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C U L T I V A T I N G
Tomorrow’s
C u l t i vat i n g S y n e r g y
between
Life Sciences and
Engineering
S Y N E R G Y
University:
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Over the past two decades, cascading breakthroughs
and advances, particularly in information technology
and the life sciences, have created a new interdependence
among engineering, the physical sciences, computer science and math, and the biomedical sciences. This convergence of the life and healthcare sciences with the STEM
disciplines is one of the major strategic themes for NJIT.
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C U L T I V A T I N G
Connection
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S Y N E R G Y
The Biology
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Eric
how human brains control their own behavior.
locomotor control in the central nervous system
Fortune (above right) studies the mechanisms
With an NSF grant, he is studying the neural
of weakly electric fish. He examines the cellu-
of animal behavior, how their brains work, and
mechanisms for cooperative behavior, primarily
lar and circuit-level mechanisms by which fish
what can be learned from them about how
the specific neural mechanisms and compu-
cooperate through the control of their electric
creatures, including humans, cooperate. He
tations that are used in the coordination of vocal
field and their locations relative to others of the
studies the Andean plain-tailed wren and other
behavior between individual wrens. He also
same species nearby.
species with the goal of better understanding
studies the interaction of social behavior and
electrospinning as a method to prepare fibrous
materials for growth factor delivery and provided
an improved method for achieving controlled
release of bioactive proteins from electrospun
materials.
Associate Professor Mesut Sahin (below) is studying development of neural prostheses – devices
and technologies
for interfacing with
the central nervous
system. He is developing an inter-
Advancing
Neural and Tissue
Engineering
Professor Treena Livingston Arinzeh (left in photo
face
above) has earned national recognition for her
patient’s brain and
pioneering adult stem cell research to find ways
a computer so that
to use biomaterials to re-engineer tissues, espe-
the paralyzed indi-
a
cially using electrospinning, a technique in
vidual can control
which an electrical charge draws nanoscale
his own wheelchair and other equipment without
fibers from a liquid. She and Research Professor
help from a caregiver. A recent study published in
George Collins are currently developing a bio-
the Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation
logically-inspired material for cartilage tissue re-
in collaboration with his former doctoral student
pair using a novel, semi-synthetic derivative of
Abhishek Prasad ’10, now on the faculty of the
cellulose. Her work is supported by grants from
University of Miami, demonstrated that forelimb
the NSF and the Musculoskeletal Transplant
kinetics could be reconstructed by utilizing de-
Foundation. A paper by Arinzeh and her former
scending voluntary command signals in the dor-
student Tonye Briggs ’11 (right in photo above)
solateral spinal cord tracts above the point of injury
published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials
as an alternative to brain-computer interfacing.
Research, examined the formulation of emulsion
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design of effective treatments for trauma, memory
biological sciences, studies the relationship be-
and sleep disorders.
such as short-term depression
tween biological rhythms and neuroactive sub-
and facilitation contribute to the
stances such as neuromodulators, hormones and
Assistant Professor Simon Garnier (below) recently
generation and control of oscil-
neurotransmitters. With NIH grant support, he is
launched a new interdisciplinary research group
called the Swarm Lab to study the mechanisms
grant support from the NIH, he is
underlying the coordination of large animal
working to understand the struc-
groups, such as ant colonies or human crowds,
ture and function of neuronal circuits essential for
and their applications to complex problems such
developing treatments for mental disorders. He is
as the organization of pedestrian traffic. He re-
developing experimental measurements in the
cently collaborated with researchers from the
context of a novel mathematical framework to un-
Research Center on
derstand how synaptic and neuronal dynamics
Animal Cognition in
contribute to circuit function in oscillatory networks
Toulouse, France, in a
in the highly accessible crustacean pyloric network.
study reported in PLoS
S Y N E R G Y
latory neuronal activity. With
▼
Jorge Golowasch (below), professor and chair of
focus is to understand how synaptic dynamics,
C U L T I V A T I N G
Professor Farzan Nadim’s (below left) research
Computational Biology
The methods and characterizations developed can
be generalized to more complex networks of the
looking into the mechanisms by which neuro-
that successfully repli-
human brain to describe the emergence of biolog-
modulators and the neuronal networks’ own ac-
cated the behavior of
ical oscillations and their disorders as observed in
tivity regulate rhythmic pattern generation to
a colony of ants on the move using miniature ro-
injury or pathological conditions resulting from de-
understand the normal function of the nervous
bots. The goal was to discover how individual ants
myelinating diseases, disorders of the striatum such
system. The capacity to recover stable neuronal
when part of a moving colony, orient themselves
as Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and autism
output following disease or trauma may be of
in the labyrinth-like pathways that stretch from
spectrum disorders.
enormous therapeutic relevance and lead to the
their nest to various food sources.
