BMES eNewsletter
    February 2016
Abstracts now being accepted for 2016 BMES Annual Meeting in Minneapolis

Biomedical engineering researchers are invited to submit abstracts for the scientific program at the 2016 BMES Annual Meeting, October 5-8 in Minneapolis.  

Abstracts will be fielded through an online system available at: http://submissions.mirasmart.com/BMES2016  

The submission deadline is April 26, 2016  

A one-page abstract format is required. This format will allow reviewers to more effectively choose those abstracts which are best suited for podium presentations.  

The abstract should include:      
  • title     
  • introduction     
  • description of the materials and methods used     
  • study results (including up to one figure)     
  • discussion of how this work fits into the context of greater societal needs
SAVE THE DATE: BMES/FDA Frontiers in Medical Devices Confernece
 
Meeting Dates: May 23 - 25, 2016 

Registration Opens March 9th  

This year's thems is Innovations in Modeling and Simulation: Patient-Centered Healthcare.

Location: The College Park Marriott Hotel and Conference Center at the University of Maryland.

The conference will provide a forum for participants involved in the development and evaluation of medical devices to meet and share their expertise, establish collaborations, and discuss strategies to effectively utilize computational modeling to support patient care and improve final outcomes. 

The program will feature plenary talks by Alexandra Golby, MD (Harvard Medical School), Natalia Trayanova, PhD (Johns Hopkins University), and Olivier Verborgt, MD, PhD (AZ Monica, Belgium).


Save the Date: Regional Meetings  
 
42nd Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference
Hosted by Binghamton University
April 5 - 7, 2016
Abstract Submission Deadline:  February 22, 2016
Click here for more information
 
2016 BMES Midwest Biomedical Engineering Regional Conference
Hosted by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
November 3 - 4, 2016
More information coming soon. 
 
2017 Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Conference
Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel
January 3 - 7, 2017

BMES Award Applications Now Open 
 
BMES recognizes individuals for their accomplishments, significant contributions and service to the Society and the field of biomedical engineering. BMES is now accepting nominations and applications for the following awards for 2016:
 
Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture Award is awarded each year to an individual to recognize outstanding achievements and leadership in the science and practice of biomedical engineering.
 
Diversity Award honors outstanding contributions to improving gender and racial diversity in biomedical engineering.
 
Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Lecture Award is offered to stimulate research careers in biomedical engineering.
 
Distinguished Achievement Award is presented each year to an individual, company, charitable foundation, or non-academic institution that has made great contributions to the field of biomedical engineering.
 
Innovation and Career Development Awards are available to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, early career faculty, and early career professionals from underrepresented populations in biomedical engineering. The awards are also intended to support participation from BMES members involved in research and training focused on health disparities and minority health.
 
For more information on these awards, including how to apply, please visit http://bmes.org/awards.
 
Nominations and applications accepted online only through May 31, 2016.

BMES Accepting Fellow Nominations
 
All BMES Member-level members who have been in good standing for the past three years are eligible to be nominated for Fellow status in BMES.  
 
More information on the qualifications for Fellowship can be found at http://bmes.org/fellow.
 
Nominations will be accepted until May 31, 2016.

2016 BMES professional development webinars 
 

BMES offers a myriad of benefits to help you be successful in your BME career. One of the most valuable benefits, according to BMES member feedback, is the BMES Professional Development webinar series. 

BMES will be launching several new professional development webinars this year, including topics on BMES Industry Networking Groups (March 2016); Quality and Regulatory Affairs (April 2016); Standards in the Classroom (June 2016); Latest Trends in Industry (September 2016) and Connecting with Leaders in BME (November 2016). All webinars are free to BMES members.
 
The variety of webinars offered will help you be successful regardless of your membership level.  Take a moment to visit the BMES E-Learning website today to access archived webinars and learn more about upcoming webinars.

The 2016 Student Travel Award applications are now being accepted 
 
2016 Student Travel Awards (Deadline July 31st, 2016): Applicants for the 2016 Student Travel Awards must be a BMES Student member (undergrad or grad) and Chapter member. 

Please be sure that you are a chapter member by having the chapter president add you to the chapter's roster and letting BMES know. The Chapter must also be in good standing.  

