College of Engineering Biomedical Engineering Department

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Cunjiang Yu, Ph.D.— BME Fall 2024 Seminar Series

Rubbery electronics and bioelectronics

Cunjiang Yu, Ph.D.
Founder Professor
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Thursday September 26, 2024, 11am-12pm, PWEB 150

Abstract: Electronics that can seamlessly integrate with human body could have significant impact in medical diagnostic, therapeutics. However, seamless integration is a grand challenge because of the
distinct nature between electronics and human body. Traditional electronics, rigid and planar, face inherent mismatches with the soft, deformable nature of the human body. This presentation will introduce an innovative solution to the challenge. Our approach, termed “rubbery electronics,” relies on the use of elastic, rubbery materials for semiconductors, conductors, and dielectrics. These materials exhibit tissue-like softness and mechanical stretchability, enabling seamless integration with soft, deformable tissues and organs. The talk will delve into the development of rubbery semiconductors, transistors, integrated electronics, sensors, and bioelectronics. Furthermore, it will showcase functional systems enabled by rubbery electronics and explore their applications in healthcare, robotics, and human-machine interfaces. This platform technology opens doors to diverse opportunities, promising significant advancements in various fields.

References:
[1] Nature Electronics, 5, 881-892, 2022.
[2] Nature Electronics, 3, 775-784, 2020.
[3] Science Advances, 3, e701114, 2017.

Biography: Cunjiang Yu is the Founder Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, of Materials Science and Engineering, of Mechanical Science and Engineering, and of Bioengineering. His research focuses on the fundamentals and applications of soft and bio electronics. He has published about 100 journal articles (~30 on Nature/Science series journals). His work has been recognized by a few awards, including the CAB Mid-Career Award, ASME Thomas J. R. Hughes Young Investigator Award, the Society of Engineering Science Young Investigator Medal Award, ASME Chao and Trigger Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, NSF CAREER Award, ONR Young Investigator Award, NIH Trailblazer Award, etc. He is an ASME Fellow.

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For additional information, please contact Dr. Sina Shahbazmohamadi or Sarah Dunnack

Sulin Zhang, Ph.D.— BME Spring 2024 Seminar Series

“Mechanobiology: Tension to Function”

Sulin Zhang, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics
Pennsylvania State University

Thursday March 28, 2024 11am–12pm in UTEB 150

Abstract: The tensegrity theory offers a foundational structural framework for understanding the hierarchical organization of living systems and the transmission of mechanical signals in cells and tissues. Yet, the dynamic assembly of tensegrity structures by living organisms remains a critical yet unresolved question at the heart of mechanobiology. In my talk, I will begin by exploring how cells sense mechanical force signals and how cellular forces are generated and transmitted within cells and tissues. I will then illustrate how cellular forces drive and guide directional molecular flows, essential to the formation of tensegrity structures. Through specific examples, I will further illuminate the dynamic exchange between mechanical and biochemical signals during growth and repair and discuss how this vital communication is disrupted in disease. Emphasis will be placed on the fundamental mechanics that is intertwined with the biochemical pathways, foundational for normal development, therapeutic intervention, and nanomedicine innovation.

Biography: Sulin Zhang received his PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2002 from Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State University, with courtesy appointments in Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His research interests lie in the roles of mechanical forces and stresses in materials, chemistry, and biology. He is the recipient of the Early Career Development Award from National Science Foundation in 2007, the PSEAS Outstanding Research Award in 2016 from Penn State. Dr. Zhang is the founding Editor for Extreme Mechanics Letters, and an editorial board member for NPJ-Computational Materials.

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For additional information, please visit www.bme.uconn.edu or contact Prof. Fayekah Assanah or Sarah Dunnack

Maho Shibata, Ph.D.— BME Spring 2024 Seminar Series

“Cellular heterogeneity and plasticity in prostate development and cancer”

Maho Shibata, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology
The George Washington University Cancer Center

Thursday March 21, 2024 11am–12pm in UTEB 150

If you are unable to attend in person you can join remotely here

Abstract: Prostate cancer remains a lethal disease despite the development of potent androgen receptor-targeting drugs. Prostate cancers generally display luminal epithelial cell features, and this seminar will discuss our research on luminal cells in the prostate using developmental and stem cell biology approaches and genetically engineered mice. Topics covered will include the cellular plasticity of luminal cells during prostate organogenesis, and our identification of the TRIM28 co-transcriptional repressor protein as a regulator of luminal cell plasticity in prostate cancer. New findings, revealed by three-dimensional imaging, on the contributions of heterogenous macrophages to prostate organogenesis will also be presented.

Biography: Dr. Shibata obtained her Ph.D. in Genetics at Cornell University, studying mid-gestation mouse embryos with ENU (N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea) induced mutations to identify functions of novel genes important for the morphogenesis of mouse embryos. Her interest in applying knowledge from developmental biology to cancer research led her to Dr. Michael Shen’s lab at Columbia University Medical Center in 2011. In her postdoctoral research, she contributed to the establishment of an organoid culture system for studying prostate progenitor and luminal stem cells and investigated cellular heterogeneity of prostate luminal cells using single-cell RNA sequencing. In 2018, she established her independent research lab at the George Washington University Cancer Center in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology.