Research in the laboratory of Assistant Professor
and improvement of engineered tissues for the
Cheul Cho (below left), Department of Biomedical
repair of myocardial infarcts and other healthcare
Engineering, has significant implications for cardiac
applications.
health, tissue engineering and drug testing. Carried
out in collaboration with Research Professor George
Collins (below top row, right) and Ali Hussain ’11
(below bottom row, left) and doctoral student Derek
Yip (not pictured), the results of this work were
reported in an article featured on the cover of BioProfessor of Biomedical Engineering Tara Alvarez
technology and Bioengineering. The researchers
(above) is continuing her research on the vergeance
co-authored “Functional 3-D Cardiac Co-culture
system, which controls the inward and outward
Model Using Bioactive Chitosan Nanofiber Scaf-
Bryan Pfister (above), associate professor of bio-
turning of the eye and supports viewing in depth
folds,” which describes an approach to the design
medical engineering, is leading a research team
and relates to everything from traumatic brain in-
investigating physiologicial dysfunction from
jury to the ability to wear progressive eyeglass
repetitive mild head injury with funding from
lenses. With NSF support, she is currently devel-
Rutgers Medical School; New Jersey Commission
oping an integrated portable neurovisual assess-
on Brain Injury Research. While mild traumatic
ment system that will enable basic and clinical
brain injury does not cause damage that can be
research scientists to assess neurovisual functions
revealed by neurological imaging, unknown
in normal and impaired populations. The two pri-
changes may be inflicted on the brain, particularly
mary applications of this project will be to evaluate
when repetitive head injuries occur as may happen
biomarkers to aid in the diagnosis of mild traumatic
in sports or in active military duty. The study, in
brain injury and develop new therapies for children
collaboration with faculty at New Jersey Medical
who suffer from binocular dysfunctions. She has an
School, is analyzing changes in neuronal signaling
international patent application for a technique to
and behavior due to single and repetitive mild
predict which individuals cannot adapt to wearing
head injuries. The team is developing several
progressive lenses (bifocals without the line) with
methods for measuring changes in neurons and
funding from Essilor International, Paris, France.
neural circuits and linking them to behavioral impairments in learning, memory and motor function.
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Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering
Bharat Biswal (below standing) focuses his research
C U L T I V A T I N G
on mapping the brain’s activity using non-invasive
functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to
study how different regions of the brain communicate while the brain is at rest and not performing
any active task. He and research associates (below)
Suril Gohel (center) and Rui Yan (right) are cur-
Technologies
▼
S Y N E R G Y
Developing Diagnostic
rently working to determine the biophysical
Research Assistant Professor
aspects of aging using fMRI in a project funded by
Alokik Kanwel (above left) and
the NIH through New Jersey Medical School. They
Reginald Farrow (above right),
are testing and quantifying the neural and hemo-
research professor of physics,
dynamic components to identify neural and vas-
lead a research team of physi-
cular mechanisms that cause older subjects to
cists and chemists developing a prototype lab-on-
have altered brain activation in comparison to
a-chip that would someday enable a physician to
young subjects.
detect disease or virus from just one drop of liquid,
including blood. A paper describing their carbon
nanotube-based device to noninvasively and
quickly detect mobile single cells was published in
Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
Syamala Pillai ’13 (below) took first place in the International Society of Engineering Graduate Poster
Contest for her poster describing a new, noninvasive technique for diagnosing fungal infections,
a serious health threat for immune-compromised
patients. Her team synthesized highly fluorescent derivatives of antifungal drugs that
bind themselves to fungal
cells, rendering them fluorescent and allowing diagnostic
imaging.
Laurent Simon (below), associate professor of
chemical, biological and pharmaceutical engineer-
Creating
ing, focuses on research that assists pharmaceutical
companies in the development of innovative drug-
Pharmaceutical
delivery technologies. One recent study involved
the distribution of timolol, a beta-blocker, in the
Technologies
Doctoral student Afolawemi Afolabi (above) won
third place at the technical research exhibit of the
National Society of Black Engineers for his presentation, “Batch and Continuous Production of Stable Dense Nanoparticle Suspensions via Wet
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Stirred Media Milling.” Based on his PhD thesis re-
skin layers. He created a virtual environment to help
search and supported by the NSF Engineering Re-
predict patch performances, at early design stages,
search Center for Structured Organic Compounds,
and determine the time elapsed before reaching a
the study focuses on the formation and stabiliza-
desired delivery rate. Another project identified
tion of drug nanoparticle suspensions. Assistant
chemicals that improve skin permeability to facili-
Professor Ecevit Bilgili is his advisor.
tate transdermal delivery of large drug molecules.
