BioE News – Page 16 – UC Berkeley Department of Bioengineering

Now fully complete, human genome reveals new secrets

Nearly 20 years after the sequencing of the human genome, a large team of researchers has finally filled in the remaining few percent of unsequenced DNA, providing the first complete, gapless human genome. First author of many of the suite of papers is Nicolas Altemose, 2021 bioengineering PhD and current postdoc with co-author Professor Aaron Streets.

Undergraduate Alexandra Potter first author on lung cancer screening paper

Undergraduate bioengineering student Alexandra Potter has been a long-term collaborator with Dr. CJ Yang of Harvard University on the effectiveness of lung cancer screening. Today she is first author on a paper published in the British Medical Journal, “Association of computed tomography screening with lung cancer stage shift and survival in the United States.” Potter is also CEO of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative.

Yartsev shows a stable hippocampal code in freely flying bats

Neural activity in the hippocampus is known to reflect how animals move through an environment. Using innovative wireless miniature microscopy technology in flying bats, Professor Michael Yarsev’s lab has resolved a long-standing scientific debate about the stability of those neural codes.

PhD program ranks #4

The UC Berkeley – UCSF Graduate Program in Bioengineering has once again been ranked 4th in the nation by US News & World Report! The College of Engineering remains the #3 engineering school.

Congratulations Outstanding GSIs!

Congratulations to Outstanding GSI Award Winners for 2021-22 from BioE courses: Erin Akins, Gabriela Lomeli, Amanda Meriwether and Vivien Tran! The UC Berkeley Outstanding GSI Awards are given to the best GSIs of the year, nominated by the course instructor.

Amy Herr named CTO for Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network

Bioengineering professor Amy Herr has been named the inaugural Chief Technology Officer of the newly established Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network. Formed in December 2021 by the co-founders of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), the Network is a 10-year effort to develop the science and technologies to observe, measure, and analyze human biology in action. Modeled on the success of the San Francisco-based CZ Biohub, new Biohubs will be created to bring together leading scientific and technology institutions with the goal of pursuing grand scientific challenges.

Conolly and Murthy win Bakar Prize

Professors Steven Conolly and Niren Murthy are two of the four 2022 winners of the 2022 Bakar Prize. The prize is given annually to former Bakar Fellows to provide additional resources to ensure a successful transition of their technology from academic research to industry applications.

Keasling Awarded Othmer Gold Medal

Professor Jay Keasling is the recipient of the Science History Institute’s 2022 Othmer Gold Medal. The award recognizes his efforts in developing innovative synthetic biology tools that address major societal challenges such as biofuel manufacturing and medical applications.

Yartsev wins C.J. Herrick Award in Neuroanatomy

Congratulations to Professor Michael Yartsev, winner of the C.J. Herrick Award in Neuroanatomy from the American Association for Anatomy. This award recognizes investigators in the early stages of their careers who have made important contributions to biomedical science through their research. Yartsev uses the bat as a model system to study the neural mechanisms of complex spatial, social and acoustic behaviors.

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