Fourteen new projects, two of which have ties to Weldon School faculty, have been funded by the 2021 Trailblazer Awards and Planning Grants, which are supported by Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) Community Health Partnerships.

Current BME PhD student, Ángel Enríquez, was chosen as a LATinE Trailblazers in Engineering Fellow through Purdue University's College of Engineering.

Purdue researchers, including BME’s Maria Dadarlat, were selected as part of the newly created $15 million NSF HDR Institute of Accelerated AI Algorithms for Data-Driven Discovery (A3D3). The project will incorporate AI algorithms with new processors such that they can analyze unprecedented data sets.

Far-field fluorescence microscopy is a powerful tool in biological research due to its live cell compatibility and molecular specificity. A major hurdle over the last ~100 years has been the limited resolution due to the diffraction of light. But thanks to a federal grant, one Purdue researcher hopes to break down the barriers which will allow direct visualization of cellular dynamics and nanoscale architectures in live cells and tissue sections.

Imagine the day when any tissue or organ can be repaired or the replacements personalized to the patient. That’s one of the goals of work being done by BME’s David Umulis and a team of scientists at the Emergent Mechanisms in Biology of Robustness, Integration and Organization (EMBRIO) Institute. They’re using artificial intelligence in biology to see how cells defend themselves and/or repair their damage.

Deva Chan, assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded a 2021 Young Faculty Award (YFA) by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Chan’s collaborators on this Award include Purdue's Douglas Brubaker, assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Timothy Lescun, a professor and large animal surgeon in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

What makes pancreatic cancer so deadly is its covert and quick spread. Now, a “time machine” built by Purdue University engineers has shown a way to reverse the course of cancer before it spreads throughout the pancreas.

“These findings open up the possibility of designing a new gene therapy or drug because now we can convert cancerous cells back into their normal state,” said Bumsoo Han, a Purdue professor of mechanical engineering and program leader of the Purdue Center for Cancer Research. Han has a courtesy appointment in biomedical engineering.

Cognitive decline is a major and growing public health issue. BME’s Anne Sereno is researching how a working memory for a particular sensory input or object — like the shape of a car, or its location in a parking lot — is encoded and represented in the brain.

Approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population has some type of disability — comprising the largest minority in the nation, spanning all races and ethnicities, socioeconomic groups, and genders. Yet each of these individuals can contribute to society if given the right tools, training and opportunities. That’s where assistive technology, or AT, comes in, says Purdue IE’s Brad Duerstock.

The College of Engineering recognized 54 staff members from 12 units who were awarded with University Bravo Awards this summer, including two from the Weldon School - Emily Blue, senior marketing and communications manager, and Chantalle Brown, academic advisor.