Regenerative Engineering Textbook

September 19, 2013

Regenerative Engineering book cover The Institute for Regenerative Engineering has launched a textbook entitled Regenerative Engineering. It explores the development and examination of vital organs and tissue types, addressing concerns as they relate to the regenerative engineering of various organ tissues, vascular tissues, bone, ligament, neural tissue, and the interfaces between tissues. I would like to thank all of the authors for their outstanding contributions. I also thank my mentor, Dr. Robert S. Langer of MIT who contributed the foreword. In addition, I value Dr. Yusuf Khan’s time and effort in putting together this textbook.

Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) Award

September 6, 2013

I am happy to report that the Institute for Regenerative Engineering received a major award from the NSF last month. This is one of the largest grant efforts in the history of the UConn Health Center. This is also our second EFRI grant. To our knowledge, we are the only research group in the country to have two active EFRI grants.

The focus of EFRI program supports transformative ideas that represent an opportunity for a significant shift in fundamental engineering knowledge with a strong potential for long term impact on national needs or a grand challenge. The abstract of the award is posted on the NSF website.
As the Principal Investigator for the grant, I thank everyone involved in this application for their phenomenal work during the past several months in getting this grant successfully funded. I would especially like to thank the co-principal investigators and the senior personnel listed below. It was a great pleasure working with all of you in putting together this fine proposal.

Co-Principal Investigators
Dr. Sangamesh Kumbar, Orthopaedic Surgery, UConn Health Center
Dr. Kevin Lo, Medicine, UConn Health Center

Senior Personnel
Dr. Yusuf Khan, Orthopaedic Surgery, UConn Health Center
Dr. David Goldhamer, Molecular and Cell Biology, UConn, Storrs
Dr. Pouran Faghri, Allied Health Sciences, UConn, Storrs
Dr. Nathan Swami, Electrical Engineering, University of Virginia

Special Issue of Current Pharmaceutical Design

May 22, 2013

It is my great pleasure to announce a special issue of Current Pharmaceutical Design will focus on Bone Morphogenetic Proteins for Bone Regeneration and Their Alternatives. This issue summarizes current perspectives on the use of bioactive molecules, as well as evaluating other strategies such as stem cells, biomaterials, vascularization, and gene therapy for bone regenerative engineering. We thank our outstanding contributors for participating, including our colleagues here at the Health Center, Drs. Marja Hurley and Sangamesh Kumbar. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of guest editor Dr. Kevin Lo, a faculty member here in the Institute for Regenerative Engineering. Without his time and effort, this issue would not have been possible.

The Special Issue has been published electronically by Bentham Science Publishers. The print version will be available very soon.

Connecticut Higher Education Community Service Awards

May 14, 2013

Keshia Ashe with William R. Dyson and Gov. Dannel Malloy It gives me great pleasure to announce that Keshia Ashe, a chemical engineering student in the Institute for Regenerative Engineering, was recently awarded the 2013 Individual Student Service Award given by the Connecticut Higher Education Community. Colleges and universities around Connecticut annually recognize individuals and groups who design projects which serve a community, incorporating originality and unique approaches, substantially raising student participation, and addressing community problems.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and William R. Dyson, chair of the Connecticut Commission on Community Service, presented Keshia with the award, siting her passion and dedication to inspiring, encouraging, and supporting students’ pursuit of STEM degrees. She founded ManyMentors, a nonprofit which aim to close the gap between minority and female interest and achievement in the STEM fields by connecting students to mentors and role models. Her social innovation bridges traditional in-person mentoring efforts with online and mobile components to create sustained mentoring between middle school and high school students and near age mentors in STEM.

With a group of nearly 30 mentors, ManyMentors has reached over 400 students in the Greater Hartford area, and plans to reach more as the organization establishes more partnerships with community leaders in the STEM education fields. I am very proud of Keshia for her contributions to STEM education. I am looking forward to future successes as she and others continue to serve as inspiring role models and mentors.

Member Spotlight on the AAAS Website

April 23, 2013

Earlier this year, I received the 2012 Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for mentoring students in biomedical engineering. As a follow-up to that, Dr. Aira Nouri asked me to participate in a brief discussion about my views on the importance of mentoring. Our conversation has been posted on the AAAS website. Mentoring is, for me, one of the most important legacies we leave behind us; and I urge everyone to share both their knowledge and themselves with those who will follow and continue the work we’ve begun.

Technology Innovation and Development Award

April 17, 2013

On April 11, I was so humbled by receiving the Technology Innovation and Development Award from the Society for Biomaterials (SFB). The award ceremony was held at the SFB annual meeting in Boston, MA. This award recognizes an individual or team who provided key scientific and technical innovation and leadership in a novel product in which biomaterials played an important and enabling role.

For more than three decades, I have conducted research studies on biomaterials for musculoskeletal tissue engineering, nanotechnology, and drug delivery. I began research in this field in the late 1980s, and was influenced by my Ph.D. mentor, Dr. Robert Langer, an Institution Professor at M.I.T. On behalf of my research team, I thank you sincerely. To be selected by the SFB is indeed a great honor.

The CCEI Start-Up Challenge Pitch Competition

April 16, 2013

Matthew Harmon The Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI) held its Start-Up Challenge Pitch Competition on April 8 on the Storrs campus. Open to students on all UConn campuses, CCEI awarded a total of $10,000 in prize money to individuals and/or teams across ten categories. Entries ranged from mobile apps for improved access to educational resources to novel material design for improved transportation infrastructure. The organizers challenged students to prepare a 90-second business idea pitch followed by a 2-minute Q&A session.