Her lab’s research has focused on the regulation of stem cells, castration-resistant stem cells, and cellular differentiation during prostate organogenesis and tumorigenesis, pursuing these projects through the use of genetically-engineered mouse models. She is a member of the Prostate Cancer Foundation Edward P. Evans Precision Center of Excellence at the Washington DC VA Medical Center in collaboration with the George Washington University Cancer Center and the GenitoUrinary Development Molecular Anatomy Project (GUDMAP) Consortium.

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For additional information, please visit www.bme.uconn.edu or contact Prof. Fayekah Assanah or Sarah Dunnack

Scott Rich, Ph.D. — BME Spring 2024 Seminar Series

“Resilience through diversity: Biophysically heterogeneity protects physiological neurocircuit activity”

Scott Rich, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology in Neurobiology
University of Connecticut

Thursday March 7, 2024 11am–12pm in UTEB 150

If you are unable to attend in person you can join remotely here

Abstract: Diversity is the norm in most biological systems, and the brain is no exception: significant heterogeneity is observed in fundamental properties of similarly classified neurons in the human brain. Whether this variability drives physiological activity or is merely an epiphenomenon of noisy and stochastic biological processes remains an open question, although important initial evidence for a functional role for this diversity is found in the fact that it is reduced in neuropathology, particularly in the seizure-generating brain regions of patients with epilepsy. Techniques from computational neuroscience are uniquely situated to identify the direct effects that various experimentally-observed heterogeneities (as well as disruptions in neuropathology) have on the dynamics of neuronal circuits as well as the mechanisms by which these dynamics arise. In this seminar, I will review results from my postdoctoral research that strengthen the connection between heterogeneous neuronal circuits and resilience against pathological brain activity, and preview how my independent laboratory at the University of Connecticut will further delineate how experimentally-relevant heterogeneities drive physiological brain activity of functional relevance.

Biography: Dr. Scott Rich is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology in Neurobiology. He completed postdoctoral training in Toronto at the Krembil Brain Institute and SickKids Research Institute after receiving his Ph.D in Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics from the University of Michigan and completing undergraduate studies at Duke University. Dr. Rich’s new lab will use a wide range of tools from computational neuroscience to study how neuronal heterogeneity and diversity drives physiologically relevant brain function, and how disruptions to this diversity might contribute to a range of neuropathologies

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For additional information, please visit www.bme.uconn.edu or contact Prof. Fayekah Assanah or Sarah Dunnack

Irene de Lázaro, Ph.D. — BME Spring 2024 Seminar Series

“Bioengineering strategies to reprogram cells in vivo”

Irene de Lázaro, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Thursday February 15, 2024 11am–12pm in UTEB 150

If you are unable to attend in person you can join remotely here

Abstract: My lab designs and deploys bioengineering strategies – including nanomedicines and gene therapies – to reprogram cell identity and/or cellular responses in living organisms. In this seminar, I will share examples of two distinct cell reprogramming directions pursued in my lab. First, I will present our most recent data that demonstrates that on and off expression of stemness-related transcription factors induces partial reprogramming of cardiac myocytes to a rejuvenated state. In a mouse model of heart failure, reprogramming the biological age of cardiac myocytes to a youthful state resulted in significant improvement of cardiac function. In the second example, I will focus on a nanomedicine approach to reprogram immune cells in the context of cancer immunotherapy. Here, we were able to demonstrate that a magnetic nanoparticle-based vaccine, including a model antigen and danger signal, induces a significant anti-tumor immune response both in vitro and in vivo, in mice.

Biography: Irene is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering and leads the NanoBioengineering for Tissue Reprogramming and Regeneration laboratory. Before joining NYU, she obtained a 5-year degree in Pharmacy at the University of Alcalá (Madrid, Spain) for which she received a National Award to the Excellence in Academic Performance (Spanish Ministry of Education, 2009), among several other honors. She then went to complete postgraduate studies in the UK, including an MSc in Drug Delivery and a PhD in Regenerative Medicine, both from the School of Pharmacy at University College London (UCL). Irene conducted postdoctoral training in Regenerative Therapeutics (2015-17) at The University of Manchester (UK) and in Bioengineering (2018-21) at Harvard University and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (USA), advised by Prof. David Mooney. She was appointed Research Associate at Harvard and the Wyss in 2021.
She has contributed to more than 30 publications in high impact journals including Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Science Translational Medicine, ACS Nano and Biomaterials, and secured research funding from Hong Kong University, LaCaixa Foundation, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK. Irene has received several awards and prizes including prestigious Ramon y Cajal and Ikerbasque fellowships. She has been named a 2024 Emerging Investigator by the Nanoscale Journal (The Royal Society) and by the Cells, Organs, Tissues Journal.

Download flyer here

For additional information, please visit www.bme.uconn.edu or contact Prof. Fayekah Assanah or Sarah Dunnack