Biomedical Engineering Professors and Students Present at Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference

Photo courtesy of Kartik Balachandran

Kyle Quinn, Ngoc Lam, Nasya Sturdivant, Ishita Tandon, and Kartik Balachandran at the conference.

Several engineering professors presented research at the Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference in Maryland's National Harbor from June 29 to July 2. Timothy Muldoon, Narasimhan Rajaram, Kyle Quinn, and Jeffrey Wolchok, all assistant professors of biomedical engineering, presented research on the conference's theme, "Impact of Biomechanics on Healthcare." The conference included plenary lectures, symposia and workshops on the topics of cellular, tissue, bone, and fluid mechanics, as well as biotransport, human dynamics, bioengineering education, and design of medical devices.

Inspired by the theme, U of A faculty and students offered two podium and one poster presentations at the conference: Regulation of Valve Interstitial Cell Contractility and Metabolism by Mesoscale Architecture, Valve Interstitial Cell Contractile Strength and Metabolic State are Dependent on its Shape, and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Resulted in Increased Aquaporin-4 Expression - Relevance to Post-Injury Edema. Of particular note is the fact that all the presentations represented collaborations between the different faculty and students.

"It is indeed exciting to note the level of active collaborations that exists in the department, which is essential as we build the biomedical engineering research programs that address critical questions at the cellular, tissue and organ levels," said Raj Rao, professor and head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

This type of collaboration not only strengthens presentations in themselves, but highlights the biomedical engineering faculty's commitment to working closely with graduate students on research. As doctoral candidate Sandra Prieto has stated, "The small community [here at the U of A] allows for one-on-one mentoring. The professors know us by name and are truly interested in each of us and our success."