Inspiring Engineering Minds to Advance Human Health

As I begin my fourth year as department chair, I am reminded of the special opportunity we have as biomedical engineers for improving peoples' lives today and for generations to come. Located in the heart of Orange County (between Los Angeles and San Diego counties), UC Irvine is home to more than 300 biomedical companies and several major medical centers. The pillars are in place for UCI to become an engine of innovation for biomedical devices and biotechnology. In fact, this fall we are launching the first professional master's program under the BioENGINE acronym (ENGINE stands for Engineering, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship). This first class will be part of the Master of Science in Engineering Management program. In the next few years, we anticipate broadening BioENGINE to include two additional degree programs in engineering innovation and clinical translation. It is our mission to educate and inspire students who have the innovative engineering skills, the business and management know-how, and the strong desire to create products that transform medicine.

 

As a BME department, it is easy to focus on the technical aspects of new biomedical advancements and lose sight of the ultimate motivation of helping people and improving lives. The purpose of our existence is to advance human health. This all begins with a focus on people – students, staff, faculty, friends in the community, and people of all walks of life who we would like to touch. This newsletter is about the people we cherish at UCI, their stories, their aspirations, their visions, and their accomplishments.

This year, the BME team adds three new faculty members and a department manager. We welcome Cathy Ta as department manager. She hails from the UCI School of Medicine (SOM) and has been instrumental in making the Department of Otolaryngology one of the most innovative and financially healthy departments on campus. Cathy will play a key role in the BME department’s increasingly critical relationship with SOM in medical education and clinical research. In January, Chang Liu joined BME as an assistant professor and the 20th core faculty member. Professor Liu’s research focuses on the engineering of genetic systems and the rapidly advancing field of synthetic biology. In July and September, new assistant professors Michelle Digman and Beth Lopour joined as the21st and 22nd core faculty members. More detailed introductions will be provided in the next newsletter.

 

I’m pleased to report that BME students are proving to be naturally gifted entrepreneurs. In the 2013 Merage Business Plan Competition, BME students were key members on the first, second, and third place teams, each which received a substantial cash prize by the corporate sponsors. Even the undergraduate division winning team had three BME students on the eight-person team. Furthermore, BME student Michelle Sangalang was on a two-person team that won a statewide Business Plan Competition for Youth. With all this buzz and excitement, we just might be witnessing the birth of a “Medical Device Coast,” with UCI being the center hub of innovation.

 

Also this year, we partnered with UCI’s Public Health Program and Angel Heart International, to provide three BME senior design teams the chance to witness firsthand the challenges of delivering healthcare in resource poor settings of developing nations. Three teams were selected for overseas expeditions (Peru, Thailand-Myanmar, China). The students came back inspired to make a difference in global health. Visit the Samueli School’s YouTube channel to see a documentary (search for Thailand-Myanmar Malaria Project), that takes viewers through the touching and gut-wrenching journey of one of these teams.

 

On the research front, BME faculty are bucking the national trend of funding uncertainties by garnering awards and grants at a record pace. Most noteworthy, Assistant Professor Elliot Hui was awarded the DARPA Young Faculty Award to use specific frequencies of light to activate cellular functions. Professor Lisa Flanagan was awarded the prestigious NSF CAREER Award. Professor Bernard Choi received a major NIH RO1 grant to develop a device that would help endodontists reduce the number of unnecessary root canal procedures, a prevalent problem, which this proposed research could have a major impact on. And finally, a trio of BME professors was awarded over $2M to create novel diabetes treatments.

 

I welcome you to read about these and many more of our accomplishments in this newsletter and on our website,

Sincerely,

Abe Lee, William J. Link Professor and Chair, BME at UCI