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RESEARCH
The research conducted within the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Science occurs within numerous individual faculty member laboratories as well as a number of core research support laboratories. Follow the links to individual faculty members web pages to learn more about their research interests and active research projects. |
- Faculty Research Interests
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June Feng, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineeringwwwwwwwwwww The Aging and Protein Modification Laboratory, Location: BEC 220B |
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Dr. Feng studies protein modification induced by reactive oxygen species in aging, age-related diseases, and cancer. Her activities include the design of a micro-electrophoresis chip to quantitate and characterize protein oxidative damage (e.g. carbonylation) from brain tissue biopsies at different stages of progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), design of a micro-proteomic reactor to identify carbonylated proteins from small samples, and studies of oxidative stress damage in rat's brain induced by chronic atypical anti-psychotic drug administration. |
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Dr. Guilbeau develops thermoelectric methods for applied biotechnology and biosensors. Activities include the development of microfluidic devices that utilize thermoelectric sequencing by incorporation methods to sequence DNA for SNP detection and to detect DNA hybridization events. He also uses thermoelectric methods to design novel biosensors for the detection of biologically active substances that are important for normal and abnormal biological and physiological function and to create gas sensors that can detect biologically important substances in the breath or toxic substances in the environment. Both experimental and modeling approaches are used as part of the design, development and characterization activities. |
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Dr. Napper's role as Dean of Engineering allows him to participate at various levels in Engineering Education research. Earlier research activities have included Biomedical Engineering applications of artificial intelligence and mathematical modeling of physiological systems. |
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Rebecca Giorno-McConnell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of the School of Biological Sciences, Location: CTH 120 |
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Dr. Giorno-McConnell's research interests involve the protein coatings that encase bacterial spores and allow them to survive harsh environments. She studies the assembly of the coat and the exosporium in the spore-forming bacteria Bacillus anthracis. Her work is done in the attenuate Sterne strain of B. anthracis.
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Dr. Shultz's research interests are Biochemical pathway mapping, comparative genomics, and combining research and education at the undergraduate level.
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Dr. Jones' research interests stem from biomedical applications of fluid dynamics. Applications include the improvement of Doppler ultrasound instruments for velocity measurement, modeling of pressure-flow relationships in the vascular access grafts used for dialysis, and modeling of the effects of transport and flow on the positive feedback and negative feedback control mechanisms for platelet activation and adhesion. The laboratory includes laser Doppler velocimetry equipment, a cone-in plate viscometer, a data acquisition computer, various PC computers, ultrasonic equipment, an anti-vibration table, a spectrum analyzer, physiological pressure transducers, Carolina Medical electromagnetic flow meters, a transit time flow meter, model manufacturing facilities, a single syringe infusion pump and a 10-syringe infusion pump. |
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Dr. Crews' research interests focus on the creation, development and proliferation of microfluidic technologies for biomedical use. This research integrates the disciplines of Mechanical, Electrical, and Chemical Engineering with Biology and Physics. Activities include the design, fabrication, and testing of the device components, as well as the integration of these elements into functional systems. These operations are supported by the core laboratory facilities of the Institute for Microfabrication and the Biomedical Engineering Program. |
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Dr. Wang's research interests involve cell therapy and the nanoengineering of biomolecules. Activities include single DNA dynamics, microrheology and flow-guided assembly using biopolymers along with development of nano particles and nanodevices for non-viral cell therapy. Microfluidics and nanofluidics are integrated to offer such studies excellent platforms. Major equipment includes a CNC mill, an electroporator, a fluorescence microscope, and an atomic force microscope. |
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Dr. Eklund's research interests involve biosensors for use in monitoring of extracellular cell metabolism in various environments. Sensors are based on electrochemical or fluorescent signals and can measure multiple analytes simultaneously in real-time (glucose, lactate, oxygen, pH, Ca2+, etc.) This work also examines miniature biofuel cells for implantation in vivo to power miniature silicon microdevices; and electrodeposition, the use of ionic liquids for the deposition of tantalum for coating of medical implants. |
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Dr. Sit's research interests are the mechanisms and control strategies for biomaterials interfacial processes. Activities include: elucidation and control of blood protein attachment on biomaterial surfaces, improvement of biomaterials compatibility by elucidating mechanical properties of attached cells, development of tissue-engineered implants for jaw joints, orthopedic and corneal applications, and accelerated treatment for bone fractures and osteoporosis. Major equipment in his laboratory are an infrared spectrometer, a contact angle goniometer, a quartz crystal microbalance, a mercury intrusion porosimeter, a rheometer, an optical microscope, an atomic force microscope, a differential scanning calorimeter, and a cell incubator. |
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The BioMorph Laboratory
Dr. Mills' BioMorph Laboratory is used for designing novel and dynamic nanofilms (biodegradable, bioactive, micropatterned) for cell adhesion, differentiation and functionality; nanoassembly for dental & orthopedic implants; layer-by-layer assembly for cell encapsulation; application of nanoscale topographic and chemical cues for controlling chondro- and osteogenesis; understanding complex soft tissue modeling during development and remodeling in response to altered joint mechanics; structure-function relationships in TMJ soft tissues, engineering tissues for TMJ repair or replacement.
