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Director of the IEM Center for Medical Device and Instrumentation (CMDI) Nominated to The National Academy of Engineering

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:58:55 GMT

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected Professor Juan Lasheras as a new member of the prestigious Academy. Professor Lasheras is the Stanford and Beverly Penner Professor of Engineering and Applied Science and a Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and an Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering. He is also the director of the IEM Center for Medical Device and Instrumentation (CMDI) and holds over 40 Patents in medical instruments. He was cited for his studies of atomization, turbulent mixing, and heat transfer and for the development of medical devices. Dr. Lasheras has worked at the intersection of engineering, biology, and medicine discovering new scientific principles and technologies. He has made seminal contributions to the biomechanical basis of arterial aneurysms and the impact aneurysms have on blood flow, total body hypothermia for surgery and treatment of stroke, molecular and mechanical mechanisms of cell migration, and the control and regulation of intracellular rheology in response to imposed mechanical stresses. His innovations and designs are used in surgery and medicine throughout the world.

CONNECT Recognizes Genomatica with the Most Innovative New Product Award

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Genomatica has won the CONNECT Most Innovative New Product Award in the Clean Technology category. Genomatica’s biotechnological innovations have lead to economically efficient and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes for creating the basic chemicals and ingredients that constitute nearly all of our consumer and industrial products. San Diego’s premier non-profit entrepreneur organization, CONNECT, has recognized Genomatica’s innovations with their annual Most Innovative New Product Award. Earlier in the year, Genomatica had been recognized by the national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) organization with the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the highest honor in green chemistry.

I-RiCE Advisory Committee Meeting

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The International Research-Intensive Center of Excellence (I-RiCE) on Advanced Bioengineering held their first International Advisory Committee meeting November 11th at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus. This Center is an international collaborative research partnership between UCSD and two universities from the University System of Taiwan (UST, including the National Yang-Ming University and the National Chiao-Tung University). The goal of the Center is to advance the understanding of biological systems from a bioengineering perspective and establish applications in clinical medicine and healthcare. The collaborative efforts will enable researchers across the Pacific to synergize their expertise and activities in biomedical engineering in three major areas: Integrative (molecular and cellular) Bioengineering, Neural Engineering, and Health Translation, with the common goal of conducting discovery and translational research to improve human health. The morning sessions were devoted to fruitful discussions between the investigators from the UST and UCSD on collaborations in the three subprograms corresponding to the focus research areas. The topics ranged from Biophotonics and Cardiovascular Bioengineering to Computational Neuroscience and Wireless Healthcare.

President Obama Awards National Medal of Science to Shu Chien

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:00:00 GMT

President Obama greets and awards Shu Chien with the National Medal of Science.

President Barack Obama has awarded Dr. Shu Chien with the National Medal of Science in an award ceremony that took place Friday, October 21st, 2011, in the White House. In a statement released by the White House, President Obama said, “I’m pleased to recognize these extraordinary scientists, engineers, and inventors for their work exploring the very frontiers of human knowledge and making our world a better place." Dr. Chien’s work has brought the worlds of biology, engineering, and medicine together to greatly advance the treatments for many cardio-related illnesses. President Obama further explained how the research and discoveries of scholars such Dr. Chien has lead to numerous innovations and jobs.

NIH Grant Awarded to Start New Muscle Center in San Diego

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:00:00 GMT

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has awarded a P-30 grant to Richard Lieber, Ph.D., Professor of Orthopaedics and Bioengineering and Vice-Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, for the creation of the San Diego Skeletal Muscle Research Center (SDMRC) as part of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM). This prestigious grant will bring together twenty-one scientists spanning five research institutions and nine academic departments to advance our understanding of skeletal muscles and the numerous ailments associated with muscle diseases.

White House Awards UC San Diego Bioengineering Professor and Institute for Engineering in Medicine Director Shu Chien the National Medal of Science

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:00:00 GMT

Presidential Award given to those, “deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, or engineering sciences.”

Professor Shu Chien, the Director of the Institute of Engineering in Medicine, has been selected by President Barack Obama as one of the seven recipients of the National Medal of Science. President Obama speaks of Dr. Chien’s work having an “…ingenuity [that] inspires us all to reach higher and try harder, no matter how difficult the challenges we face.” Professor Chien’s research in the effects of the mechanical forces on signal transduction and gene expression, and his general expertise on how blood flow and pressure affect vessels has led to numerous developments for better diagnostic tests and treatments for atherosclerosis and other blood flow related ailments.

Professor Shu Chien has also been elected to the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

2012 Siebel Scholars Awards Announced

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 07:00:00 GMT

The 2012 Siebel Scholar winners are (from left to right): Jessica DeQuach, Che-Ming Jack Hu, Dan Kagan, Lauren Hruby Jepson, and Nathan Lewis. Photo credit: Jacobs School of Engineering

Five UCSD Bioengineering students have been awarded the prestigious Siebel Scholar fellowship for their exceptional research in bioengineering and improving human health. The Siebel Scholar annually awards $35,000 to outstanding Ph.D. students who are completing the last year of their graduate studies. This is the third year that UCSD has awarded the prestigious fellowship made possible by the Siebel Foundation.

UC San Diego Bioengineering Startup Genomatica Tops New Biofuels Ranking

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:00:00 GMT

Renewable chemicals developer Genomatica recently took the #1 spot in the 2011-12 30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals and Materials rankings by Biofuels Digest

Renewable chemicals developer Genomatica recently took the #1 spot in the 2011-12 30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals and Materials rankings by BiofuelsDigest. The rankings recognize innovation and achievement in renewable chemicals and materials development. (Read the Genomatica press release on this ranking.)

Genomatica CEO Christophe Schilling earned his Ph.D. in Bioengineering in 2000 at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, under the guidance of professor Bernhard Palsson, the Galetti Professor of Bioengineering in the Department of Bioengineering.

New UC San Diego Master Degree Program Aims to Keep the Medical Device and Medical Diagnosis Workforce Competitive

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:00:00 GMT

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego are launching a new graduate degree program this fall that will help medical device and medical diagnosis engineers in Southern California, and their employers, innovate and remain competitive.

“The new master degree program will address an unmet need in San Diego – interdisciplinary graduate-level training for engineers and scientists who are already working in the medical device and diagnostic industries. The curriculum is focused on the interface between traditional disciplines, which is where the most exciting advances in medical device and diagnostic systems engineering are occurring,” said Juan C. Lasheras, a UC San Diego professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and in the Department of Bioengineering – which the National Research Council ranked as first in the country in 2010. Lasheras is also Director of the Center for Medical Devices and Instrumentation – part of the UC San Diego Institute of Engineering in Medicine.

Nanoengineers Invent New Biomaterial That More Closely Mimics Human Tissue

Thu, 26 May 2011 07:00:00 GMT

Optical images of polyethylene glycol scaffolds expanding in response to stretching.(Note: green tone added to image.) Image credit: UC San Diego / Shaochen Chen

A new biomaterial designed for repairing damaged human tissue doesn’t wrinkle up when it is stretched. The invention from nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego marks a significant breakthrough in tissue engineering because it more closely mimics the properties of native human tissue.

Shaochen Chen, professor in the Department of NanoEngineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, hopes future tissue patches, which are used to repair damaged heart walls, blood vessels and skin, for example, will be more compatible with native human tissue than the patches available today. His findings were published in a recent issue of the journal Advanced Functional Materials.