National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates

 

Integrated Bioengineering Research, Education, and Outreach Opportunities for Females and Underrepresented Minorities

June 4 to August 3, 2007

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA

 

We have opportunities for 8 undergraduates/year to be engaged in research in one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of engineering --- Bioengineering.

The objectives of this program are to provide

·        research opportunities for undergraduate students in bioengineering

·        personal and professional development training to help increase the retention of females and minority undergraduate students in engineering

·        involvement in outreach to middle-school students

Faculty members from Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Chemistry & Biochemistry have created a diverse array of projects for students to choose from.  Each student conducts research in the laboratory with the faculty mentor on a project specifically designed for his or her abilities and also participates in professional development activities.

A novel component of this REU is that each undergraduate will receive training in mentoring, and will become a mentor to a middle-school student. 

We will create our own outreach program for middle-school students, and be the leaders of a 2-week research experience for these students.  This is called the WPI Bio-Discovery Program

Application in pdf form (Deadline: March 15, 2007)

Application in MSWord form

(If you have trouble with this file, email Prof. Camesano)

Logistics:  Stipend of $400/week is provided, plus free housing in WPI-owned apartments, and some subsidy of meals and travel to WPI.

Dates spent at WPI: Sunday June 3 – Saturday August 4, 2007

 

 

Listing of Available Research Projects for 2007

Quick links

 

Biomedical/Biomechanical Projects

Cellular Forces (Prof. Billiar)

Developing Engineered Connective Tissue (Prof. Billiar)

Bioengineered Skin Substitutes (Prof. Pins)

Bioactive Scaffolds for Tendon Regeneration (Prof. Pins)

Regenerating Heart Muscle Cells (Prof. Gaudette)

 

Biochemical Projects

Uropathogenic E. coli (Prof. Camesano)

Biofilms on Catheters (Prof. McGimpsey)

Modeling HIV-Immune System Interactions (Prof. Kazantzis)

Neuron Affinity to Microfabricated Carbon (Prof. Zhou)

 

 

View some pictures and posters from the 2005 WPI Bio-Discovery Program

 

Information on who should apply, criteria, etc.

 

 

 

Proposed Research Projects

 

Role of Cranberry on Adhesion of Uropathogenic E. coli

Advisor: Prof. Terri Camesano, Department of Chemical Engineering

Bacterial Adhesion and Interaction Forces Laboratory

 

E. coli are the main culprit in the development of urinary tract infections (UTI) in the body.  Much anectodal and some clinical evidence suggest that ingestion of cranberry and/or its juice prevents or treats UTIs.  Our goal is to help understand the molecular-level interactions between E. coli and cranberry, and to determine if the adhesion of E. coli is impaired by its interaction with cranberry.

 

 

 

 

 

Development of Chemical Methods for Modifying the Surfaces of Surgical Implants to Prevent Biofilm Formation

Advisor: Prof. Grant McGimpsey, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

 

Biofilms are complex matrices of proteins, polysaccharides and bacteria that form on the surfaces of surgically implanted devices such as catheters. Biofilms lead to post-operative infections that lengthen recovery times and hospital stays, increased healthcare costs and greater risk of complications. This project will involve the deposition of chemical coatings on implant materials and the determination of the effectiveness of these coatings in preventing biofilm formation and bacterial growth.

 

 

 

Measurement of the forces cells exert on their surrounding matrix.

Advisor: Prof. Kristen Billiar, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Tissue Mechanics and Mechanobiology Laboratory

 

When we exercise, our muscles grow stronger.  Similarly, the growth, development, and healing of soft connective tissues (e.g., skin, tendons, blood vessels) depend upon on the forces and deformations they are exposed to. Our goal is to understand how the cells within these tissues sense and respond to their mechanical environment. The purpose of this project is to measure the forces (on the order of microNewtons) that the cells themselves exert on the matrix that surrounds them and how these forces change as the cells are “exercised” in a culture dish. Experience working with motors, force transducers, and programming is desired but not essential.

 

 

 

Developing functional engineered tissues – what are the boundaries?

Advisor: Prof. Kristen Billiar, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Tissue Mechanics and Mechanobiology Laboratory

 

Tissue engineering is a promising new approach for creating living replacements for soft connective tissues (e.g., skin, tendons, blood vessels). A thorough understanding of the factors that stimulate and guide tissue development is necessary for engineering viable tissues; however, many of the processes involved in tissue growth are unclear. Our goal is to decipher how the cells within tissues sense and respond to their mechanical environment. The purpose of this project is to determine how forces at the edge of engineered tissues affect their growth in culture.  Experience working with cells in culture and image analysis is desired but not essential.