I am very proud to announce that our pitch for a novel interbody fusion device won “Best Pitch.” Nicknamed SpineFuze, this is a biodegradable, natural polymer-based interbody fusion device for spinal disc surgery. The team also plans to submit an additional entry for the upcoming written business-plan competition.

The business pitch was delivered by Matthew Harmon, a current 3rd-year Ph.D. student in the Institute for Regenerative Engineering. Matthew is completing his Ph.D. before returning to medical school to continue his pursuit of a career as a physician scientist in orthopaedics. His current research interests involve novel material design for the treatment of spine-related orthopaedic injuries and pathologies.

NSF Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program

April 12, 2013

I am happy to announce that Ms. Deborah Dorcemus, an IRE graduate student, was recently awarded the National Science Foundation’s prestigious LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship. The LSAMP program is funded by the National Science Foundation and focuses on strengthen the participation, representation and success of underrepresented minorities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Fellows receive two years of funding under the program with an additional three years provided by their advisors.

After graduating high school in 2008, Deborah chose to attend the University of Connecticut for her degree in Biomedical Engineering. Throughout her four years of undergraduate work, Deborah was heavily involved with several organizations that promote the professional development and academic success of students and minorities interested in the STEM fields. Deborah also held the positions of secretary, vice president, and president of the UConn chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Upon receiving her Bachelor of Science in May 2012, she decided to continue on her academic path and enrolled in UConn’s Graduate program for her Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering with a focus in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. With the support of her advisor, Dr. Syam P. Nukavarapu (IRE faculty member), she is nearing completion of her first year of graduate studies. In addition to her lab and school work, Deborah volunteers with the Engineering Graduate Dean’s Office, under the supervision of Aida Ghiaei, and works with students from technical high schools who come to UConn in hopes of becoming engineers. Deborah’s thesis work involves utilizing tissue engineering strategies to develop 3D matrixes that would regenerate osteochondral (functional bone and cartilage) tissue. In order to achieve this, she will use a polymer-hydrogel matrix to deliver growth factors that would cue the tissue to a specific formation. In the end, this structure will serve to replace damaged or arthritic tissue which is an area of great need among the elderly as well as athletes.

Dean’s Distinguished Seminar Series – University of Colorado Denver

March 27, 2013

On March 19, I served as a guest speaker at the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Medicine. Each year, speakers in various disciples from across the country are invited to participate in the Dean’s Distinguished Seminar series. I spoke on musculoskeletal regenerative engineering and the challenges facing tissue engineering. I also highlighted the emergence of regenerative engineering as a promising new technology to regenerate tissues and organs for our bodies. My thanks to everyone at University of Colorado Denver for their hospitality. I look forward to collaborating with them in the future.

A Woman of Innovation

March 15, 2013

I am very excited to announce that Paiyz Mikael has been selected as one of the finalists for the 2013 Women of Innovation Awards. Every year, the Connecticut Technology Council recognizes women for their innovations, mentoring, leadership in technology, and contributions to the STEM field. These awards also include high-school and college-level students.

Paiyz’s graduate study was supported by a prestigious National Science Foundation GK-12 Fellowship for two years. As a GK-12 Fellow, she was embedded at Hartford’s A.I. Prince Technical High School, where she worked closely with teachers and students to bring fun, hands-on activities to the classroom that reinforced the applications of science and technology while exciting students in STEM subjects. She introduced projects including the design and construction of a working greenhouse, compost and recycling apparatuses, as well as a moon buggy design for a NASA competition. Paiyz also integrated her own research project into the classroom activities. The students learned how to make microspheres using items available at home. These projects immerse students in science lessons involving energy, efficiency and sustainability. Under her guidance, a Prince Tech student team won a $5,000 award from a local energy company to establish a better, greener recycling system. Prince Tech serves a population underrepresented in engineering: 95% minority students and 51% females. As a recent immigrant from Iraqi Kurdistan, Paiyz has been embraced by Prince Tech students. She is passionate about mentoring and helping them realize their potential. She is proudest of her success in initiating a mentoring collaboration between A.I. Prince Tech students and children in a nearby charter elementary/middle school. This partnership fosters strong mentoring skills among the high school students while providing STEM support for the younger children. Above all, Paiyz is most excited about her role as a mother to a beautiful 6-year-old daughter, Rojan; and she truly believes that raising and mentoring children is a privilege and an honor.

Paiyz Mikael in the laboratory

Paiyz joined the Institute for Regenerative Engineering under the guidance of Dr. Syam P. Nukavarapu in the Biomedical Engineering Program at the University of Connecticut. She focused on developing mechanically superior polymeric-carbon nanotube composite scaffolds for the regeneration of segmental bone defects. Prior to that, she graduated with honors from Southern Connecticut State University where she completed her thesis project titled “Study of chemotherapy responses in transformed murine cell line containing a temperature-sensitive mutation in the p53 gene.” Currently, Paiyz is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Material Science and Engineering program here at UConn. Her research focuses on exploiting the regeneration of bone tissue through a process that naturally takes place during fetal development (Endochondral ossification). For this, she is working on developing a polymeric-hydrogel hybrid scaffold system that is mechanically compatible with bone; furthermore, the hydrogel phase acts as a natural extracellular matrix on which cells will reside and differentiate further.