News at BME
April 5, 2012
See How Stony Brook University is Changing Our World
You may already know about the historic Simons gift, but what you might not know is that part of this gift depends on you. The Simons have allocated up to $1 million as a matching challenge grant to our alumni.
This is your chance to double the impact of your gift.
When you support Stony Brook, you're supporting:
The academic success of our students
The mission and promise of public higher education
World-changing innovation and invention
This is a turning point for Stony Brook, and we want — no, we need — you with us. Please make your gift today.
March 13, 2012
High School Students recognized in Albany
Two high school students John and Kayla working in the Sitharaman lab continue to receive more recognition for their work. This time by Senator Jack Martins at the Senate in Albany.Nevertheless, a well-deserved recognition for both of them!
Please click on the link below to view the video.
February 16, 2012
Congratulations to Drs. Congwu Du and Yingtian Pan
Congratulations to Congwu Du and Yingtian Pan on their newly awarded NIH R01 grant entitled "Calcium-Related Neurotoxicity of Cocaine". The five-year award, in the amount of $2.1M, will focus on developing cutting-edge biophotonic imaging techniques and applying them to the study of neurovascular and neuronal effects elicited by acute and chronic cocaine challenge.
February 1, 2012
BME Faculty Receives NIH Grant for Cardiac Optogenetics Research
BME Faculty Professor Emilia Entcheva and her team have been awarded a five-year $2.43M grant from the National Institutes of Health "Cardiac Optogenetics: A Cell Delivery Approach" – the first grant by NIH to specifically expand the new field of optogenetics to the heart.
Dr.Entcheva’s team has pioneered the application of light-sensitive ion channels to mammalian cardiac tissue and the integration of optogenetics with high-speed, high-resolution optical imaging of excitation. This grant, a collaborative work with Drs. Ira Cohen and Peter Brink, draws on
expertise in optical mapping, mathematical modeling, and genetic
modification of stem cells for use in cardiac electrophysiology. It aims
to develop a quantitative framework for cardiac optogenetics in silico,in vitro and in vivo and to allow imaging and actuation of heart tissue by light with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution for the better understanding,prevention and termination of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias.
January 12, 2012
Intel STS Semi-finalists mentored at Stony Brook
Twenty-six (27*) high school students who worked with Stony Brook faculty were named yesterday among the 300 semifinalists in the national 2012 Intel Science Talent Search competition. The mentors come from a range of departments and disciplines throughout SB, including: Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Computer Science, Ecology & Evolution, Geosciences, Materials Science & Engineering, Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, Neurobiology & Behavior, Pharmacological Sciences, and Physics & Astronomy.
The semifinalists will each receive awards of $1,000; their schools will also receive $1,000 for each Intel semifinalist named. The Intel STS finalists will be announced on January 25 and will compete for additional awards in Washington, D.C. in March.
A number of the Intel STS semifinalists participated in summer research programs at Stony Brook, including the Garcia Center: Polymers at Engineered Interfaces - Research Scholar Program, and the Simons Summer Research Program. Twenty-one of the 22 semifinalists who worked with SB mentors are from NY (Long Island had 61 semifinalists); other semifinalists working at Stony Brook included students from California (3), Massachusetts, and Michigan.
