Li Lab wins BMEidea!

June 7, 2006 Jennifer Park, YiQian Zhu, Craig Hashi, Professor Song Li A team from bioengineering professor Song Li's lab won first place in the 2006 Biomedical Engineering Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Award (BMEidea) Competition -- a national competition celebrating student biomedical innovation. The team, called NanoGraft Technologies, consisted of BioE graduate students Craig Hashi, Jennifer Park and YiQian Zhu. They created a tissue engineering approach to construct "smart" vascular grafts (NanoGrafts) from bone marrow stem cells to be used in coronary artery bypass graft procedures. These custom, adaptable grafts method offers a higher likelihood of success than traditional grafts. The team received a $10,000 cash prize. The BMEidea Competition is sponsored by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance; Canon Communications LLC; the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA); the National Science Foundation; and Guidant; and is endorsed by the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the Council of Chairs of Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering Programs. Congratulations Li Lab!