Dr. Leslie A. Geddes was named a Health Care Hero Friday March 9 by the Indiana Business Journal. Dr. Geddes won in the Advancements in Healthcare category, which honors "a company or individual primarily responsible for a scientific discovery or for development of a new procedure, treatment or device that can save lives or improve quality of life for a large number of people."

The effort to create a new, low-cost technology that could benefit millions of AIDS victims in Africa, showcased in this previous spotlight, is moving forward. J. Paul Robinson, a professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and the School of Veterinary Medicine, and his team will be meeting with officials and health-care professionals in Nigeria later this month to introduce the technology.

Developed with the aid of a $250,000.00 gift from the Parker Hannifin Corporation, this new technology will measure the content of CD4 cells at a fraction of the current cost. The amount of CD4 cells in the blood indicates both how well a patient's immune system is doing as well as how far AIDS has advanced. When the count drops below a set amount, the patient can then be given antiviral drugs; yet, because current technology is expensive to operate and maintain, the tests are too expensive for most Africans. University News Service has the full story.

Peixuan Guo, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Molecular Virology, and Director of the Laboratory of Gene Therapy, has created a single-molecule imaging system that allows researchers to view DNA, RNA, and similar biological molecules. This new system, more powerful and sensitive than optical microscopes, has answered a long-standing question about the number of packaging ribonucleic acid (pRNA) molecules in the phi29 nanoscale biological motor. University News Service has the full story.

A new feature has been added to the Weldon Blog with podcasts. You can hear the first one here, and learn about research by Ozan Akkus.

The second podcast features the very first BME student, and the third podcast looks at the very successful BIOMEDSHIP program. Suggestions for future podcasts are most welcome.

Professor James F. Leary has been elected by the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) to their College of Fellows. Fellows are recognized by AIMBE as persons who have distinguished themselves in the field of medical and biological engineering.

The NIH has awarded a multidisciplinary team at Purdue $7 million over five years to study the use of a nanomotor for potential healthcare applications as one of eight national nanomedicine development centers. Such research could lead to nanomotors being used to package and deliver therapeutic agents to disease-causing cells.

Purdue researchers are applying the same basic technique seismologists use to measure earthquakes for a new medical technology that promises to prevent stress fractures by detecting the formation of tiny cracks in bones.

The Purdue University Board of Trustees, meeting at Purdue Calumet on Friday, September 29, approved the appointment of Kinam Park as Purdue's Showalter Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering. The appointment was made based on Park's academic achievements, which have been internationally recognized, and his unique contributions to the university through his scholarship, research, teaching and leadership functions.