UW Bioengineering eNews | COVID-19 Special Issue 2020
One-third of University of Washington Bioengineering faculty quickly pivoted and are adapting their research to addressing needs created by the coronavirus pandemic.
UW Bioengineers pivot to develop coronavirus solutions
A number of UW Bioengineering faculty members quickly pivoted and are adapting their research to addressing the needs created by the coronavirus pandemic. From developing rapid at-home tests and protective masks to vaccines and treatments, here is a sampling of some of the ways UW BioE faculty, staff and students are stepping up to help.
Bioengineering Students Developing Platform to Assess Public Understanding of COVID-19
A group of UW Bioengineering undergraduates came together this spring to develop a way to promote public understanding of the COVID-19 crisis. Through two design challenge competitions and the aid of mentors, they have refined their idea and are developing a platform that aims to capture how well the public understands the disease and identify gaps in knowledge.
How Credible are the COVID-19 Models? Center Aims to Find Out
The multi-institution Center for Reproducible Biomedical Modeling, led by UW Bioengineering Professor Herbert Sauro, is partnering with top U.S. government agencies to determine how credible several commonly used COVID-19 models are.
UW Bioengineering eNews | Spring/Summer 2020
In an unprecedented year, UW Bioengineering celebrates achievements in research, education and outreach. Our department is known for our culture of openness and collaboration. Let’s continue to build on that to create a more equitable, inclusive and compassionate community together.
Arogya wins Prizes at UW Dempsey Startup Competition, Environmental Innovation Challenge
A team of UW bioengineering and psychology undergraduates have created an electricity-free clothes washer and dryer that captured the attention of judges and two prizes totaling $9,000 at several design challenge competitions this spring.
Favour Orji Receives Gilman Scholarship
Favour Orji, a UW senior working on a dual degree in bioengineering and sociology, has received the highly competitive Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad.
UW Bioengineers Use Cholesterol Tag to Ease Proteins into Cells
Xiaohu Gao, professor of bioengineering, and his lab have developed a new, cholesterol-based tag system to bring imaging and disease-treating proteins directly into a live cell, bypassing the cell’s defenses. They reported their finding June 19 in Science Advances.
A-Alpha Bio Wins $620K NSF Grant; Builds on $2.8 Million in Seed Funding
A-Alpha Bio, a startup co-founded and led by UW Bioengineering alumni David Younger (Ph.D. ’17), and Randolph Lopez (Ph.D. ’18, received a $620,472 grant from the National Science Foundation to continue developing their AlphaSeq platform for the discovery of molecular glues.
Bioengineering alumna Jane Grande-Allen receives 2020 UW Diamond Award
UW Bioengineering alumna Jane Grande-Allen (Ph.D. ’98) has received the UW College of Engineering’s 2020 Diamond Award for Distinguished Achievement in Academia.
Bioengineering students finish in top 3 in Microsoft Imagine Cup
Two bioengineering students were part of a team that finished in the top three of Microsoft’s 2020 Imagine Cup, a global technology competition for student developers.
New Weill Neurohub Launches First Projects; UW Bioengineering Faculty Among Project Leaders
Two UW Bioengineering faculty, Amy Orsborn and Azadeh Yazdan-Shahmorad, are project leaders on one of the new Weill Neurohub's five foundational projects announced in March.
Meeting the need for COVID-19 test kits: pivoting from Seattle Flu Study and developing new rapid tests
Barry Lutz, associate professor, and his lab are working on multiple fronts to support the need for coronavirus testing. Within days, his team shifted from helping with the Seattle Flu Study to COVID-19, and his lab began developing community and at-home tests.
2020 UW Department of Bioengineering Graduation Celebration.
2020 UW Department of Bioengineering Graduation Celebration. The UW Department of Bioengineering celebrates the graduates [...]
Paul Yager developing rapid COVID-19 tests for the home and clinic
The Paul Yager Lab at UW Bioengineering is applying its rapid, low-cost testing technology, called UbiNAAT, to COVID-19 tests, which could be used by untrained people in their homes as well as in health care facilities and low-resource settings around the world.
Patrick Boyle Leads Artificial Intelligence Effort to Predict Risk of Heart Complications from COVID-19
UW Bioengineering Assistant Professor Patrick Boyle and his collaborators in UW cardiology and epidemiology are developing a way to use artificial intelligence to help frontline health care workers predict which COVID-19 patients are at highest risk for heart complications from the illness.
Three UW Bioengineering students receive 2020 Fulbright awards
UW Bioengineering undergraduates Sarah Slack and Vidhi Singh, and Ph.D. student Hannah VanBenschoten, were awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships for the 2020-21 academic year.
