Sharan Ramaswamy has been awarded a Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association.

The Scientist Development Grant is a national award and is open to applicants throughout the United States.  The topic of Sharan's grant is: "Noninvasive detection and tracking of cell populations in the development and remodeling of engineered heart valves."  In line with AHA's goal to support highly-promising beginning scientists, it was particularly impressive that Sharan received this award in his very first attempt to the AHA!  The duration of the work will be from 01/2008 to 12/2011 and totals $308,000.

Erinn Joyce has been awarded a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship from the University of Pittsburgh's Provost's Development Fund.

The University of Pittsburgh selected Erinn for a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship from their Provost's Development Fund, providing full stipend funding for the upcoming academic year.  This award is highly competitive throughout the entire school and an exciting honor to receive.  Erinn is the first in our laboratory to be awarded such a fellowship.  She will continue her work on formulating a structural constitutive model of fetal membrane tissue.

Chad Eckert has been accepted to the 2008 NSF EAPSI program.

As part of the NSF's initiative to encourage cultural diversity in research, the EAPSI program was created to provide US students the opportunity to study abroad.  As one of 15 selected students, Chad will be performing research under Dr. Peter Hunter at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, this summer.

Dr. Sacks received a 2008 Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award in the Senior Scholar Category.

For his ongoing work and contributions in soft tissue mechanics, Dr. Sacks has been selected to receive on of this year's Chancellor's Distinguished Research Awards.  Dr. Sacks joins a growing list of highly accomplished researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Read more here.

Rebecca Long interviewed in Pitt Chronicle's recent publication.

In the recent issue of the University of Pittsburgh's Pitt Chronicle, Rebecca was interviewed as part of a special "Doctoral Students without Borders" feature.  Read more here.

Dr. Sacks participates in federal workshop on "In Vitro Analyses of Cell/Scaffold Products"

As part of a FDA and NIST co-sponsored federal workshop, Dr. Sacks was invited to offer his expertise on tissue engineering efforts and present on "Novel Methods to Quantify Tissue Structure and Multi-Axial Mechanical Testing" recently.  Read more here.

Former lab member noted in University of Connecticut magazine

Dr. Wei Sun, former ETM²L lab member, has been appointed to a a new faculty position at the University of Connecticut and is noted in the university magazine, "Frontier News."  Congratulations to Dr. Sun!  See exert from the magazine here.

Lab members, Dr. Sacks featured the school of engineering 2007 annual report

In the recent annual report published by the school of engineering, the department of bioengineering featured both former lab member W. David Merryman and Dr. Sacks.  This report details the noteworthy work of all the departments within the school of engineering and is a good indication of the past, present, and future directions of the collective departments.  Read more here.

Dr. Sacks is awarded two NIH-funded R01 grants aimed at tissue-engineered heart valves

In February of 2007, Dr. Sacks received four years of funding for an NIH R01 entitled "Biomechanical Optimization of Tissue Engineered Heart Valves."  The focus of this competitive renewal is a comprehensive biomechanical evaluation of the in-vitro phase of engineered tissue heart valve development.

In July of 2007, Dr. Sacks received five years of funding for an NIH R01 entitled "Mechanisms of In-Vivo Remodeling in Tissue Engineered Heart Valves."  There are significant bioengineering challenges in determining parameters that lead to optimal ECM development and strength.  The goal of this program is to quantify and simulate tissue remodeling events that occur post-implantation, and to ultimately understand the factors that influence the remodeling rate, the quality, and the architecture of the tissue.

McGowan Faculty Dr. Sacks and Dr. Wagner recognized by Scientific American as 2006 Scientific American 50

"Two McGowan Institute researchers have been named by Scientific American magazine as research leaders within the 2006 Scientific American 50."  Read more here.

Dr. Sacks-Next Technical Editor of Journal of Biomechanical Engineering

"Professor Michael Sacks has been selected by the ASME Executive Committee of the Bioengineering Division to be the next Technical Editor of the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, starting form July 1, 2007, for a five-year term."  Read more here.

NIH Funds Training Program Focusing on Biomechanics in Regenerative Medicine (BiRM)

The NIH has elected to fund a new T-32 Training Program addressing Biomechanics in Regenerative Medicine that was developed under the leadership of Michael Sacks, PhD. The goal of this training program is to provide a solid foundation upon which to build a productive and independent career in Biomechanics in Regenerative Medicine (BiRM).

This goal will be accomplished via a highly coordinated and mentored interdisciplinary training program with a combination of required and elective courses, research activities, and specialized training opportunities. The BiRM Training Program incorporates faculty from the Departments of Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering, Orthopedic Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Urology, and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, as well as faculty from the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Departments from Carnegie Mellon University. This combination of training faculty research interests and coursework will provide a rich educational experience and more numerous training opportunities for the students than could be obtained within the individual university departments.
Moreover, the breadth of research areas that span various physiological systems (cardiovascular, musculo-skeletal, and urological) allows for a unique opportunity to train students to become highly skilled problem solvers while avoiding over specialization.

Since the BiRM training program is not central to any one department, its structure permits the student a much wider choice of options with which to pursue a PhD in tissue bioengineering and regeneration. In the current departmental focus of graduate education, a PhD student in one department that wishes to perform thesis research in a laboratory in another department finds many departmental based administrative roadblocks in his/her path. The BiRM program eliminates these roadblocks and permits ever increasing educational options for the students and research collaborations. Coursework includes intensive life science and biomechanics which is utilized to provide the students with a thorough grounding in both areas. Skills acquired in these courses are combined in later courses and the trainees’ research.