BME core faculty member Caterina Gallippi awarded a TraCS $50k Grant

BME core faculty member, Dr. Caterina Gallippi, has been awarded a TraCS $50k grant from the UNC Chapel Hill based North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute.  This project will be led by Dr. Gallippi and her collaborators will be:  Dr. Wui Kheong Chong from UNC-CH’s Department of Radiology; and Dr. Randal Detwiler from UNC-CH’s Department of Medicine.  This support is for a project titled “ARFI Ultrasound for Noninvasive, In Vivo Assessment of Renal Transplant.”  Their project will start shortly, will run for up to a year; and be funded on the order of $50,000.  As per the design of the NC TraCS $50K awards, BME will provide half the funding for this project.  Congratulations Caterina and her team for receiving such a strong endorsement and support from the new NC TraCS Institute!

BME Graduate Student, Shaun Gittard, awarded American Ceramic Society Graduate Excellence in Materials Science (GEMS) Sapphire Award

Shaun Gittard, one of BME's PhD students being advised by Roger Narayan, was selected for the American Ceramic Society Graduate Excellence in Materials Science (GEMS) Sapphire Award at the American Ceramic Society Annual Meeting last week in Pittsburgh. The Annual Graduate Excellence in Materials Science (GEMS) awards to recognize the outstanding achievements of graduate students in Materials Science and Engineering.

BME Affiliate, Dr. Morgan Giddings, co-awarded NIH ARRA Grant

BME affiliate faculty member Dr. Morgan Giddings, along with collaborator Dr. Xian Chen, has been awarded an NIH ARRA grant.  Dr. Giddings, based in UNC-Chapel Hill’s Department of Microbiology & Immunology, is the lead/contact Principal Investigator for the project, and Dr. Chen, with UNC-Chapel Hill Biochemistry, is Co-PI on the award.  The purpose of the award is to generate, manage, analyze and disseminate large scale data sets for protein-based annotation of the human genome.  Working in concert with other investigators in the ENCODE (ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements) Dr. Giddings’ team will be working to produce a complete map of the genes on the human genome, that can be used to address a variety of human disease states.  This exciting project will receive $1.6 million over its two year project period.  The Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering congratulates Morgan for winning this competitive award!

BME Affiliate Faculty Member, Dr. Nancy Monteiro-Riviere, Awarded NIH R01 Grant

BME affiliate Faculty Member, Dr. Nancy Monteiro-Riviere, has been awarded a NIH R01 grant.  This funding was obtained as part of the competitive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act award programs.  This support is for a project titled “Comparative In Vivo Biodistribution of Characterized Manufactured Nanomaterials.”  Dr. Monteiro-Riviere will collaborate with NC State’s Jim Riviere, Xin Xia, Keith Linder, and Kyle Mathews.  The objective of this project is to characterize the physicochemical interactions between manufactured carbon nanomaterials and biological systems by conducting in vivo absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination studies of 14C fullerenes in rats and pigs.  This project will be funded at $658,367 total costs for the whole of its two year project period.  The Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering congratulates Nancy for winning this competitive award!

Welcome Anka Veleva!

This month, Dr. Anka Veleva joins BME as a Research Associate Professor for a five-year term.  She comes to us from our College of Engineering's department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.  Anka's research interests are:  Protein and biomolecular engineering; Cell-specific targeting for therapeutic angiogenesis and vasculogenesis; Artificial blood vessels; and Blood-material interactions.   She is currently located in Engineering Bldg I; I-054.

Please welcome Anka into our Joint Department!

Welcome Greg Sawicki!

This August, Dr. Greg Sawicki joins BME as a new tenure-track Assistant Professor.  Greg's speciality is rehabilitation.  He will be establishing a new gait laboratory in EB-III when we take occupancy next summer.  For the next year, his office and lab will be located in the College of Textiles on the NCSU Centennial Campus.

Please welcome Greg into our Joint Department!