HUMANS OF UW BIOENGINEERING: LESLEY MARTÍNEZ
For me, (Lesley is a senior in the BioE BS program) BioE has been like [...]
Alyssa Taylor Honored with 2020 UW Distinguished Teaching Award
UW Bioengineering Senior Lecturer Alyssa Taylor has received a 2020 UW Distinguished Teaching Award, which recognizes UW faculty for outstanding dedication and innovations in teaching, mentoring and service to others.
Herbert Sauro, David Baker, Dayong Gao Elected to AIMBE
UW professors and bioengineering faculty Herbert Sauro, David Baker and Dayong Gao have been named fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).
HUMANS OF UW BIOENGINEERING: Joaquin Batista
Joaquin Batista is a graduate student in the Masters of Applied Bioengineering (MAB) program with [...]
UW Bioengineering’s Parker Ruth Named a 2020 Goldwater Scholar
UW Bioengineering senior Parker Ruth is one of three students from the University of Washington and among 396 nationwide to be named Goldwater Scholars for 2020.
Humans of UW Bioengineering: Hannah Redden
Hannah Redden is a senior in the Department of Bioengineering and Department of Biochemistry, minoring [...]
Seven Bioengineering Students in 2020 Husky 100
The UW recognized seven students from the Department of Bioengineering for the 2020 Husky 100, an honor awarded to extraordinary juniors, seniors and graduate students who are making meaningful contributions at the University of Washington and beyond. Undergraduates Anna Craig, Sofia Jepson, Amanda An Nguyen, Parker Ruth, Vidhi Singh and Eric Yang, and Ph.D. student Trey Pichon Students are among 100 students selected.
Students Recognize BioE Faculty with FACET Awards
Three UW Bioengineering core faculty members are being honored by the 2020 Faculty Appreciation for Career Education & Training (FACET) Awards program for positively impacting their students' career and professional development.
2020 BIOENGINEERING CAPSTONE SYMPOSIUM:
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS FOR LIFE AND HEALTH June 1, 2020 2:30 - 4:00 P.M. Please RSVP [...]
BioE Alumna’s Nanodropper Startup Gets Boost from Accelerator Program
Nanodropper, a company co-founded by UW Bioengineering alumna Mackenzie Andrews, MS ’19, has completed this year’s Jones + Foster Accelerator program and received $25,000 in seed funding.
Adjunct Faculty David Baker Elected to AIMBE
David Baker, professor in biochemistry and adjunct professor in bioengineering, has been elected as a [...]
BioE Alumna’s Nanodropper Startup Gets Boost from Accelerator Program
Nanodropper, a company co-founded by University of Washington Bioengineering alumna Mackenzie Andrews, MS ’19, has completed this year’s Jones + Foster Accelerator program and received $25,000 in seed funding.
Concentric wins Second Place Prize at 2020 Health Innovation Challenge
A team from UW Bioengineering took home the second place prize at the 2020 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge (HIC) March 5 on the UW Seattle campus. Concentric, a team of students in the Master’s of Applied Bioengineering program, won for their low-cost, portable screening device for corneal disease.
UW Bioengineering Summer Camp Open to High School Students: Apply Now
The 2020 University of Washington Bioengineering Summer Camp, held July 6-10 in Seattle, features hands-on activities to explore careers in bioengineering. High school students, apply now!
With smartphone camera, researchers can create hyperspectral images to analyze skin changes
Modern smartphone cameras can be harnessed to analyze and track skin changes and blood flow dynamics under the skin, report UW Bioengineering Professor Ruikang Wang and his graduate student Qinghua He, in the February issue of Biomedical Optics Express.
BioE graduate student Alyssa Schul wins Grand Prize at Science and Technology Showcase
UW Bioengineering graduate student Alyssa Schul took home the $1,000 Premera Grand Prize at UW’s 2020 Science and Technology Showcase Jan. 29. A
NESAC/Bio wins 2020 SFB Technology, Innovation and Development Award; Cole DeForest wins 2020 Young Investigator Award
University of Washington bioengineers have won two awards from the Society for Biomaterials and will receive the honors in May 2020. The NESAC/Bio team of Buddy Ratner, David Castner and Lara Gamble have won the 2020 Technology Innovation and Development Award, and Cole DeForest won the 2020 Young Investigators Award.
Engineered capillaries model traffic in tiny blood vessels
University of Washington bioengineers Ying Zheng and Cole DeForest, working with Seattle Children’s infectious disease researchers, have engineered tiny blood vessels and shed light on how severe malaria infection causes red blood cells to get stuck in the bloodstream’s narrowest passageways. Their paper is published in the Jan. 17 issue of Science Advances.
