FORWARD A STEP - BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING - UW-Madison Engineering
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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–MADISON
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING FALL 2021 NEWSLETTER
BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING
A STEP
FORWARD
New teaching lab expands
opportunities
1
Devising new
strategies to treat
Chair’s Message
growing threat
As we enter a for lab components of lecture courses
new academic as well as for the undergraduate design Antimicrobial-
year, I would sequence and new standalone modular resistant (AMR)
like to reflect lab courses that were funded through our infections are
on the college’s education innovation program. predicted to
successes We have also continued to serve our kill 10 million
our BME students by expanding our two accelerated people each year
department master’s programs, where we have by 2050—up
has had in the substantially increased enrollment over from 700,000 in
past year, despite the challenges faced the past two years. 2019—and force
from the pandemic. 24 million people into extreme poverty
We are also continuing and expanding our
as early as 2030. Yet, the pharmaceutical
Many of our faculty received prestigious efforts on inclusion, equity and diversity
industry has divested from the antibiotic
new grants this past year, and several to ensure a welcoming environment for
resistance crisis, investing instead in more
were elected as fellows in professional all by actively engaging all stakeholders
lucrative types of drugs.
societies, including the American Institute in the department and college. As one
for Medicine and Bioengineering (AIMBE) starting point, we have begun to dedicate Increasing AMR and the lack of industry
and the Biomedical Engineering Society department seminars to the advancement interest have led some research groups
(BMES) in recognition of continued of this goal. to pursue new tools to assist current
excellence. Our U.S. News and World Report approaches. One of these methods is
I hope you and your loved ones are well,
graduate program ranking increased from nanomedicine, which has been extensively
and I thank you for your support of our
24 to 21 this year, and we are taking steps studied for targeted cancer therapy and
department.
for continued improvement by showcasing diagnoses. Nanoparticles, typically smaller
the important and dynamic research Stay safe and than 200 nanometers in diameter, can be
emerging from our faculty, graduate On, Wisconsin! used to deliver drugs and treat disease.
students and other researchers.
Vilas Distinguished Professor Shaoqin
Our new undergraduate and graduate “Sarah” Gong has reported an application
teaching labs are now fully open in the of nanomedicine to treat antibiotic-
Engineering Centers Building. These resistant pathogens in Advanced Materials.
new facilities are well-equipped and
The dextran-coated stimuli-responsive
reconfigurable to serve our student Paul J. Campagnola nanoparticle Gong’s group developed
needs, including dedicated space for Professor and Peter Tong Department Chair contains several components that target
tissue engineering work, basic chemistry, Kellett Faculty Fellow infected tissue and bacteria in vitro and in
electronics, motion capture capabilities pcampagnola@wisc.edu mouse models. Once inside infected tissue,
and optical design. This space is now used
disease-specific stimuli trigger the release
of an antibiotic and cationic polymer to
eliminate the AMR pathogens.
Gong also received an exploratory/
developmental grant from the National
Institutes of Health to develop
antimicrobial polymer-drug conjugates.
Her group will engineer a biocompatible
cationic polymer, paired with already-
approved antibiotics using chemical linkers
that respond to specific characteristics of
the infected tissues, allowing for disease-
specific drug release.
engr.wisc.edu/bme facebook.com/uwbme twitter.com/uwmadison_bme
2
BEYOND THE BENCH:
New course will put grad students a step ahead in biotech industry
The course, which will launch in spring
2022 with Professor William Murphy as its
instructor, will be built in collaboration with
industry partners such as Promega, 3M,
Catalent, and UW-Madison’s University
Research Park, which houses numerous
early stage and more established biotech
companies on the city’s west side.
Keegan is not only working with those
partners to craft a curriculum that’s
relevant to the current state of the
biotech sector, but subject-matter experts
from different companies also will lead
discussions on a mix of business, legal,
regulatory and technical topics and consult
directly with students on opportunities
related to their graduate research.
