5TH GLOBALTECH WORKSHOP ON
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
Beckman Institute Auditorium
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
30 - 31 May 2013
SEATING IS LIMITED, Please Reserve Your Seat: CaltechRSVP@caltech.edu
626-395-4945
Thursday, 30 May 2013
Time
Speaker/Topic
8:45am
Registration/Arrival
9:00am
Welcome
by Prof Mory Gharib, Vice Provost, Caltech
9:05am
Opening Address
by Professor Bertil Andersson, Chairman, GlobalTech and President, NTU
9:15am
Recent Developments in GlobalTech member Universities
by GlobalTech reps (10min each)
10:30am
Tea/Coffee Break (20min)
10:50am
Talk 1 Ali Hajimiri (Caltech)
Silicon Integrated Circuits for handheld Medical Diagnostic Devices
11:20am
Talk 2 Ross Ethier (Georgia Tech)
Biomechanics and Mechanobiology in Health and Disease: From Ophthalmology
to Osteoarthritis
11:50pm
Talk 3 Dulal Panda (IITB)
Inhibition of bacterial cell partitioning: An attractive strategy for developing a new
class of antibacterial drugs
1:20pm
Talk 4 Guang-Zhong Yang (Imperial College)
TBC
1:50pm
Talk 5 Louis Phee (NTU)
Robotics in Gastroenterology
2:20pm
Talk 6 Robert Reiner (ETH Zurich)
Patient-Cooperative Rehabilitation Robotics
2:50pm
Talk 7 Mo Liangjin (SJTU)
TBC
3:20pm
Tea/Coffee Break (30min)
3:50pm
Talk 8 Sarkis Mazmanian (Caltech)
Drugs From Bugs: Mining the Gut Microbiome for Novel Therapies
Thursday, 30 May 2013
Time
Speaker/Topic
4:20pm
Talk 9 Subhasis Chaudhuri (IITB)
Application of Haptics in Tremor analysis
4:50pm
Talk 10 Georg Rauter (ETH Zurich)
Haptic Guidance to Foster Motor (re-)Learning
5:20pm
Wrap Up
by Prof Mory Gharib, Vice Provost, Caltech
5:30pm
~End of Day 1~
FRIDAY, 31 MAY 2013
Speaker/Topic
Time
9:00am
Reflection on Day 1
by Prof Mory Gharib, Vice Provost, Caltech
9:10am
Talk 11 Freddy Boey (NTU)
Materials Innovation for Cardiovascular Implants
9:40am
Talk 12 Ying Weihai (SJTU)
Overview of the Research Programs in School of Biomedical Engineering/Med-X
Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
10:10am
Tea/Coffee Break (30min)
10:40am
Talk 13 Subbu Venkatraman (NTU)
Nanocarriers for Ocular Drug Delivery- the Importance of Drug Loading
11:10am
Talk 14 Henry Lester (Caltech)
Psychiatric Medication Turned Inside Out
11:40am
Talk 15 Mary Chan (NTU)
Non-Resistance-Evoking Contact-Active Antimicrobial Biomacromolecules
12:10pm
Talk 16 Yu-Chong Tai (Caltech)
A New Generation of Micro Implants
12:40pm
Closing Remarks
by Jean-Lou Chameau, President, Caltech
ABSTRACTS
ALI HAJIMIRI
Thomas G. Myers Professor of Electrical Engineering, Caltech
E: hajimiri@caltech.edu
W: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~hajimiri/
Title: Silicon Integrated Circuits for handheld Medical Diagnostic Devices
Abstract: Silicon integrated circuits provide unprecedented levels of
complexity on versatile silicon substrates. We discuss several examples of how this underlying
substrate is used to develop ultra-sensitive handheld diagnostic devices capable of detecting
protein and nucleic acid with high spatial and spectroscopic multiplex in a low-cost batteryoperated setting.
ROSS ETHIER
Professor and Georgia Research Alliance Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr.
