BMES eNewsletter
     June 2015
Annual Meeting: Abstract notifications by July 17; BMES hotel room block now available  
 

Registration for the BMES Annual Meeting in Tampa October 7-10 is now open!   

 

CLICK HERE for registration information and to register online.   

 

CLICK HERE for hotel information and to reserve your room online. 
 
CLICK HERE for the Schedule-at-a-Glance.   

 

For questions, please email: meetings@bmes.org     

 

Register now for the 2015 BMES Annual Meeting in Tampa to take advantage of the early-bird rates. Register by September 4 and save.

 
BMES Webinar Series: Upcoming, Featured & Archived Webinars 

Join BMES on July 29, 2015 at 3 PM EDT for the professional development webinar Translation, Intellectual Property and Venture Capital.

The webinar will provide an introduction to what it takes to transfer technologies from an academic research setting into a start-up or corporate environment.
For more information and to register, visit
BMES E-Learning.

This month's Featured Webinar is Venture Capital and Patent Law: Practical Strategies for Patenting an Innovation. This archived webinar describes the practical basics of securing patents and strategic considerations about when, how and where to secure patent protection.
 

>>Read More 
ABME journal scores high impact factor for 2014  

The flagship journal of the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Annals of Biomedical Engineering, recently received its 2014 Impact Factor.

The new IF is 3.195.


Previous IFs for the journal are:

2009: 2.409
2010: 2.376
2011: 2.368
2012: 2.575
2013: 3.231

The 2014 impact factor demonstrates a sustained increase in impact at approximately the 3.2 level.

The excellence of Annals of Biomedical Engineering, the destination of the best work performed by BMES members and their collaborators, reflects the continuous progress of the society. 
     

Research that could aid soldiers with IED injuries supported with $1 million DoD grant  

 

In the past two years, BMES member Matt Reilly has created a model for optic nerve trauma, which is a common injury for soldiers hit by IEDs. He just received a $1 million grant from the Department of Defense to develop the research, according to a University of Texas at San Antonio article.

 

"The specific condition we're targeting is called traumatic optic neuropathy," he said in the article. "The current treatment for it is observation, which means basically wait and hope it resolves itself."

The only other treatment is using steroids, Reilly said, but clinics avoid that because it can frequently cause death in people with brain injuries. The lack of a suitable model has been the biggest obstacle to finding alternatives for treatment, according to the article.

Johns Hopkins researchers improve methodology for predicting disease-enabling genetic mutations        

 

Johns Hopkins? Researchers around the world have sequenced the genomes of patients suffering from common, multi-gene diseases, looking for common mutations in their control regions, according to a university article.


However these studies produce hundreds of mutations, many of those prove to be benign, 
the article states.

A research team led by Johns Hopkins University associate professor of biomedical engineering, Michael Beer, have generated a new computational formula for predicting which mutations in control regions will wreak the most havoc.

>>Read More

Binghamton researchers investigate how ingesting nanoparticles influences health 

        

Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York are investigating the role ingested nanoparticles play in the physiology and function of the gut and gut microbiome, according to a university article. 

The gut microbiome is the population of microbes living within the human intestine, consisting of tens of trillions of microorganisms, according to the article. 

Nanoparticles, which are often added to processed foods to enhance texture and color, have been linked to changes in gut function. As processed foods become more common elements of our diet, there has been a significant increase in concentrations of these particles found in the human body, according to the article.

 

>>Read More

Mass General team develops bioengineered forelimb

 
A team of Massachusetts General Hospital investigators has made the first steps towards development of bioartificial replacement limbs suitable for transplantation, the hospital announced recently.   

 

In their report, which has been published online in the journal Biomaterials, the researchers describe using an experimental approach previously used to build bioartificial organs to engineer rat forelimbs with functioning vascular and muscle tissue, according to the announcement. They also provided evidence that the same approach could be applied to the limbs of primates.   

 

In a New Scientist article about the research, BMES member Daniel Weiss said, "This is science fiction coming to life." Weiss is a Professor of Medicine, University of Vermont's Pulmonary Medicine Department of Medicine. 

   

>>Read More

Pun named Outstanding Faculty Mentor at U of Washington   

 

The University of Washington Department of Bioengineering recently awarded its BIOE Awards and BMES member Suzie H. Pun was among the awardees.   

 

The selection of winners was based upon the strength of the nominations received, which were submitted by faculty, students and staff throughout the department, according to the university. The BIOE Awards honor the outstanding contributions the awardees have made towards the department's mission and vision and their positive impact upon the departmental community.   

 

Pun was named Outstanding Faculty Mentor.   

 

>>Read More

Elliott receives national awards for research, mentoring in biomedical engineering   

 

Dawn Elliott, chair of biomedical engineering at the University of Delaware, was recently awarded the Van C. Mow Medal for contributions to the field of bioengineering from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), according to a University of Delaware article.  Intervertebral discs are the spine's shock absorbers. With age, they undergo progressive and irreversible degenerative changes that often lead to low back pain, the article states.    

 

Surgical treatment options for this condition are extremely limited and they don't restore disc function, so there is tremendous interest in new treatments such as surgical repair and tissue engineering.   

 

Elliott, a Biomedical Engineering Society member, has been studying the biomechanical function of intervertebral discs and other orthopedic soft tissues for the past 20 years using mathematical models, mechanical tests and advanced imaging technologies.

 

>>Read More
Be a featured BMES spotlight member

 

All BMES members are encouraged to sign up for the BMES featured member spotlight! This is a great opportunity to get to know your fellow members - and for them to get to know you! All member levels are welcome and encouraged to submit their information here.

 

BMES membership - profile updates

 

Have you started a new job? Changed career paths? New title? Whatever it may be, please remember to update your information with BMES!  

 

Login to the website at www.bmes.org with your username and password (contact BMES Membership at membership@bmes.org if you can't remember those), your profile page with instantly pop-up so you can update all your information at once.

 

Welcome new BMES members

 

In the month of January, BMES welcome over 120 new members to the Society! You can find a list of all new members, updated monthly, at http://bmes.org/newmembers. New members can be research on the Society's membership directory. Please take a moment to look up and welcome a new BMES member.

 


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