[cid:image004.png@01D7DF89.A908F890] BME MONDAY ROUNDTABLE November 22, 2021 Upcoming Events Quick note from head: 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. In this issue, we have updates from Grad, Undergrad, and DEI committees. These messages will also contain information gathering as appropriate- especially as we start to interview many candidates for the three open searches currently active in the school. In this roundtable- there's a Qualtrics feedback request for the DEI townhall in the DEI committee section. Also- additional upcoming events (e.g., seminars, workshops, etc.) from across the university are available at https://engineering.purdue.edu/BME/AboutUs/News/events instead of being sent via e-mail. This week is short! If you travel during the break, stay safe! David Umulis Week of Nov. 22 Mon., Nov. 22, 1:30 p.m., MSEE Atrium "Research Win Celebration". Mung Chiang, Executive Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering and Theresa Mayer, Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships, cordially invite you to an event celebrating three new centers funded by the National Science Foundation. ASPIRE; EMBRIO Institute; IoT4Ag. Details below in Resources and further information section. Register here: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_084HJuZsRxbRjzE?utm_source=deli... Watch live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP-xQLIRykU Wed., Nov. 24th - NO BME Seminar (Thanksgiving break, 11/24-11/26) Week of Nov. 29 Mon., Nov. 29th, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., MJIS 2001 - Peer Mentoring Grab and Go Lunch (for PhD Mentors and their Mentees) 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. Wed., Dec. 1: Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship Nominations Due 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=dS9OL1pRQXlkeVU1MEJlTDBZVkNudz0... 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, 11:30 a.m.-12:15p.m., MJIS 3001: Open office hours w/ head David Umulis. 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. Mon. Dec. 6 - Wed. Jan. 19 - Open registration. Open registration for all students with no late fee (encourage your students to sign up early, spots in our upper level course are filling up fast.) Tues., Dec. 7: Deadline to sign up for speaker slot for faculty preview event; more details to come Fri., Dec. 10, 11:30 a.m., MJIS 2001: Faculty meeting. 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-examinati... 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 Committees DEI On Oct 29th the school held a Town Hall to discuss the results of the 2021 Climate Survey. Slides presented in the Town Hall are attached and these were followed by a 1 hour discussion about the climate and culture in the Weldon School. We are actively gathering feedback from attendees about the event and from those who could not make it but may still wish to comment. Below is a link to a short Event Feedback survey (will require less than 5 minutes to complete) https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5nbPGpy9is3ViN8 A report on the Town Hall will be shared in the coming weeks after gathering this feedback and debriefing with Dr. Christopher Munt, Director of Inclusive Excellence at Purdue's Division of Diversity and Inclusion, who facilitated the discussion. Thanks to all for their participation and feedback, Jacqueline C. Linnes, Ph.D. (she/her) Marta E. Gross Associate Professor Director, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Undergraduate Program The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the faculty members of the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering have restructured the curriculum for the B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering effective for the students entering the School in the Fall Semester 2022. As the growth of our undergraduate program necessitated some structural changes to our courses, we reexamined the entire undergraduate curriculum and introduced BME Pathways to increase depth of training in specialized areas of Biomedical Engineering. There are four pathways that coincide with our faculty areas of research excellence: Bioimaging, Bioelectronics/Bioinstrumentation, Biomechanics/Biomaterials, and Quantitative Biomedicine. Students are required to select a primary Pathway and complete the two required courses as part of their BME undergraduate degree requirements. Students are also required to select a secondary Pathway and complete one of the two required courses for that Pathway. New junior-level courses are introduced as the required Pathway selectable courses, including Introduction to Biomedical Imaging, Experimental Methods in Biomechanics, Foundations of Biomedical Data Science, and Mathematical Models & Methods in Physiology. Also, Junior Experimental Design Lab is introduced for teaching experimental design using projects from all four BME sub-disciplines, as well as BME Professionalization Seminar to build upon soft skills needed for student's career exploration and readiness. In addition, we introduce new sophomore-level Bioinstrumentation And Circuit Theory lab and lecture course and Introduction to Biomechanical Analysis. The changes reflect a number of recommendations from multiple sources including the recent 10-year external review, a joint BME/ECE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion study, our annual advisory board recommendations, and