Bioengineering News

Kumar wins NIH Innovator Award

September 22, 2008

September 22, 2008 Assistant Professor of Bioengineering Sanjay Kumar has been awarded a 2008 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award!

Paola Timiras, researcher on aging, dies at 85

September 17, 2008

September 17, 2008 – Dr. Paola Timiras, Professor Emerita of Molecular and Cell Biology and Co-Director the Center for Research and Education on Aging (CREA) at the University of California, Berkeley, passed away of heart failure on September 12.

Rempel appears in New York Times

September 13, 2008

September 13, 2008 Dr. David Rempel, Professor of Bioengineering, Director of the Ergonomics Research Laboratory and Occupational Medicine Physician at UC San Francisco answered questions regarding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other repetitive workplace injuries for The New York Times Expert Q&A column. In the column he discusses all aspects of studies of repetitive motion injuries…

BioE Professors Participate in Nano Camp

September 1, 2008

September 2008 Bioengineering faculty including Stan Berger, Dan Fletcher, Kevin Healy, Sanjay Kumar, Luke Lee, Seung-Wuk Lee, Dorian Liepmann and Song Li all offered their labs over the summer for the UC Berkeley Summer High-School Apprenticeship Research Program (SHARP). In the program,  teens spend a month working alongside a graduate student mentor with the Nanoscale…

Keasling’s Work Featured in Discover Magazine

August 8, 2008

August 8, 2008  Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering Jay Keasling’s work on the malaria treatment drug, artemisinin, was highlighted as one of “10 ways that genetically engineered microbes could help humanity” in the August 2008 issue of Discover magazine. The article highlights the ways in which microbes are being harnessed as tiny “workhorses” by…

Kumar Featured in Moffitt Spotlight Exhibit

August 6, 2008

August 6, 2008 Three of Berkeley’s most innovative and exciting young faculty are being featured in the new Faculty Spotlight exhibit which opened in Moffitt Library’s lobby on August 6. The work and inspirations of our own Professor Sanjay Kumar, History Professor Abena Osseo-Asare, and Music Professor Nicholas Mathew are highlighted in this exhibit, co-curated…

Mofrad explores symmetry on cover of Biophysical Journal

August 1, 2008

August 2008 Work by Bioengineering Assistant Professor Mohammad Mofrad was on the cover of Biophysical Journal in August 2008.

Healy’s Hydrogel featured in Innovations

August 1, 2008

August 2008 James Su, a graduate student researcher co-advised by Materials Science and Bioengineering Professor Kevin Healy and School of Optometry Professor Christine Wildsoet, is using a synthetic biomaterial known as hydrogel to develop a promising new treatment for one of the world’s leading causes of blindness, high axial myopia.

Herr’s research on cover of Lab on a Chip

August 1, 2008

August 2008 Work by Bioengineering Assistant Professor Amy Herr and collaborators at Yale and Sandia National Laborator was on the cover of Lab on a Chip journal in August 2008.

Herr Presidential Chair Fellow

July 1, 2008

July 2008 New bioengineering faculty member Amy Herr has been selected as a Presidential Chair Fellow at UC Berkeley.

Karp wins Kyoto Prize!

June 20, 2008

June 20, 2008 Richard Karp, University Professor of bioengineering, electrical engineering & computer sciences, industrial engineering & operations research and mathematicshas been named a laureate of the 2008 Kyoto Prize, Japan’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, in recognition of his lifetime achievements in the field of computer theory.

healthy regenerated muscle tissue

Conboy stem cell engineering discovery in Nature

June 16, 2008

June 16, 2008 Making an important step for regenerative medicine, Bioengineering Assistant Professor Irina Conboy has identified two key regulatory pathways that control how well adult stem cells repair and replace damaged tissue.

Dan Fletcher new White House Fellow

June 1, 2008

Summer 2008 Bioengineering Associate Professor Dan Fletcher is on sabbatical for the 2008-2009 school year – but he won’t be hiding in a laboratory. Dan is living the high life in Washington, D.C. as one of 14 White House Fellows.

Kumar, Lee and Mofrad receive Hellman Faculty Awards

May 27, 2008

May 27, 2008 Assistant Professors of Bioengineering Sanjay Kumar, Seung-Wuk Lee and Mohammad Mofrad have been granted 2008 awards from the Hellman Family Faculty Fund. Created by a generous gift from distinguished alumnus F. Warren Hellman, the Hellman Family Faculty Fund awards research grants to junior faculty who have shown a promise of great distinction.

Bioengineering Students Win Bechtel Achievement Awards

May 16, 2008

May 16, 2008 Wow! Our very own Widya Mulyasasmita and Tim Fei were awarded the two highest honors given to engineering undergraduates! Widya won the 2008 Bechtel Achievement Award, which is given to a senior with outstanding scholastic achievement and service to the College, campus and community.

Budinger Elected NAE Home Secretary

May 15, 2008

May 15, 2008 Bioengineering professor and faculty senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Thomas F. Budinger was elected to a four-year term as home secretary of the National Academy of Engineering. Budinger, who was elected to the NAE in 1996, will oversee the Academy’s membership activities.  

The CellScope is Hot

May 15, 2008

May 15, 2008 The CellScope, a project of Bioengineering students let by Associate Professor Dan Fletcher, BioE Ph.D. candidates David Breslauer and Wilbur Lam and BioE alum Robi Maamari, has been picked up by news media across the country.

BioE Alumnus Chen Searches for a Better Mouse

May 1, 2008

May, 2008 – BioE alumnus Bingyune Chen was featured in Innovations for his work in Dr. Rempel’s Ergonomics Lab, where he is doing research to determine how weight affects the speed, accuracy and ease of use of a computer mouse. This research will hopefully prevent thousands of computer-related injuries over time.

Rubinsky takes medical imaging to cell phones

April 29, 2008

April 29, 2008 Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering Professor Boris Rubinsky and his researchers are harnessing cell phone technology to one day make medical imaging accessible to billions of people around the world. His new technology will improve access to ultrasounds, X-rays, magnetic resonance images, and other medical imaging technology used for a wide range of…

Rubinsky’s cancer treatment demonstrated

April 24, 2008

April 24, 2008 A cancer treatment developed by BioE and Mechanical Engineering Professor Boris Rubinsky underwent its first human clinical trial this month.

2008 BioE Department Citation

April 22, 2008

April 22, 2008 Graduating BioE senior Widya Mulyasasmita was named recipient of the 2008 Departmental Citation in Bioengineering.

BioE takes honors in Spring Poster Session

April 22, 2008

April 22, 2008 – Congratulations to Ryan Cooper who won Best Design and to Tizita Addis Mammo who won Best Presentation at the Spring 2008 Science and Engineering Poster Session!

Fletcher lab explains crawling cells in Nature

April 17, 2008

April 17, 2008 Dan Fletcher’s studies of dynamic actin networks of crawling cells using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical traps were featured in Nature Magazine’s April issue.

Lee’s eNose on Discovery Channel

April 1, 2008

April 2008 Bioengineering Assistant Professor Seung-Wuk Lee has created an artificial “nose” that sniffs out the explosive TNT with genetically engineered viruses. The eNose, which will probably first be used to protect soldiers and identify terrorists, is based on a technology that has a whole host of potential uses. In the consumer landscape, the eNose…

Lee Lab tumor factory in New Scientist

March 17, 2008

March 17, 2008 – Bioengineering Professor Luke Lee and his lab group have developed a technique to quickly generate three-dimensional artificial tumours that could help improve anti-cancer drug testing. The “tumour factory” offers a better alternative to the flat cultured cells currently used to test new anticancer drugs.