The course will build toward a showcase
event where students will present a value
proposition around their research to
Biomedical engineering PhD students Katie Mueller (middle) and Dan Pham (right) speak with
industry representatives. And it will also
Mary Haak-Frendscho, president and CEO of Spotlight Therapeutics, during the Forward BIO give both sides a chance to connect about
Institute’s 2019 annual member meeting. Photo courtesy Forward BIO Institute. internships and job opportunities.
“We want those students to finish up their
time at UW-Madison capable of making an
While his side, with potential market size and health immediate impact in the biotech industry,”
colleagues insurance reimbursement; regulatory says Murphy, who, in addition to being
nodded along hurdles to clear for FDA approval; the Harvey D. Spangler Professor and
confidently, intellectual property considerations; and H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellow, is director of
Phil Keegan manufacturing logistics. the Forward BIO Institute and founder of
scribbled several successful startup companies. “We
Now, seven years later, Keegan is helping
furiously in his want them to understand a whole lot more
prepare UW-Madison graduate students,
notebook, trying than a typical trainee from an academic
including those in biomedical engineering,
to keep up with institution would. We want them to be a
William Murphy to navigate the intricacies of the fast-
the onslaught of step ahead.”
growing biotechnology industry, which
acronyms and regulatory terminology being That same spirit drove the Forward BIO
includes cell and gene therapies, tissue
bandied about. Institute to create its Innovators in Training
manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals
As the sole scientist at a small medical and more. Keegan, the public-private program in 2019, giving graduate students
device company and a newly minted PhD in partnership lead at the Forward BIO and postdoctoral researchers experience
biomedical engineering, he quickly realized Institute at UW-Madison, is one of the with core biotech topics. The new course is
how much he needed to learn in areas that architects behind a new graduate-level an extension of that program, and Keegan
went far beyond bench science to make course in biotechnology and innovation says he’s also hoping to build a companion
projects succeed. There was the business housed in BME. course for undergraduates in fall 2022.
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RISING RESEARCHER THRIVING IN
CONSUMER PRODUCTS INDUSTRY
As a research technical strategist, she Who has played the greatest role in your
leads global research on healthy infant achievements?
and adult skin for the company’s major
I had several great mentors throughout
brands like Huggies, Kleenex, Cottonelle
my career. I had a professor at the
and Depends. She’s also served as chair of
University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez
Kimberly-Clark’s Latin American Network
who encouraged me to pursue graduate
for Diversity Employee Resource Group.
studies. It wasn’t something that I was
BME honored Rodriguez for her considering, but making that decision was
achievements with a College of Engineering life-changing. Another person who has been
Early Career Award. She shares insights instrumental in my success has been my
from her BME education in this Q&A. PhD advisor, Professor Kristyn Masters.
She’s an amazing educator, researcher and
How did your experience in the College of
encourager! The fact that she believed in
Engineering shape your career path?
me and my potential helped me become a
It set the trajectory for a fulfilling career. I stronger researcher.
apply the skills I sharpened at UW-Madison
What are among your best memories from
daily. The program set a strong foundation
your time at UW-Madison?
for critical thinking and teamwork.
Also, working in a research group with Not only did I meet many of my closest
people from different backgrounds and friends, but I developed long-lasting
experiences helped me to tap into the relationships with professors and mentors.
Karien Rodriguez (PhD ’10) used her
diversity within teams. I was not only an My husband and I always reminisce about
graduate training in BME to pivot
from chemical engineering and launch individual researcher, but I worked with how much fun we had, especially spending
her career in the consumer products a lot of undergrads and became a leader Friday afternoons at the Memorial Union
industry with Kimberly-Clark. within my research group. Terrace, cheering for the Badgers, going
hiking and camping, and just getting
together with friends.
Undergrad wins top campus honor
Over the course of his four years as the second straight year a biomedical tapering off opioid prescriptions by better
an undergraduate at UW-Madison, engineering student has won the award. connecting them with their healthcare
Ani Srinivasan learned to navigate— providers. He’s also worked with the
While balancing his heavy academic load,
and, eventually, appreciate—both the consultancy Jump at the Sun to study
Ani spent all four years working
incremental triumphs and the frustrating the use of menthol cigarettes in
in the lab of Bikash Pattnaik,
setbacks inherent to performing research. African-American communities
an assistant professor in the
and inform public health
The biomedical engineering student School of Medicine and
campaigns.
persevered and emerged inspired to Public Health’s Department
continue challenging himself by pursuing of Pediatrics. Ani co-led a He says those experiences
an MD/PhD degree after graduating in May project exploring the effects align with his broader career
2021. That tenacity, along with a resume of an anti-epileptic drug on ambitions.
packed with three majors (biomedical the retina.