BME Graduate Student Rachel Clipp receives Fall 2009 Mentored Teaching Assistantship from COE

Good news! BME Graduate Student Rachel Clipp has been selected to receive the Fall 2009 Mentored Teaching Assistantship from the College of Engeineering! Congratulations to Rachel and Dr. Steele.

BME Graduate Student Ryan McCulloch receives Fall 2009 Mentored Teaching Assistantship from COE

More Good news! BME Graduate Student Ryan McCulloch has been selected to receive a Fall 2009 Mentored Teaching Assistantship from the College of Engeineering! Congratulations to Ryan and Dr. Mente!

BME Core Faculty Member, Dr. Caterina Gallippi, Awarded Five Year NIH R01 Grant

BME core faculty member, Dr. Caterina Gallippi, has been awarded a five year NIH R01 grant.  This funding mechanism and duration of award is the premier configuration of support NIH provides to independent investigators.  This support is for a project titled “ARFI ultrasound for noninvasive, Diagnostic atherosclerosis imaging.”  Dr. Gallippi will collaborate with Dr. Tim Nichols (Pathology & Lab Medicine); Dr. Hongtu Zhu (Biostatistics); Dr. Souvik Sen (Neurology); Dr. Cam Patterson (Medicine); and Dr. Matthew Mauro (Radiology).  The objectives of this project are to demonstrate a novel ultrasound imaging technology - Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) ultrasound – for improved diagnosis of atherosclerotic plaques and stroke risk.  This project will be funded at $250,000 direct costs per year for each of its five years.  The Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering heartily congratulates Caterina for achieving this substantial professional accomplishment!

BME core faculty member Marian McCord co-awarded a TraCS $10k Grant

BME core faculty member, Dr. Marian McCord, has been co-awarded a TraCS $10k grant from the UNC Chapel Hill based North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute.  This project will be led by Dr. Melanie Joy from UNC-CH’s Department of Medicine, School of Medicine.  This support is for a project titled “Textile Based Phosphate Adsorption; an Application in Hemodialysis.”  NC TraCS was pleased to inform Drs. Joy and McCord that their application was one of only 8 chosen in this round for funding.   Their project will start shortly, will run for up to a year; and be funded on the order of $10,000.  Congratulations Marian for receiving such a strong endorsement and support from the new NC TraCS Institute!

BME core faculty member Marian McCord co-awarded NC State’s FRPD Multi-Investigator Grant

BME core faculty member, Dr. Marian McCord, has been co-awarded NC State’s Faculty Research Professional Development (FRPD) Multi-Investigator Grant.  Her collaborators are Dr. Mike Roe and Dr. Hoon Joo Lee.  The project is titled “Reversing the Lotus Effect: A New Insecticidal Strategy.”  The aim is to disrupt the mosquito cuticle with surfactants by transfer of a surfactant from a textile substrate to the insect’s legs and body via interactions that occur as the mosquito attempts to bite through protective fabric.   This disables the mosquito’s ability to walk/stand on water which is critical to its life cycle.  Their ultimate goal is to develop new non-toxic insecticidal strategies for use in bednets and insecticidal clothing.   The project started on July 1st 2009, will run for up to a year; and be funded up to $20,000.  Congratulations to Marian and her collaborators for their on-going success on the worthy project!

BME core faculty member, Dr. Roger Narayan, Conferred Tenure at the rank of Professor in BME, College of Engineering

The Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering is happy to announce that, effective August 16, 2009, the North Carolina State University Board of Trustees has approved conferral of tenure at the rank of Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering to BME core faculty member, Dr. Roger Narayan.  This milestone marks both a move in home base from the School of Medicine to the College of Engineering and a professional advancement in recognition of his accomplishments in teaching and research.  Please join in saluting Roger on achieving this important milestone and wish him success as he continues his professional progress at his new base in COE.  BME seconds NC State Chancellor James Woodward in congratulating Dr. Narayan "on this professional recognition" and in looking forward to his "valuable contributions to NC State."