Bioengineering News
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Glyphic Biotechnologies, founded by BioE alumnus Joshua Young Yang, is one of three winners of QIAGEN’s new Biotech Grants program. Glyphic is developing a first-of-its-kind, next-generation sequencing platform for proteins.
Dan Fletcher, Amy Herr, Liana Lareau and Aaron Streets have been named to the second cohort of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub investigators. The Investigator Program, open to faculty members at Stanford University, UC San Francisco, and UC Berkeley, awards $1 million in unrestricted funds over five years to each Investigator, with the goal of building engaged, collaborative communities of Bay Area scientists to solve the biggest challenges in biomedicine.
Non Thermal Irreversible Electroporation treatment, developed by Bioenginering and Mechanical Engineering professor Boris Rubinsky, is now the technology behind the Nanoknife. Licensed from Berkeley by AngioDynamics, the Nanoknife uses electric currents to quickly and easily reach remote tumors in prostate cancer. University College London Hospital was recently the first hospital to use the treatment in…
Professor Irina Conboy has been appointed incoming Editor-in-Chief of Rejuvenation Research, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.. Conboy is a leader in aging research, especially stem cell niche engineering and tissue repair.
BioE alumna Michelle Khine, biomedical engineering professor and associate dean for the Division of Undergraduate Education at UC Irvine, has been named one of six inaugural Samueli Scholars by the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute.
The Arc Institute was officially launched today with the goal of developing a new model for collaborative research that brings together world-class research with unconstrained funding to enable new discoveries that improve human health. UC Berkeley, Stanford and UCSF are founding scientific members, and bioengineering professor Patrick Hsu is a founding researcher.
Led by inaugural director Amy Herr, the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub is finishing up extensive renovations to Woo Hon Fai Hall and will open in February 2022. The remodeled landmark building, formerly the Berkeley Art Museum, pairs the Bakar Labs incubator with fellowships and programming for Berkeley students and researchers.
Congratulations to David Schaffer, pioneer in the use of engineered viruses to deliver gene therapies, just named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors! Schaffer is the Hubbard Howe Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Bioengineering.
Learn more about Professor Iain Clark in this profile from the Berkeley Science Review.
Master of Translational Medicine alumnus Steve Lee has been named to the Forbes 2022 30 Under 30 list in the social impact category! Steve and his brother Daniel founded Aura, an app that offers wellness and mental health coaching and resources.
Developed by former BioE postdoc Kiana Aran, the CRISPR-Chip now in use in Cardea Bio’s CRISPR-SNP-Chip has been named one of 2021’s Top 10 Innovations by The Scientist magazine. The new chip is the first device capable of detecting single base differences in DNA without generating millions of copies of the DNA first.
Sophia Sneddon is a current Berkeley MEng candidate studying Bioengineering. Here, she shares her aspirations to become an attorney, her passion for inclusivity, and her love for biking.
Alumna Tammy Hsu is finding a way to produce fabric dye with a lower environmental impact – feature article in Nature online.
What the only flying mammal can teach us about the brain:
Professor Michael Yartsev’s unique flight room and studies of the neural circuitry of Egyptian fruit bats are yielding fascinating insights into the capabilities of the mammalian brain — including navigation, communication, and language.
Congratulations BioE startup Huue and founder PhD alumna Tammy Hsu! Huue’s process for creating environmentally friendly indigo dye through synthetic biology has been named one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2021.
Congratulations to Dr. Kiana Aran, former bioengineering postdoc and collaborator, now a professor at the Keck Graduate Institute. Aran was named the Scientific Achievement Winner in the 2021 Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Women in Science for her work inventing the CRISPR-Chip.
Neuroscientists led by Michael Yartsev used wireless neural recording devices to track the brain activity of Egyptian fruit bats as they freely interacted in groups and occasionally vocalized to each other through high-pitched screeches and grunts. The study published in the journal Science provides the first glimpse into how the brains of social mammals process these types of complex group interactions.
Big congratulations to Abi Anbuchelvan, Vindhya Kilaru, Peter Sinnott, Aditya Subramanian, Cindy Tung, and Sharicka Zutshi, new 2021-22 Fung Fellows, and Isha Shah and Niki Shakouri who will be continuing as Honors Fellows. The Fellowship trains undergraduate students to develop tech solutions that address societal challenges.