current and former student and faculty feedback. The redesigned undergraduate curriculum will improve student identity and allow for earlier focus on a sub-field of BME and easier navigation of course options with the introduction of pathways. The changes also allow for greater flexibility for students and improved scheduling of elective courses and faculty teaching assignments within the School. These changes were recently approved by the Engineering Curriculum Committee. Graduate Programs - update Nov 19 2021 The Graduate Committee has begun a systematic review and update of our Graduate Programs that will take place over the Fall and Spring semesters this year. We're particularly focused on expanding our mentoring structures and support throughout an updated timeline of milestones required for our graduate degrees. These updates will better empower our Weldon-school trainees to achieve their full potential, whatever career path they chose. We are initially focusing on revisions of the timeline for milestones and mentoring structure in the Fall semester and January, with an updated plan to be developed by Feb 1st so that it can be rolled out in Fall 2022. Spring semester we will focus on implementation details, as well as improving our curriculum and developing better systematic processes to support students and faculty to ensure the highest quality mentoring for our trainees. We are using a strategic-planning approach, which includes new vision and mission statements for the Weldon School Graduate Program, as well as a list of core values and hallmarks that we will use to guide our planning and decision making now and in the future. We are reviewing data from a number of sources to evaluate where our program is currently, which will help to identify the updates that are needed to best achieve our vision for the Graduate Program. We are interested in your feedback along the way, which can be provided now to any member of the Graduate Committee (list below), but will also be solicited in a more formal way as our plans develop. Thanks to all members of the Weldon community who support our graduate students! BME Graduate Committee · Ed Bartlett · Andrew Brightman · Craig Goergen · Mike Heinz (Chair) · Paula Sarmiento Huertas (BMEGSA rep, President) · Young Kim · Tami Kinzer-Ursem · Nan Kong · Jackie Linnes · Aaron Lottes · Sandy May · Anne Sereno · Tammy Siemers · Luis Solorio ************** Additional updates from the head Thank you to everyone who participated in the Socktober event to collect socks for the Lafayette Transitional Housing Services. BME collected over 330 pairs of socks (plus some mittens, gloves and scarves) that will be distributed to the homeless in our community. If, as you are home over the holidays, you uncover some lightly used jackets, mittens, gloves, or scarves, bring them in and place them outside of Susan Hardy's office (MJIS 2074), and she will take them to LTHS as a continuation of our collection efforts. Thankfulness Tree. The undergraduate BMES group has posted a thankfulness tree outside of the 1st floor MJIS computer lab. Everyone is welcome to select a leaf from the envelope, write a note of thanks and gratitude, and place it on the tree. All students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to participate. Resources, attachments, further information Attached: 2021 All School Town Hall_slides.pdf Institutes Celebration continued.... Purdue serves as the main site for the NSF-funded EMBRIO Institute<https://maillinks.purdue.edu/t/42237623/1487133596/88766132/0/120588/?f5d63f87=UmVzZWFyY2gtV2luLUNlbGVicmF0aW9uLU5vdi0yMDIxLXJlbWluZGVy&x=71a4110d>, which will use AI to expand biology and engineering through exploring how cell signals are integrated to fight off invaders or activated to repair wounds. Researchers will use full 3D simulations of biological structures to establish predictive capabilities, allowing them to see how the shape of networks and tissues can change. ASPIRE<https://maillinks.purdue.edu/t/42237623/1487133596/88757562/0/120588/?f5d63f87=UmVzZWFyY2gtV2luLUNlbGVicmF0aW9uLU5vdi0yMDIxLXJlbWluZGVy&x=a56fed2c> is a NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) dedicated to advancing sustainable, electrified transportation. The center is focused on developing new infrastructure that facilitates widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and research will be linked with educational, mentoring and outreach initiatives for students at all levels. IoT4Ag<https://maillinks.purdue.edu/t/42237623/1487133596/88757563/0/120588/?f5d63f87=UmVzZWFyY2gtV2luLUNlbGVicmF0aW9uLU5vdi0yMDIxLXJlbWluZGVy&x=c0292d60> is a NSF ERC dedicated to addressing food, energy and water security through advanced agricultural technologies. Researchers will create miniature soil-based sensors and swarms of aerial and ground-based robots, as well as new ways of networking them together in communication-constrained environments. 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=dS9OL1pRQXlkeVU1MEJlTDBZVkNudz0... 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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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. 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. 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. -- Bmeroundtable-list mailing list Bmeroundtable-list@ecn.purdue.edu https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECN/mailman/listinfo/bmeroundtable-list