Eminent Scholar in Bioengineering, Georgia Tech
E: ross.ethier@bme.gatech.edu
W: http://www.bme.gatech.edu/facultystaff/faculty_record.php?id=166
Biomechanics and Mechanobiology in Health and Disease: From
Ophthalmology to Osteoarthritis
Abstract
DULAL PANDA
Professor of Biotechnology, IITB
E: panda@iitb.ac.in
W: http://www.bio.iitb.ac.in/~panda/
Inhibition of bacterial cell partitioning: An attractive strategy for developing a new class of
antibacterial drugs
Abstract
GUANG-ZHONG YANG
Director and co-founder of the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery and
Deputy Chairman of the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial
College
E: g.z.yang@imperial.ac.uk
W: http://ubimon.doc.ic.ac.uk/gzy/m365.html
Title TBC
Abstract
LOUIS PHEE
Associate Professor and Acting Head, Division of Mechatronics and Design,
School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, NTU
E: MSJPhee@ntu.edu.sg
W:
www.mae.ntu.edu.sg/AboutMAE/Divisions/RRC_BioRobotics/Pages/Faculty_Lo
uisPhee.aspx
Robotics in Gastroenterology
Abstract
Robotic technologies are fast finding their way into the surgical theatre. Clinicians are
recognizing the advantages of using robots to help them perform surgery. Robots could be
designed to be highly configurable and so as to access the patient’s body with decreased
invasiveness. The end effectors could have high degrees of freedom which allow them to
perform intricate surgical tasks accurately. As with industrial robots, surgical robots use a variety
of cutting edge sensors and actuators. Coupled with sophisticated control systems, attributes
like safety, reliability and robustness are enhanced. Benefits for patients include less invasive
procedures, faster recovery times, less pain and trauma, and savings in hospitalization costs
and stays. In this talk, we will look at the latest developments in the area of robotics used to
diagnose and treat ailments related to the digestive tract.
ROBERT REINER
Professor for Sensory-Motor Systems at the Department of Mechanical
Engineering and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich
E: robert.riener@hest.ethz.ch
W: http://www.sms.hest.ethz.ch/people/directory/rienerr
Patient-Cooperative Rehabilitation Robotics
Abstract
MO LIANGJIN
Vice Dean, School of Biomedical Engineering and Deputy Director, Office of Undergraduate
Education, SJTU
E: ljmo@sjtu.edu.cn
W:
Title TBC
Abstract
SARKIS MAZMANIAN
Professor of Biology, Caltech
E: sarkis@caltech.edu
W: http://biology.caltech.edu/Members/Mazmanian
Drugs From Bugs: Mining the Gut Microbiome for Novel Therapies
Abstract
Reflecting a growing medical crisis in Western societies, recent epidemiologic and clinical
reports have revealed dramatic increases in the incidences of several immune disorders:
inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. The hygiene
hypothesis proposed two decades ago speculated that these increases are the result of lifestyle
changes that reduce exposure to microbial pathogens. Microbial infections are, in fact, rare and
opportunistic. In contrast, mammals are colonized for life with 100 trillion indigenous bacteria,
and the contributions of this enormous and diverse ecosystem to human health remain poorly
understood. Recent studies have launched a revolution in biology aimed at understanding how
(and, more importantly, why) mammals harbor multitudes of symbiotic bacteria. We have
recently demonstrated for the first time that symbiotic intestinal bacteria direct the development
of the mammalian immune system and confer protection from disease; thus fundamental
aspects of mammalian health are absolutely dependent on microbial symbiosis. Astonishingly,
the immune disorders whose incidences are increased in Western countries involve a common
immunologic defect found in the absence of intestinal bacteria. After eons of co-evolution with
our microbial partners, have societal advances (including vaccination, sanitation, ‘western’ diets,
and anti-bacterial therapeutics) paradoxically affected human health adversely by reducing our
exposure to health-promoting bacteria? We propose that the human genome does not encode
all functions required for health but rather that humans depend on crucial interactions with
products of the microbiome (the collective genomes of our intestinal bacterial species).