Applicants must submit the application along with a one-page essay on "How Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) helps to support their work in BME". BMES Student Travel Award winners receive a complimentary registration to attend the Annual Meeting and a check for a $400 travel stipend. 

The Student Travel Awards are only available to BMES student members who do not receive any additional BMES funding through additional BMES sources. For information on applying for the 2016 Student Travel Awards, please contact Liz DaSilva.

Please submit your
online application  along with the essay to liz@bmes.org  Your essay must include your name, academic institution and whether or not you are an undergrad or graduate student.

The Student Travel Award deadline is 11:59PM on July 31, 2016. Late applications will NOT be accepted.

Researchers develop biomaterials to make drugs delivered orally to treat hemophilia a possibility 
 
Biomaterials developed by researchers could make it possible to create a drug taken orally to treat hemophilia, according to a paper recently published in Annals of Biomedical Engineering.  

The paper -- Design of pH-Responsive Biomaterials to Enable the Oral Route of Hematological Factor IX -- was written by Biomedical Engineering Society Fellow Nicholas A. Peppas and BMES Member Sarena D. Horava.  

The researchers explained their work to BMES.  

What was the goal of this research?  

Hemophilia B is a hereditary bleeding disorder that is caused by a deficiency in a specific blood clotting protein called factor IX. Current treatment of hemophilia B relies on painful IV injections of factor IX, administered multiple times per week. Our work aims to develop a drug delivery system that allows factor IX to be taken as a convenient oral delivery system (a capsule or a pill) instead of by needle. 

Researchers use ovarian follicles to preserve fertility in cancer patients
 
Researchers at the University of Michigan are studying ovarian tissue transplantation for patients with cancer. A key concern with this approach is the risk that the ovarian tissue may harbor latent cancer cells that, upon transplantation, could be reintroduced back into the patient. 

Cancer cells are known to circulate throughout the body even in early stage invasive disease, according to a university article. 

In this new study, when researchers isolated the follicles, they substantially reduced the presence of cancer cells. Two of the five tested transplanted materials had no residual cancer cells.

BMES members part of new class of National Academy of Engineering
 
The National Academy of Engineering elected 80 new members and 22 foreign members, the organization announced. Two BMES members are part of this year's class.  

The newly elected engineers brings the total U.S. membership to 2,275 and the number of foreign members to 232.  

BMES members Simon Cherry and Jennifer L. West are now members of NAE.  


UW researchers demonstrate technique to generate better cardiac, neural and other kinds of tissue 
 
University of Washington Bioengineering Assistant Professor Deok-Ho Kim and collaborators have demonstrated the ability of electroconductive nanopatterned substrates to enhance the maturation and differentiation of skeletal muscle cells, according to a university article.  

The researchers' work was featured as the cover article of the first issue of Advanced Healthcare Materials in 2016. Kim is a Biomedical Engineering Society member.  


BMES Chapter Development Reports are due June 1st 2016

Submissions are being accepted now!  

Chapter Development Reports can be submitted any time prior to the June 1st deadline. We are currently accepting CDR submissions. All BMES student chapters are encouraged to submit a Chapter Development Report annually.  

The BMES Chapter Development Report (CDR) serves as a tool by which student BMES chapters can monitor and assess their progress on an annual basis, as well as a mechanism for BMES to monitor the operations and activities of student chapters throughout the Society.  

BMES Student Chapters submitting a yearly CDR are eligible to apply for BMES Grant Funding for their programs.  

For additional questions or information on applying, please contact liz@bmes.org .

Binghamton University BMES Student Chapter  
 
The Binghamton BMES student chapter hosted its final general body meeting for the fall semester which culminated in a fun design competition called Scaffold Scavenging.   

Students were given simple materials consisting of popsicle sticks, tape, cotton balls, scissors, pipe cleaners, straws, and glue. Using these materials, they were given 30 minutes to create a structure (tissue scaffold) that could hold the most cotton balls (cells) followed by a discussion about the details of their design including how many cotton balls it could hold, what type of organ it resembles most, etc.   

This served as a valuable test run for the future of use of this activity at Engineers Week (E-Week), an annual tradition hosted at Binghamton University that serves both the student population and the surrounding community through a variety of engineering-based activities.   

