Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University

Purdue University has installed a powerful type of MRI machine - the only one of its kind in Indiana - that will boost research and training capabilities and serve the regional scientific community. "It's a multiuser facility for the whole state," said Corey Neu, an assistant professor in Purdue University's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.

Researchers have discovered a link between prostate cancer aggressiveness and the accumulation of a compound produced when cholesterol is metabolized in cells, findings that could bring new diagnostic and treatment methods.

Pu Wang, a graduate student at the Weldon School, led the Vibronix team to a strong second-place finish in the Gold Division at the Burton Morgan Business Plan Competition. Vibronix received $15,000, plus $3,000 worth of in-kind services from Ice Miller and a one-year membership in The Anvil co-working space.

Purdue Research Foundation and Cook Medical officials announced plans to establish a $12 million evergreen investment fund to support Purdue-based life sciences companies. "Converting Purdue innovation into new products, companies and jobs is perhaps the most valuable way for our university to live up to its land-grant heritage and contribute to the progress of our state," said Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue University. "This fund will help a new and larger generation of Purdue innovators move their technologies to the public."

A new International Brain Mechanics and Trauma Lab (IBMTL) has been established as part of an international initiative to study brain cell and tissue mechanics and their relation with brain functions, disease, and trauma. The team comprises Riyi Shi, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Weldon School, and colleagues from Oxford University, the Technical University of Madrid, and the University of California.

As part of an ongoing strategy to foster entrepreneurism, Purdue innovators now have access to a Purdue Startup Guide that provides information on how to protect and commercialize an invention.

Supporting a transformational change in the way universities approach fundamental research, several Purdue University faculty are spearheading a program to incorporate commercialization goals as a valuable enhancement of basic research and to foster increased entrepreneurialism at Purdue.

David Dries, MD, a Purdue alumnus and good friend of the Weldon School, has received the highest honor bestowed by the world’s leading organization of critical care physicians. Dr. Dries was designated a Master of Critical Care Medicine (MCCM) by the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). The designation was conferred at the SCCM 43rd Critical Care Congress in San Francisco on Jan. 11. Since its founding in 1970, the Society has conferred the designation of Master on only 53 individuals.

Researchers working to advance imaging useful to medicine and security are capitalizing on the same phenomenon behind the lingering "ghost" image that appeared on old television screens.

Michael Ladisch, Distinguished Professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and director of Purdue's Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering (LORRE) has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Dr. Tony Hu, Assistant Professor of Nanomedicine and Director of Proteomic Nanoengineering Core, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston, TX, and Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York will present a seminar on Wednesday, March 12, entitled "Nanopore-enabled peptidomics and its applications for disease diagnosis."

Dr. Paul G. Constantine, Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics and Statistics at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, will give a seminar on Tuesday, March 11th at 12:00 pm in BRK 2001.

Natalie G. Ahn, Ph.D., Professor of Distinction, Molecular Biophysics Program, Neuroscience Program at the University of Colorado, Boulder will present a seminar entitled "Proteomics, Mass Spectrometry, and New Insights into Cell Signaling" on 3/27 at 11:30 a.m. in WSLR 116.

"On tap": Dr. Monica Cardella and Dr. Senay Purzer from the School of Engineering Education will present the next Science on Tap on March 13th.

Eric A. Nauman, professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering, has received the A. A. Potter Award and will be recognized during the twelfth annual College of Engineering Faculty Awards of Excellence on Friday, April 4, 2014.

Hardware designed specifically to run complex neural networks could let personal devices make sense of the world.

For college athletes who get through their sport's season concussion-free, new research suggests it may be too early to breathe a sigh of relief.