A listing of Intel awardees who worked at SB, with project titles/mentors, is available at:
http://www.stonybrook.edu/simons/intel and includes:
Emily Bai, William A. Shine Great Neck South HS, Great Neck, NY
Mentor: Dr. Peter Tonge, Chemistry
Sean Ballinger, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA
Mentor: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Asia Brown, Sanford Calhoun HS, Merrick, NY
Mentor: Dr. Ellen Li, Medicine
Sarah Chapin, Herricks HS, New Hyde Park , NY
Mentor: Dr. Iwao Ojima, Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery
Juliana Coraor, Huntington HS, Huntington , NY
Mentor: Dr. Matthew Dawber, Physics & Astronomy
Rachel Davis, Smithtown HS East, St. James, NY
Mentor: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Samantha Garvey, Brentwood HS, Brentwood, NY
Mentor: Dr. Dianna Padilla, Ecology & Evolution
Hannah Kenagy , Half Hollow Hills HS East, Dix Hills, NY
Mentor: Dr. Carlos Simmerling, Chemistry
Savina Kim, Commack HS, Commack, NY
Mentors: Dr. David Talmage , Pharmacological Sciences; Dr. Lorna Role, Neurobiology & Behavior
Claire Leibowicz, John L. Miller-Great Neck North HS, Great Neck, NY
Mentor: Dr. Lilianne Mujica-Parodi, Biomedical Engineering
Ryan Lindeborg, Dana Hills HS, Dana Point, CA
Mentor: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Neil Mehta, Jericho HS, Jericho, NY
Mentors: Dr. David Talmage , Pharmacological Sciences; Dr. Lorna Role, Neurobiology & Behavior
Rocco Morra, Ward Melville HS/ *InSTAR, E. Setauket, NY
Mentor: Dr. Iwao Ojima, Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery
Jin Pan, Henry Gunn Sr. HS, Palo Alto, CA
Mentor: Dr. Bruce Futcher, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Eric Parigoris, Kings Park HS, Kings Park , NY
Mentor: Dr. Clinton Rubin, Biomedical Engineering
Sagar Rambhia, Jericho HS, Jericho, NY
Mentors: Dr. Danny Bluestein, Biomedical Engineering
Kunal Sangani, Fayetteville-Manlius HS, Manlius, NY
Mentor: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Anna Sato, Ward Melville HS/ *InSTAR, E. Setauket, NY
Mentors: Dr. Benjamin Chu & Dr. Benjamin Hsiao, Chemistry
Evan Schneider, Roslyn HS, Roslyn Heights, NY
Mentor: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Shubha Sekar,Ward Melville HS/ *InSTAR, E. Setauket, NY
Mentor: Dr. Rob Johnson, Computer Science
Nithin Tumma, Port Huron N. HS, Port Huron, MI
Mentor: Dr. Berhane Ghebrehiwet, Medicine
Shannon Wetzler, Kings Park HS, Kings Park, NY
Mentor: Dr. Roy Lacey, Chemistry
Susan Wu, John L. Miller-Great Neck North HS, Great Neck, NY
Mentor: Dr. William Holt, Geosciences
Jesse Xing, Ward Melville HS/ *InSTAR, E. Setauket, NY
Mentors: Dr. Benjamin Chu, Dr. Benjamin Hsiao & Dr. Barney Grubbs, Chemistry
Garima Yadav, Sachem HS North, Lake Ronkonkoma , NY
Mentor: Dr. Iwao Ojima, Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery
Alissa Zhang, Saratoga HS, Saratoga , CA
Mentor: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Jack Zhou, Ward Melville HS/ *InSTAR, E. Setauket, NY
Mentor: Jonathan Liu, Biomedical Engineering
November 16, 2011
Congratulations to Jin Yu on receiving the Weinig Foundation Scholarship
The Weinig Foundation provides four to five $4,000 scholarships each year to meritorious junior or senior students in any one of the College’s programs: Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Molecular Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Science / Materials Science, Information Systems, Mechanical Engineering, or Technological Systems Management. Congratulations Jin Yu!
November 15, 2011
Biomedical Professor Honored by President Obama
Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering in Stony Brook’s School of Medicine and Director of the Laboratory for Computational Neurodiagnostics, has received the prestigious Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their research careers. She received the award on Thursday, October 13, with 93 other scientists and engineers at a ceremony held at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
Read more by clicking the below link.
November 15, 2011
High School Student Mentored by BME Faculty Wins Siemens Competition
Jack Zhou, a high school student who worked in laboratory of Professor Jonathan Liu this summer has won the regional finals in the 2011 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology—one of the top nationwide research competitions for high school researchers. The project was to develop an endoscopic spectral imaging device, along with Raman-coded nanoparticles, for multiplexed molecular imaging of disease biomarkers in a rat model of esophageal cancer.
Stony Brook annually ranks among the leaders in universities nationwide who mentor high school researchers. The names of all the Siemens students who conducted their research at Stony Brook University and their Stony Brook research mentors are posted on the below link.
November 15, 2011
BME Student Profiled as URECA Researcher of the Month
The URECA website regularly features students' perspectives on research and/or creative activities.
