小蝌蚪APP

Grants Highlight Biomedical Engineering Track

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Posted on January 22, 2016

Ashley Givens

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Two 小蝌蚪APP graduate students were recently awarded highly competitive American Heart Association grants to help support their doctoral research as part of in an interdisciplinary biomedical engineering track 鈥� a collaborative effort  between the University鈥檚 College of Medicine Graduate Program in Basic Medical Sciences and the College of Engineering.

The award winners were Emily Turner and Naga Annamdevula.

鈥淭he rationale behind establishing the track between our two colleges was to use our graduate program as a way to mesh the analytical and mathematical strengths of faculty in the engineering disciplines with the biological strengths and insights of faculty in the basic medical science disciplines,鈥� said College of Medicine Dean Dr. Samuel J. Strada. 鈥淭he ultimate goal of this merger was to develop a synergistic educational environment that promoted collaboration between the various disciplines.鈥�

The Colleges of Medicine and Engineering jointly established the Biomedical Engineering Track of the Basic Medical Sciences Ph.D. program six years ago, said Dr. Silas Leavesley, who teaches in the program. 鈥淣aga and Emily are both very qualified and promising doctoral students working on highly interdisciplinary biomedical engineering projects. Having both of them receive a highly competitive, nationally recognized extramural fellowship is a testament to the dynamic and interdisciplinary training environment we have been working to establish between the Colleges of Engineering and Medicine.鈥�

鈥淲e are certainly proud of Naga and Emily for their great work and success in obtaining AHA fellowships,鈥� said Dr. John Steadman, dean of the College of Engineering. 鈥淚 am very pleased with the collaboration that has been established between the Colleges of Medicine and Engineering, which is now a source of many research projects and a new shared core facility.鈥�

Turner, working with research mentor Dr. Saami Yazdani, was awarded a two-year  $52,000  grant for her work on 鈥淜eratose as a Novel Drug Carrier for Drug Coated Balloons.鈥�

鈥淭he work is aimed at providing a better alternative to treat peripheral artery disease, which is clogging of the arteries in the legs,鈥� Dr. Yazdani said. 鈥淲hile stents work great for clogged arteries of the heart, they don鈥檛 have a good track record for diseased and clogged arteries in the legs, requiring patients to have repeat procedures as often as every six months.鈥�

Turner and Yazdani鈥檚 project builds on current technology of drug-coated balloons, but looks for a better version of what鈥檚 on the market today.

鈥淥ur preliminary tests show that we have a novel excipient or drug carrier (keratose - a form of keratin) that is capable of sustaining long-term drug release,鈥� Turner said. They hope their new excipient will lead to improved treatment of peripheral artery disease and, therefore, an improved outcome for patients.

鈥淭his work interests me because it has a clear translation to improving clinical treatments and ultimately patient care, moving from benchtop to bedside,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淚 love waking up every day and being part of a new endeavor 鈥� answering research questions and discovering things that have never been studied before.鈥� 

A native of Ocean Springs, Miss., Turner earned an undergraduate degree in science and technology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, then came to USA for graduate work because of the variety of options offered.

Annamdevula, working with research mentor Dr. Silas Leavesley and co-mentor Dr. Thomas Rich, also was awarded a two-year  $52,000 grant for her work titled 鈥淪patial distribution of PDE4 isoforms regulates cAMP compartmentalization and endothelial barrier permeability in PMVECs.鈥�

鈥淭he major focus of my research is to study the role of Phosphodiesterases in regulating cAMP signal specificity and thus maintain the endothelial permeability,鈥�  Annamdevula said. 鈥淎cute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. A key characteristic of ARDS is disruption of the endothelial barrier of the blood vessel leading to pulmonary edema.鈥�

But measuring the factors that regulate permeability has proven to be a complex problem, she said.  Her research is based on a five-dimensional imaging process, accounting for x, y and z spatial components, a time component and a hyperspectral component.

The work is satisfying, she said, because it helps 鈥渦ntangle the concepts that can be clinically translated and will be used to better understand the disease progress and treatment and improve the quality of living.鈥�

Again, the collaboration between colleges is key to her work.

鈥淢y research is half engineering and half biological science,鈥� Annamdevula said. Working with her mentors, and in collaboration with the College of Medicine, 鈥減rovided us more insight towards the biological approaches.鈥�

Annamdevula is a native of Rajahmundry, India. She earned a bachelor鈥檚 in technology degree in India. She earned a master鈥檚 in chemical engineering at USA, working with Dr. Leavesley, a time she describes as 鈥渢he best research period that I had in my life,鈥� and inspiring her to continue studies toward a Ph.D. in USA鈥檚 Basic Medical Sciences Program.

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