Core Faculty

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.

2022-08-01T14:43:01-07:00July 9th, 2020|

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.

2022-08-01T14:44:25-07:00June 16th, 2020|

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.

2022-08-04T03:39:09-07:00June 10th, 2020|

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.

2020-10-26T08:11:52-07:00March 9th, 2020|

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.  

2020-10-26T08:11:52-07:00January 24th, 2020|

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.

2021-02-26T10:42:08-08:00December 30th, 2019|

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.

2020-10-26T08:11:56-07:00June 5th, 2019|

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.

2020-10-26T08:11:56-07:00June 4th, 2019|

Synthetic peptide can inhibit toxicity, aggregation of protein in Alzheimer’s disease, researchers show

Researchers led by UW Department of Bioengineering Professor Valerie Daggett have developed synthetic peptides that can target and inhibit the small, toxic protein aggregates that are thought to trigger Alzheimer’s disease. The team reports their achievement in a paper published the week of April 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

2022-08-04T03:42:19-07:00April 16th, 2019|

Humans of UW Bioengineering: Dr. Herbert Sauro

Dr. Herbert Sauro is an associate professor of UW Bioengineering and director of the Center of Reproducible Biomedical Modeling. He also teaches a core course on biological control systems in the undergraduate bioengineering curriculum. Read more to learn about how he took an unusual route to academia by following his passion for combining computational modeling and biology.

2020-10-26T08:12:04-07:00March 15th, 2019|

UW Bioengineering’s James Bryers featured in Science in Seattle

UW Bioengineering Professor James Bryers recently discussed his research with Science in Seattle. His interview [...]

2022-01-28T06:24:15-08:00February 19th, 2019|

Eric Chudler hosts BrainWorks: Brain-Computer Interface

The latest episode of the Emmy® Award-winning educational program BrainWorks focuses on brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, which offers promising opportunities to treat stroke, spinal cord injuries and other neurodegenerative disorders. BrainWorks is co-produced and hosted by Eric Chudler, research associate professor of bioengineering and the executive director of the Center for Neurotechnology at UW.

2020-10-26T08:12:13-07:00November 27th, 2018|

Suzie Pun elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences 2018

Suzie Pun, the Robert F. Rushmer Professor of Bioengineering, is one of 14 UW faculty elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2018. The academy’s mission is “to provide expert scientific and engineering analysis to inform public policymaking in Washington, and to increase the role and visibility of science in the state.”

2020-10-26T08:12:16-07:00July 22nd, 2018|

Targeting sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase as an anabolic therapy for bone loss

Research Associate Professor Marta Scatena and a team of collaborators show that raising Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) levels in adult mice through conditionally deleting or pharmacologically inhibiting S1P lyase, the sole enzyme responsible for irreversibly degrading S1P, markedly increased bone formation, mass and strength and substantially decreased white adipose tissue.

2021-01-08T06:08:43-08:00July 4th, 2018|
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