This month's featured student is Neville Bethel, a double major in biomedical engineering and physics who will be presenting a poster at the Institute for Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery's 5th annual symposium on Friday, October 14th: "The Development of an Advanced Rendering Program to Create Movies That Illustrate Macromolecular Dynamics and Interactions." Working with Prof. Carlos Simmerling of the Chemistry Department on simulations of biomolecular systems since Fall '08, Neville has steadily built his skills in molecular animations and optimizing software — from creating TCL scripts, to making custom movies in Visual Molecular Dynamics that reveal the energy landscapes across a protein, to developing new algorithms for simulating RNA using AMBER. Neville's work with Prof. Simmerling on VMD graphical use interface is currently being submitted to the VMD development team for inclusion in the next release. Recently, Neville was among the students selected to receive the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) fellowship which will support his research activities in the Simmerling group during the academic year and ease his financial burden (he has been working ~20 hours a week at a local Stony Brook restaurant, while pursuing full time studies). Neville also enjoys working with fellow BME students on a senior design (group) project under the direction of Prof. Balaji Sitharaman of the Biomedical Engineering Department. Previously, Neville has presented at URECA’s campus-wide poster symposium. In his spare time, Neville volunteers at Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown where he helps care for various animals undergoing rehabilitation.
For the full interview/feature, please go to the below link
September 26, 2011
Professor Lilianne Mujica-Parodi Receives Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE)
Assistant Professor Lilianne Mujica-Parodi has been selected to receive the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)in recognition of her outstanding research and teaching capabilities.
This is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
Professor Mujica-Parodi Receives the award for outstanding research in the application of complex systems analysis to neurodiagnostics of mental and neurological illness, and for development of a K-12 curriculum in control systems modeling.
Please click the link for details
August 12, 2011
BME Faculty Extends the Optogenetics Field to Heart
By employing optogenetics, a new field that uses genetically altered cells to respond to light, and a tandem unit cell (TCU) strategy, a research team led by BME faculty – Dr. Emilia Entcheva -has demonstrated a way to control cell excitation and contraction in the heart by very-low energy light. The work was published in Circulation: Arrhythmia & & Electrophysiology: “Stimulating Cardiac Muscle by Light: Cardiac Optogenetics by Cell Delivery”, and covered in press releases by the American Heart Association, Science Daily, MIT Technology Review and other online media. The lead author of the study is Zhiheng Jia, a biomedical engineering PhD student in Dr. Entcheva’s lab, and the team includes members of the inter-departmental Institute of Molecular Cardiology at Stony Brook, which facilitated the close collaboration between the laboratories of Drs. Entcheva, Cohen and Brink. The new technique offers an elegant simple research tool for dissection of cardiac function with unprecedented precision and may help form the basis for a new generation of light-driven cardiac pacemakers and other medical devices.
Read the AHA press release by clicking the below link.
August 12, 2011
Faculty Receives Coulter Translational Research Award
Balaji Sitharaman, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering has received the 2011 Coulter Translational Research Award from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.
The Coulter Translational Research Awards program provides funding for Professors in established Biomedical Engineering Departments within the United States. The award seeks to support biomedical research that is translational in nature, and to encourage and assist eligible biomedical engineering investigators to establish themselves in academic careers involving translational research. The translational research projects are directed at promising technologies with the goal of progressing toward commercial development and entering clinical practice.
The names of the awardees and their project titles may be found on the website below.
August 11, 2011
BME undergraduate Receives Research Award
BME undergraduate Ada Tsoi has been selected an Student Award winner for the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) fall meeting to be held in Hartford, CT, October 12-15. Her study, "Inadequate Bone Compensatory Approaches to Long-Term Diet-Induced Obesity," is based on work done in the laboratory of her mentor, Professor Clinton Rubin. To read more, please check out the BMES website below.
August 1, 2011
BME Research Associate Recognized by Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
BME Research Associate Dr. Pramod Avti has been featured as Researcher of the Month by the office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Stony Brook University.
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs recognizes the important work accomplished by all Postdoctoral Scholars on campus.To read about Dr. Avti's research accomplished, please click the below link.