 

 

 

Engineering of Microtextured Basal Lamina Analogs to Control Keratinocyte Function

and Enhance the Performance of Bioengineered Skin Substitutes

Advisor: Professor George Pins, Department of Biomedical Engineering

 

 

Engineered tissue analogs have achieved some clinical success as substitutes for damaged skin. However, prolonged healing times for regenerated skin and mechanically induced graft failure remain persistent problems.  The rational design of bioengineered skin substitutes requires an understanding of the mechanisms by which the three-dimensional microarchitecture and the biochemical composition of tissue scaffolds modulate keratinocyte adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, as well as the morphogenesis of cells into analogs of functional skin.  With funding from the Whitaker Foundation, we are quantitatively analyzing keratinocyte function on microtextured basal lamina analogs and identifying parameters that will improve the design and performance of bioengineered skin substitutes used to treat skin injuries.

 

 

Bioactive Scaffolds for Tendon/Ligament Regeneration

Advisor: Professor George Pins, Department of Biomedical Engineering

 

Each year, at least 120,000 patients undergo surgical procedures to repair damaged tendons and ligaments.  To date, the preferred method for treating these injuries requires transplantation of autologous tissue.  While this approach promotes regeneration of the damaged tissue, it may compromise the mechanical stability of the donor site or lead to donor site morbidity.  There is a need to create aligned collagen scaffolds that have mechanical strengths and a hierarchical structure mimicking that of native connective tissue, which will allow for  new tissue ingrowth and remodeling as well as improving strength regeneration. 

 

Modeling of HIV-Immune System Interactions

Advisor: Professor Nikolaos Kazantzis, Department of Chemical Engineering

 

The development of potent antiretroviral drugs has substantially improved life expectancy and quality of life for HIV infected patients. However, current HIV drugs do not induce complete viral eradication, requiring long periods of treatment. Continuous administration of antiretroviral drugs leads to serious toxicity of the body, as well as other side effects.  As a result, clinicians encounter in practice an optimization problem: how to best control viral replication while maintaining low antiretroviral drug toxicity levels.  Notice that several important advances on mathematical modeling of the complex interactions of HIV with the immune system have taken place during the last decade. Target-cell limited models are commonly used. They assume that viral replication is mainly limited by the amount of uninfected T cells and account for immune responses through a constant death rate of infected T cells.  Within the proposed modeling framework, side effects are represented by a simple mechanism for drug toxicity that is based on gradual liver dysfunction due to drug therapy coupled with a simple liver regeneration model in order to account for patients’ response when drug dosage is lowered. The tradeoff between benefits of therapy and serious drug toxicity to the patient can be optimized in order to offer patients an improved therapy outcome. Through the use of appropriate models for viral load, immune system response and side effects behavior, an optimized chemotherapy scheme can be developed based on the maximization of the benefits of therapy and minimization of its adverse effects. The solution to the aforementioned optimization problem leads to an optimal chemotherapy schedule, that efficiently addresses the problem of obtaining concrete therapeutic benefits in the low drug toxicity regime.

 

Investigation of Neuronal Affinity to Microfabricated Carbon Substrate

Advisor: Professor Susan Zhou, Department of Chemical Engineering

Microfluidics and Bionanotechnology Laboratory

 

Regenerative medicine holds promises for many neurodegenerative diseases such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), a disorder that occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain, leading to apoptosis or necrosis of brain neurons. More than 5 million Americans suffer from TBI as a result of inability to regenerate damaged neurons. We propose to manipulate a microfabricated carbon substrate that can be used as a probe to record intracellular and multisite signals from brain, and for our long-term goal, as a template to promote growth and regeneration of neurons. Biocompatibility, exceptional mechanical properties, low foreign body response makes carbon an excellent biomaterial to be used in the field of prosthetics and implantable devices.

 

 

 

 

Regenerating Heart Muscle Cells

Advisor: Professor Glenn Gaudette, Department of Biomedical Engineering

 

Unlike many other mammalian organs, the heart does not appear to have a self repair mechanism.  However, through a unique interaction between adult stem cells and their microenvironment, we are able to produce cells that become functioning heart muscle cells.  We are currently investigating the role of mechanical, electrical and chemical factors that appear to be involved in this transformation. The long term goal of this project is to develop a better way treatment for the millions of Americans who suffer from myocardial infarctions (heart attacks).