The NERO Laboratory
Dr. Mills' NERO Laboratory supports a K-16+ outreach program that provides solid educational content and a strong technical foundation in the molecular sciences and bionanotechnology. Current activities of the lab include engaging K-12 teachers and students through summer and academic year research experiences and technology workshops, guiding teachers in translating their increased understanding of the research process into classroom learning experiences, improving understanding of the scientific research process and engineering design to teachers, students and the community, and increasing interest of K-16+ students in pursuing careers in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (SMET) fields. |
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Dr. DeCoster's laboratory is designed for biochemical and digital imaging analysis of cellular events in the brain. Current planned activities include brain cell inflammatory responses, digital imaging of apoptosis in normal and brain tumor cells and response of brain glial cells to injury. Major equipment includes PC- and Mac-based imaging workstations (4); motorized inverted fluorescence microscope with digital camera (Leica). |
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Dr. Davis' research interests include Electrodeposition and testing of nanostructured magnetic and thermoelectric materials. Concentration on optimizing the electrochemical processes for the development of new materials, and their applications. Electrodeposition, in particular, is a unique and cost effective fabrication technique that can be employed in the development of microelectronics and spintronics. Current research interests include the understanding of magnetic alloy code position, nanometric multilayered nanowires and nanotubes, GMR and Seebeck coefficient measurements of electrodeposited nanostructures. |
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Dr. Voziyanov's research interests include advanced genome engineering, DNA recombination: Protein-DNA Interactions. There are two main directions of our current research: advanced genome engineering using tailor-made sit-specific DNA recombinases and cell replacement in tissues using genetically modified adult stem cells. |
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Dr. Que's laboratory seeks to utilize and synthesize micro and nanoscale materials, develop novel micro and nanodevices, and micro and nanosystems to advance the research in life science, biomedical engineering, medicine, and environment energy harvesting. |
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This laboratory focus is on the use of naturally occurring, biologically active molecules to control the activities of specific cells or functional groups of cells in the treatment of disease processes. Work is carried out in conjunction with the Institute for Therapeutic Discovery, Delanson, New York.
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Dr. Hindmarsh's research interests are Mycology/Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Chromosomal Loss and Genome Regulation, and Virulence Activation.
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Dr. Lvov's laboratory focus is on developing nanotechnology including nanoassembly of ultrathin organized films, bio/nanocomposites, nano/construction of ordered shells on tiny templates (drug nanocapsules, shells on microbes and viruses), clay nanotubes for controlled release of bioactive agents. Yuri Lvov was among the pioneers of the polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly, a nanotechnology method which, after the first papers in 1993, was followed by many thousands of publications by researchers from all over the world. LbL nanoassembly has already been used in industrial applications for eye lens modification, improvement of cellulose fiber for better fabric and paper, microcapsules for insulin sustained release, cancer drug nanocapsules, and others. The basic principle of our research is nanoarchitectonic, and we develop: 1) nanoassembly approach in biomimetic engineering; 2) smart nanocontainers, nanocapsules and nanotubes for drug targeted and controlled delivery; stem cell and microbe encapsulation; 3) integrated nano/micro/macro-organized tissue scaffolds (in collaboration with Mark DeCoster and David Mills). |
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Dr. Mainardi's laboratory uses a theory-guided computational approach to get insight into critical areas in nano/bio technology for energy applications. Among them are the study of complex metal hydrides as hydrogen storage materials and enzyme reactions for environmental catalysis applications. Modeling and simulation capabilities available in the lab include a 16-node Xeon cluster of 3.06 GHz dual Xeon workstations, a 10 nodes-cluster of 800MHz dual alpha workstations and 8 Mini-Tower Dual Core Xeon Proc 5130 2.00 GHz dual workstations. Nanotechnology and biotechnology modeling and simulation software includes a campus wide license for Gaussian 03 and GaussView, Linda parallel library with license for the Xeon cluster and the Alpha cluster, Materials Studio for Quantum Mechanical calculations (DMOL3), Molecular mechanics and Dynamics (Forcite Plus and Discover), CASTEP and CPMD for Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics, NWCHEM, NAMD for molecular dynamics with VMD for visualization, MPI parallel libraries, DLPoly 3.0 (for molecular dynamics) and Carlos 4.0 for kinetic Monte Carlo studies. |