Advances in the past few years now make it possible to mine this untapped reservoir for
beneficial microbial molecules. Using advanced genomic, microbiologic, and immunologic
approaches, we aim to define the molecular processes evolved by symbiotic bacteria that
mediate protection from disease. An understanding of the immune mechanisms of these
symbiosis factors may lead to the development of natural therapeutics based on entirely novel
biological principles.
SUBHASIS CHAUDHURI
Dean of International Relations and Professor of Electrical Engineering, IITB
E: sc@ee.iitb.ac.in
W: http://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/~sc/main/main.html
Application of Haptics in Tremor analysis
Abstract
There have been several competing technologies for measuring hand tremors. Accelerometer
based measurements are quite popular, but they often suffer from accuracy due to calibration
issues. We explore the use of haptic technology, which is slowly becoming popular, for the
measurement of hand tremors. Apart from delivering quite accurate position measurements, this
technology has the the advantage that the task can be defined virtually and the effect of such
tasks on the tremor can be easily found out. Issues related to virtualization of such task will be
discussed in the talk.
GEORG RAUTER
PhD Student, Inst. f. Robotik u. Intell. Syst., ETH Zurich
E: georg.rauter@hest.ethz.ch
W: http://www.sms.hest.ethz.ch/people/directory/rauterg
Haptic Guidance to Foster Motor (re-)Learning
Abstract
Robots perform an incredibly good job in terms of speed and precision in repetitive tasks like
assembling cars or packaging items. During the last years, robots even made their way into
clinics due to the development of user-cooperative control strategies. User-cooperative control
allows for robot-assisted minimal invasive surgeries or robot-assisted movement therapy. During
movement therapy for example, a physical therapist can select an appropriate control strategy
for a patient and let the robot do the hard work. After therapy, medical doctors and physical
therapists can analyze recorded data (data from conventional assessment tool or data recorded
by the robot) to assess, for example, the patient’s motor relearning progress.
In our lab, we even want to go a step further. A robot should not only apply a preselected control
strategy, but should also analyze data online to select the most appropriate strategy or
augmented feedback according to the patient’s performance. This patient-tailored robotic
assistance should speed up the motor relearning process of the patient. However, research on
patients is a complex iterative process that has to fit within the constraints of the patient’s
treatment. To avoid such complex processes a priori, we decided to investigate user-tailored
assistance in healthy people on a functional complex task: rowing. Therefore, we have
developed a deceptively realistic rowing simulator that allows us to provide augmented feedback
in three different modalities, i.e. vision, sound, and haptics. Now, we are about to finish a virtual
trainer that controls all three modalities in order to individually boost the motor learning process
of a rower.
This talk will introduce the rowing simulator at the SMS-Lab, its ability for human motor learning,
e.g. different augmented feedbacks in different modalities with an emphasis on haptic guidance,
and the applicability of simulator training for learning a real task, i.e. rowing on water. Finally, the
design of the virtual trainer for user-tailored automated motor learning in rowing is presented.
FREDDY BOEY
Deputy President & Provost and Professor of Materials Engineering, NTU
E: MYCBOEY@ntu.edu.sg
W:
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/AboutNTU/PO/Biographies/Pages/DeputyPresidentand
Provost.aspx
Biomedical Devices using Highly functional Biomaterials systems
Abstract
The talk will present the commercialization of several biomedical devices that have been
developed in NTU, all of which employs the use of highly functional materials which have highly
predictable materials function. These include a fully biodegradable coronary stent and occluder
for treating a hole in the heart, an implanted controlled drug release biomaterial system for
managing glaucoma and a recently FDA approved hernia mesh system using a new generation
biomaterial.