Binghamton BMES will showcase this activity at the 2016 E-Week on Saturday, February 27th.  

Want to see how we did it? Here's are some resources to check out the details:



Photos from the event can be found here

ASBME's First Annual Makeathon Competition     

Friday, February 26th - Sunday, February 28th, University of Southern California BMES Student Chapter.

USC ASBME is proud to host the Makeathon for the first time ever! 

The Makeathon is a medical device design competition in which student teams will be presented with a challenge and a limited amount of time and resources to solve it. 

Make sure to start forming your team and register as soon as possible - space is limited! Prizes will be awarded to the winning teams at the conclusion of the event.

For more information and registration please visit the Makeathon website: http://www.uscmakeathon.com 

You can also support this event at the following link: https://ignite.usc.edu/project/1463

East Carolina University - Call for applications for Summer REU program

East Carolina University is accepting applications for their NSF-funded REU site on Biomedical Engineering in Simulations, Imaging, and Modeling (BME-SIM). 

The summer program will take place from May 22nd - July 29th.  Program participants will receive a $5,000 stipend, on-campus housing, meal plan, travel to a research conference, and reimbursement of travel funds (dependent on need). 

The review of applications began on January 29th, however, ECU is still accepting applications and encourage interested students to apply.  

If you intend to apply please submit your application materials as soon as possible.  The application will be open until all positions are filled. 

Rising juniors and seniors, students from underrepresented groups (women, minorities and persons with disabilities), and students from academic institutions with limited research opportunities are encouraged to apply.  

Qualifications include US Citizen or permanent resident, major in engineering, basic sciences, computer science or related disciplines, and strong academic record.  

Information about the research projects, faculty mentors, and application instructions can be found on the website for this REU program at (http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cet/engineering/reu.cfm). Please direct any students' questions to me, georges@ecu.edu. 

San Jose State to host Biomedical Device Conference March 30   

The San Jose State University BMES Student Chapter is hosting their 7th Annual Bay Area Biomedical Device Conference which will be held on March 30th, 2016 in the Student Union Ballroom at San Jose State University.

The conference is a forum for the latest developments in Biomedical Device technology, and an opportunity to hear presentations from the nation's leaders in biomedical engineering.

The conference is organized entirely by a group of Biomedical Engineering Society (SJSU BMES) students - both undergraduates and graduate students.

This is an excellent opportunity for professionals to network with each other and to potentially recruit future employees from among the students. The full day event will feature speakers from academia and industry who will be presenting current developments in their respective areas of expertise. SJSU BMES cordially invites all students, professionals, and interested parties to attend.   

The conference program is available online, and will be updated periodically with speaker, and sponsor profiles. Bay Area Biomedical Device Conference Website: www.biomedconference.org

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email info@biomedconference.org.
 
Stevens Institute of Technology BMES Student Chapter 
 
The chapter is hosting several events including:  
 
*  A Mocktails & Med School event for the biomedical engineering students who want to attend medical school or are not yet decided and want to learn more. This event will take place Wednesday, February 24.
 
*  On April 1, the chapter will host a BME Industry Panel. The event will feature keynote speaker, Ben Noe. Ben is an R&D Project Manager at Medtronic. He is also the Board of Directors and Industry Committee Chair with BMES. 


Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University BMES Student Chapter hosting annual Graduate Student Research Symposium
 
Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University BMES Chapter is hosting their annual Graduate Student Research Symposium on May 11, 2016. This event provides students with the opportunity to interact and exchange research ideas with colleagues and industry leaders. This symposium will promote research collaboration between the two campuses and cutting edge facilities.
 
This year's symposium will be held in Winston-Salem, NC and will highlight the work of the students. There will be approximately 20 oral presentations and 50 poster presentations given by graduate students and over 125 students and faculty are expected to attend. 
Be a featured BMES spotlight member

All BMES members are encouraged to submit your information so that you can be featured as a BMES Member Spotlight! This is a great opportunity for your fellow members to get to know you, as well as a way for you to learn more about other members! Every member level qualifies, so go ahead and submit your information today! And if you know of a member that you believe deserves to be featured contact Lisa Prandy at lisa@bmes.org.
 

Biomedical Engineering Society
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