletal muscle O2 concentration, and other metabolites formed through oxidative and non-oxidative energy pathways serve as direct vasomotor stimulus facilitating oxygen delivery:demand matching. The complex interplay between these metabolically mediated mechanisms, and the potential for overlapping and complementary pathways that produce vasodilation make studying blood flow responses directly in the context of exercising or contracting muscle challenging. In this presentation we quantify the direct capillary level flow responses to acute changes in skeletal muscle oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, both in terms of their independent contribution and their combined effects. The dynamics of O2 and CO2 mediated responses and the apparent minimum scale of O2 sensing in microvascular networks will be discussed in the context of potential mechanisms.

Bio: Dr. Graham Fraser is an Associate Professor and Coordinator for the Cardiovascular Research group in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His NSERC funded research program is focused on the development of novel tools to study blood flow regulation in the microcirculation, and his CIHR research is aimed at examining microvascular regulatory defects in animal models of type 2 diabetes.

BME PhD Final Defense Announcement for Jongcheon Lim (H. Lee, advisor). Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation on Thurs., June 1, beginning at 3:00 PM in MJIS 2001 and via Zoom. Title: Toward Advanced Neural Interfaces for Selective Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Thesis Committee: Hyowon Lee, Chair; Chi Hwan Lee; Edward Bartlett; Matthew P. Ward

Abstract: Vagus nerve branches to multiple organs such as heart, stomach and spleen to regulate their physiological activities. Selective activation of a portion of fibers in the vagus nerve can potentially modulate specific organ activities without off-target effect. Despite recent advancements in microfabrication technology that enables more advanced neural interfaces, current devices for electrical neuromodulation rely on relatively bulky system such as helical cuff electrode for VNS, which stimulates entire fascicle indiscriminately. In this presentation, we show three approaches towards selective vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). First, we investigated VNS using microelectrode with circle and Vicsek fractal shape. Our rat study shows that fractal microelectrode can activate C-fibers in cervical vagus nerve with higher energy efficiency compared to circle microelectrode. Secondly, we developed stretchable and adhesive cuff device for a compliant neural interface for a long-term stability. We designed Y-shaped kirigami thin-film device for stretchable neural interface and applied a tissue-adhesive hydrogel to enable tough adhesion of the cuff electrode, which can be potentially used to fix the position of microelectrode for a reliable selective stimulation with minimal mechanical mismatch. Lastly, we developed a microchannel electrode array device to potentially measure high-quality of single fiber action potential (SFAP) from the abdominal vagal trunk of rat to explore natural patterns selective organ activities which can be used for a fine-tuned selective VNS. Our results show the potential of measuring C-fiber activities evoked by cervical VNS. In the future, we plan to apply an improved design to increase signal to noise ratio to capture the spontaneous SFAP from the teased nerve fibers.

Zoom Link: - https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/95239025355?pwd=Z2xDOEJ5K3ZKcUdwNXNldTVLNVBNUT09

BME PhD Preliminary Exam announcement for Claudia Benito Alston (L. Solorio, advisor). Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation on Thurs., June 1, beginning at 3:00 PM in DLR 131 and via Zoom. Title: Optimization of a patient-specific 3D printed bone graft for increased osteoinduction through finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, as well as in vitro to in vivo modeling

Thesis Committee: Luis Solorio, Chair; Adrian Buganza Tepole; Deva Chan; Clark T. Barco

Abstract: Maxillofacial and oral defects originate from congenital conditions such as cleft palate, diseases such as osteosarcoma that cause malignancies, as well as from injuries due to blasts or vehicular accidents. These defects lead to complications for the patient including difficulty speaking, infections, as well as damaging psychological effects owing to the patient’s distorted physical appearance. The current standard of care uses particulates of freeze-dried auto- or allografts covered by a titanium mesh secured in place by screws. This approach is limited by its variability, the length of time the patient is exposed to potential infection during surgery, as well as tight packing often leading to diminished bone regeneration as blood vessels may fail to form. A significant benefit of the current gold standard of freeze-dried particulate is the innate growth factors (GFs) that are released. However, since these are patient-derived the GF composition is poorly defined and varies. To address these fallbacks, a 3D printable, biodegradable, and implantable device with patient-specific shape and a porous core-cover structure was designed. The central hypothesis is that a 3D printed porous cover-core bone graft with spatiotemporally controlled release of GFs FGF-2 and BMP-2 will provide improved vascular infiltration and osteointegration. By using finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics, we will fine-tune the design to withstand possible masticatory forces as well as optimize inicial plasma influx ensuring complete endogeneous cells permeation, respectively. Overall, through a combination of in silico modeling, in vitro and in vivo studies, we aim to generate a patient-specific bone graft with an increased rate of osteointegration.

Zoom Link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/95213891530