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Dr. O'Neal's laboratory focuses on biomedical optics and nanotechnology for the support of cancer detection, treatment, and management. Current activities include optical sensing and imaging, development of optically-active nanoparticles for detection, imaging, and drug delivery, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for bio-assays, and nanomaterial toxicity assessment. Major equipment includes a PTI Dual Monochromator Fluorescence Spectrometer, fiber optic equipment (Thor Labs), a Beckman Coulter DU-800 UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, and a Raman Systems R3000-HR Raman Spectrometer: portable system with 785nm laser. |
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Dr. Cardenas' research interests include nanosystems particle analysis, electrokinetics and nanomanufacturing engineering. |
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Dr. Chiu's laboratory focus is on elucidating the behaviors of neuronal systems through novel signal processing and computer modeling techniques. Current activities include early detection of seizures, neural modeling, stochastic resonance and network synchronization, and control strategies for prosthetic devices. Such studies will ultimately improve our understanding of the brain dynamics which will inspire therapies for controlling neural communication responsible for pathological conditions. Major equipment includes microelectrode array system for extracellular field recording, patch-clamp amplifier system for whole-cell intracellular recording and access to Matlab distributed computing engine. |
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Dr. Campbell's research interests are protein analysis, and environmental physiology/biochemistry.
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William Wolf, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of the School of Biological Sciences, Location: CTH 123 |
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Dr. Wolf's research interests are serine proteases in cancer biology, developmental biology, and cancer gene therapy.
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- Core Research Support Laboratories
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The Animal Care Facility
Location: BEC 129 through 148 This laboratory (BEC 129 through 148) is a 4,430 square foot, controlled-access facility located in the Biomedical Engineering building. The director's office and animal-related research laboratories occupy 1,700 square feet. A surgical suite, a cage washing area/autoclave room, storage, a necropsy laboratory, and nine individual animal housing rooms with ventilated cage racks that have individual electronic access control occupy 2,730 square feet of space. The animals are monitored on a daily basis by the director or his designated employee. The university has a veterinarian on staff who is a member of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). He and the director provide training to research animal users. The university has an arrangement with the Licensed Laboratory Animal Veterinarian at Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport for specialized assistance, when needed. |
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The Histological Techniques Laboratory (Animal Care Facility)
Location: BEC 134 This laboratory contains equipment for the preparation of specimens for light microscopy including paraffin ovens, an embedding station, a paraffin microtome, a vibratome, and staining equipment and supplies. The laboratory also contains equipment for the preparation of specimens for transmission electron microscopy, including an epoxy embedding area, epoxy oven, ultra microtome, and grid staining equipment and supplies. The room is equipped with a surgical table for collection of specimens and a chemical hood for safe use of toxic chemicals.
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The Neuro Physiology Laboratory (Animal Care Facility)
Location: BEC 132 This laboratory houses a 1' x 7' Faraday cage for electromagnetic isolation, an inverted microscope and amplification equipment.
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The Imaging and Nanopatterning Laboratory
Location: BEC 239 This laboratory contains a Bioforce Nanoscience Nano-Enabler for patterning biological substances with nanoscale precision onto substrates. The room also contains an Olympus MTV-3 stereo microscope with a Leica DFC500 camera, three Dell Precision imaging workstations, and a Suss MicroTeck micropositioning station.
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The Tissue Engineering and Cell Culture Laboratory
Location: BEC 220B and 240 This laboratory has been designed to investigate the effects of hemodynamic phenomena on the behavior of vascular cells, (endothelial cells, platelets, smooth muscle cells, osteoblasts) as related to atherosclerosis, intimal hyperplasia, thrombosis, bone growth, and micromanufactured cell substrates. The laboratory includes a laminar fume hood, an environmentally-controlled flow chamber, an imaging microscope, an injection-flow apparatus (syringe pump), an incubator, a centrifuge, a refrigerator, and a plate reader. The laboratory is jointly funded by The Center for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Science (CBERS) and the School of Biological Sciences.
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