Bioengineer Nancy Allbritton Named Dean of UW College of Engineering
On Nov. 1, bioengineer Dr. Nancy Allbritton began her role as Frank & Julie Jungers Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Washington. In addition to her deanship at UW, she holds an appointment in the UW Department of Bioengineering, where she plans to continue her research in single-cell enzymatic assays and organ-on-a-chip technology.
2019 Hoffman Lecture – Kristi S. Anseth
“Dynamically Tunable Hydrogels through Bio-click Reactions and their Applications in Regenerative Biology” Kristi S. Anseth, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor, Department Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado
Computational Molecular Biology Annual Retreat (9am on 10/4 @ Waterfront Activities Center)
You are invited to attend the 2019 Computational Molecular Biology (CMB) Annual Retreat on October [...]
Humans of UW Bioengineering: Alton Cao
Alton Cao is a senior studying bioengineering, and he plans to apply to medical school after graduation. Read more to learn about how Alton found his way into research before realizing he needed to make a change in his path, and discovered that working in patient care and medicine was more fulfilling for him.
Innovation & Impact – UW Bioengineering eNews Spring/Summer 2019
A recap of UW Bioengineering's efforts to empower better health care through biomedical research, education and service, and impact medicine, for Washington and for the world.
Nanodropper wins Grand Prize; Pulmora, Insulin Anywhere also win at 2019 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge
Eight teams involving UW BioE undergraduate and graduate students were among 22 teams competing in [...]
HUMANS OF UW BIOENGINEERING: Savannah Lawton
Savannah Lawton is a senior studying Bioengineering. After graduation, she will be traveling the world solo for eight months under the Bonderman Fellowship. Read more to learn about how Savannah discovered her interests in bioengineering and plans to enter medicine.
Injectable Biodegradable Chitosan-Alginate 3D Porous Gel Scaffold for mRNA Vaccine Delivery
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mabi.201800242 Jingxuan Yan, Ruying Chen, Hong Zhang, James D. Bryers. Macromol Biosci. 2019 Feb;19(2):e1800242. doi: 10.1002/mabi.201800242. Abstract: mRNA vaccines have proven to [...]
Biomaterials developer and protein engineer Cole DeForest joins core faculty
UW Bioengineering faculty member Cole DeForest joined the core faculty in January 2019 as joint assistant professor of chemical engineering and bioengineering. He brings expertise in applying synthetic chemistry and materials science to the department’s biomaterials, protein engineering and regenerative medicine research.
Bioengineering Alumnus Wayne Gombotz Receives 2019 UW Diamond Award
UW Bioengineering alumnus Wayne Gombotz (M.S. ’85, Ph.D. ’88) has received the College of Engineering’s 2019 Diamond Award for Distinguished Achievement in Industry. Dr. Gombotz's work has provided the basis of many drug delivery strategies in use and development today; multiple successful therapeutic products and processes to treat cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases; and it spurred the development of the biotechnology industry in Seattle.
Ph.D. student Bowen Li Receives 2019 College of Engineering Student Award for Research
Bowen Li, a UW Bioengineering Ph.D. student, recently received the 2019 College of Engineering Student Award for Research. The award recognizes students who demonstrate merit in research through publications, external recognition and invited presentations, and through innovation and creativity.
Caleb Ellington, Ritika Jain, Divya Lakshmanan, Sarah Slack, Mohammed Mushtak Talib and Renae Tessem Selected for Husky 100 Class of 2019
The UW recognized six students from the Department of Bioengineering for the 2019 Husky 100, an honor awarded to extraordinary juniors, seniors and graduate students who are making the most of their education at UW.
Bioengineering senior Sam Kokoska finds balance
I wanted a school with a great soccer program and a strong commitment to academics. UW was the perfect match in the way it supports student success in athletics, academics, service and personal well-being. ...At the UW, I learned about bioengineering. The idea of applying engineering solutions to medical problems immediately appealed to me. ...In addition to getting great hands-on research experience, I also learned about balancing priorities.
Humans of UW Bioengineering: David Younger
David Younger is a postdoc in Bioengineering who is commercializing the work from his Ph.D. at A-Alpha Bio. Read more to learn about how the teamwork and scientific skills he built from his undergrad and Ph.D. were a perfect fit for his current challenge to build a startup.
Jay Rubinstein Inducted as 2019 AIMBE Fellow
UW Bioengineering faculty member Jay Rubinstein was inducted to the AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2019.