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NJ-HITEC is the leading Regional Extension Cen-
Stephen Pemberton received a
ter in the nation with more than 7,900 member
very positive review of his book,
physicians, and more than 6,600 live on an
The Bleeding Disease: Hemophilia
EHR system. Donald H. Sebastian, NJIT’s senior
and the Unintended Conse-
vice president for research and development, is
quences of Medical Progress, in
principal investigator.
the prestigious American Histori-
Connections
Songhua Xu (below), assistant professor of infor-
project exploring how genetics was understood,
mation systems, uses advanced computer tech-
appropriated, and advanced by 20th-century physi-
niques to build human-centered applications in
cians engaged in preclinical and clinical research
information retrieval and management, web
involving blood and diseases of the blood; from the
search, and data mining for biomedical applica-
use of biochemistry and animal models to the in-
tions. He is currently collaborating with researchers
corporation of the techniques of molecular biology
▼
into blood work, hematologists played a significant
S Y N E R G Y
Healthcare
cal Review. He is currently working on a research
C U L T I V A T I N G
Associate Professor of History
role in the formation of genetic medicine in the
20th century.
New Jersey Health Information Technology Extension Center (NJ-HITEC) and NJIT successfully partnered to bring Health Information Technology
(Health IT) to students by assisting them in creat-
at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on an NIH-
ing individual electronic Personal Health Records
funded project to data mine the web in the envi-
(PHRs) at the Campus Atrium in Newark. More
ronmental cancer risk domain. The team will
than 500 students kicked off getting “Health IT
develop dedicated cyber-informatics algorithms
Connected” by participating in this event through
and tools to automatically search online sources
entering their medical information through Med-
for retrieving and integrating contents related to
icat, the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system
individuals’ cancer history and spatiotemporal en-
selected by NJIT. New Jersey Commissioner of
vironmental exposure profiles. The system will syn-
Health Mary O’Dowd (left standing), looks on as a
thesize this information to accelerate knowledge
student inputs her medical information. Estab-
discovery on environmental cancer risk change
lished by at NJIT and directed by William O’Byrne,
due to an individual's migration activities.
Doctoral student Maxx
University and the University of Puerto Rico,
computing to understand emergent phenomena in
Capece earned a first-
Mayaguez. Rajesh Dave (below), distinguished
molecular biology, he seeks to decipher microscopic
place prize in a compe-
professor of chemical engineering, lead investiga-
mechanisms accounting for protein stability and for
tition sponsored by the
tor at NJIT, heads a team developing engineered
the formation of secondary structure in peptides, to
Catalent Institute for a
organic particulate ma-
understand the role of water in the energetics and
paper reviewing appli-
terials
unique
conformations of proteins, and to unravel how pro-
cations of dry-polymer
properties suitable for
teins interact with each other. The ultimate goal is
control release drug delivery technologies on the
drug product formula-
the rational design of drugs for medical purposes.
particulate scale. His entry showcased insights on
tions and drug delivery.
A recent study published in Physical Review Letters
enabling a broader range of controlled-release ap-
He recently led a team
highlighted a unifying microscopic mechanism for
plication to dose forms such as film strips, solid
of NJIT graduate stu-
pressure and cold denaturations.
oral dispersible tablets and liquid oral suspensions.
dents that developed a technology designed to
with
Rajesh Dave, distinguished professor of chemical
mask the most challenging, unpleasant and bit-
engineering, is his advisor.
ter-tasting pharmaceutical active ingredients. The
technology has been exclusively licensed by Catal-
Technologies designed to produce better medi-
ent Pharma Solutions.
cines and improve the ways in which drugs are
manufactured are the work of the NSF-supported
Cristiano Dias, assistant professor of physics, (right)
Engineering Research Center for Structured Or-
with graduate student Chitra Narayanan, special-
ganic Particulate Systems (C-SOPS), a collabora-
izes in theoretical and computational biophysics.
tion among NJIT, Rutgers University, Purdue
Using physical models and high performance
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