YING WEIHAI
Assistant Dean of Med-X Research Institute, SJTU
E: weihai.sf@gmail.com
W: http://med-x.sjtu.edu.cn/english/t_xiangxi.asp?SortID=2&ID=89
Overview of the Research Programs in School of Biomedical Engineering/Med-X Research
Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Abstract
Subbu Venkatraman (NTU)
Professor and Chair of School of Materials Science & Engineering, NTU
E: ASSubbu@ntu.edu.sg
W: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/ASSUBBU/
Nanocarriers for Ocular Drug Delivery- the Importance of Drug Loading
Abstract
A nanocarrier based on large unilamellar vesicle (LUV) with an average size of 100 nm has
been developed for sustained delivery of latanoprost in the anterior eye segment. Animal studies
have shown that a single sub-conjuctival injection of this formulation results in stable control of
intra-ocular pressure (IOP) for over 90 days. The key to such a long duration of action is the
extent of drug loading that is possible without disruption of vesicle structure. Additional studies to
explain the mechanism of drug-vesicle interactions, that shed light on the high drug loading, will
be presented.
HENRY LESTER
Bren Professor of Biology & Biological Engineering, Caltech
E: lester@caltech.edu
W: http://biology.caltech.edu/Members/Lester
Psychiatric Medication Turned Inside Out
Abstract
Better medications for central nervous system (CNS) diseases constitute a major challenge.
Psychiatric diseases rank high on all lists of lost happiness and productivity, in all societies—not
just the wealthy ones. Yet, present medications for major depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar
disease leave much room for improvement. If we know what causes these diseases, we can
make progress. That’s a tough problem being explored in many labs.
Consider a related problem: if we know how the present medications work, we can develop
rational strategies for improving them. Having published 300 papers on the latter topic, I can
credibly say, “we don’t know how present psychiatric medications work”. We certainly
understand the first few minutes (those 300 papers describe that); but what happens during the
2 to 3 weeks that elapse, after a person starts taking a medication for depression or
schizophrenia, till the medication takes its full effect?
Our laboratory would like to study “inside-out” neuropharmacology. Our experience with nicotine
has shown how this drug acts directly on its receptors in two places: (1) surprisingly, within the
endoplasmic reticulum, where the receptors are forming; and (2) later in the life of a receptor,
and not surprisingly, on the surface of the nerve cell. We also know how event (1), the
intracellular, intra-organelle binding, leads to molecular events summarized by the terms,
chaperoning, matchmaking, escorting, and abduction. These are the components of “inside-out”
pharmacology. The results eventually to the effects of chronic exposure to nicotine, including
addiction.
Now we wish to test the hypothesis that psychiatric drugs also exert their therapeutic effects
“inside out”. That is, psychiatric drugs bind to their classical targets—receptors and
transporters—in two places: (1) surprisingly within the endoplasmic reticulum, as well as (2)
later, and not surprisingly, on the surface membrane at synapses. The diagram presents this
transformative idea.
MARY CHAN
Professor and Acting Chair, School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering,
NTU
E: MBEChan@ntu.edu.sg
W: http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/mbechan/
Non-Resistance-Evoking Contact-Active Antimicrobial Biomacromolecules
Abstract
YU-CHONG TAI
Anna L. Rosen Professor of Electrical Engineering and Mechanical
Engineering, Caltech
E: yctai@its.caltech.edu
W: http://eas.caltech.edu/people/3228/profile
A New Generation of Micro Implants
Abstract
Body tissues such as neurons, once severely damaged, do not repair or regenerate easily and
often leave behind permanent debilitating deficits. Implant technologies to interface intact tissues
and/or replace defective functions continues have been a main solution for many diseases. As
our world is facing more severe population aging problems, significant growth in new body
implants is predicted. In fact, even currently commercial implants also have a lot of room for
improvement. For example, cardiovascular and cochlear implants are still bulky, mechanically
rigid, power hungry, and functionally limited for delicate and small organs. This work will discuss
our research experience on applying new technologies to develop a new generation of micro
implants that feature the miniaturization, flexibility, ease of use and complex functionality of the
devices. Two examples of neural implants will be discussed in detail. One is the spinal cord
implant that enables a spinal-cord-transected rat to walk again. The other device is a retinal
implant that we envision will soon be used to recover lost vision from diseases like age-related
macular disease. Also included in this talk is to demonstrate the adoption of new materials and
technologies that enable our devices.