“I plan to focus on developing
engineering, history and neurobiology)
In 2020, he also joined the lab and delivering accessible
and a slew of volunteer work, earned him
of Andrew Quanbeck, an assistant healthcare technologies to reduce the
the 2021 Theodore Herfurth Award for
professor in the Department of Family impact of socioeconomic status on health
Comprehensive Undergraduate Excellence,
Medicine and Community Health, to help outcomes,” he says.
one of the oldest and most prestigious
develop tools that assist patients who are
student awards at UW-Madison. It’s
4
STEM CELL-DERIVED FACIAL CARTILAGE
CELLS SHOW PROMISE FOR JOINT REPAIR
Cartilage is a prevalent but precious Notably, the researchers found that identical chondrocytes from the two
commodity in the human body, chondrocytes from the ectomesodermal/ developmental lineages. They implanted
cushioning our joints to absorb neural crest lineage, which naturally the chondrocytes in rats with joint defects
impact for protection and providing a develop into facial cartilage, actually and found that after 16 weeks, the
nearly frictionless surface for smooth repaired cartilage more effectively than ectomesodermal-lineage chondrocytes
movement. But when it deteriorates—as those from the mesodermal lineage, repaired more—and better—cartilage.
those with aging knees can attest—it which generates the cartilage in the joints And, in a battery of molecular analyses,
doesn’t regrow like other tissues. of our limbs. those chondrocytes also displayed more
biomarkers of hyaline cartilage, including
That frustrating reality has led millions That seemingly paradoxical result backs
greater expression of collagen type II and
of patients to undergo total joint up work from the University of Basel in
aggrecan. The chondrocytes also didn’t
replacement surgeries and spurred Switzerland, in which researchers have
express collagen type X, a hypertrophy
the medical field to explore taken chondrocytes from the nasal
marker indicating cartilage turning into
different treatments, septum and engineered cartilage
bone over time, a problem that has vexed
including cartilage grafts for patients’ knees.
many potential stem cell therapies for
transplantation.
“Our study demonstrates cartilage repair.
“But these methods the novel finding of stem
Li’s lab continues to explore why the
don’t lead to long-term cell-derived facial cartilage
ectomesodermal-lineage chondrocytes
satisfactory outcomes,” for knee repair and also
produced more hyaline cartilage. He plans
says Wan-Ju Li, a provides the solid scientific
to implant them in larger animal models
professor of biomedical evidence to explain what the
in hopes of collecting enough data to
engineering and orthopedics Swiss group has done, including
eventually carry out a human trial.
and rehabilitation. in clinical trials,” says Li, whose work
centers around osteoarthritis. “That’s “I really think it’s very important to
Li is among the researchers worldwide
why this is so interesting. Everything understand the differences we have
working toward a different approach:
seems to match together.” found,” he says, “and identify what
using stem cells to regenerate hyaline
molecular determinants govern the
cartilage, the type of connective tissue In their study, Li and his collaborators
differences to develop effective stem cell
found in knee and hip joints and the used hiPSCs reprogrammed from
therapies for osteoarthritis patients.”
nose. But producing viable, functional blood cells to derive genetically
chondrocytes, the specialized cells that
make up hyaline cartilage and also direct
formation of the tissue’s extracellular
matrix, has proven elusive.
In a study published in Science Advances,
Li’s lab and collaborators in the
Department of Chemical and Biological
Engineering compared chondrocytes
derived from human induced pluripotent
stem cells (hiPSCs) through two of the
body’s developmental cell lineages,
revealing new details that could inform
future cartilage regeneration strategies.
Ming-Song Lee, a PhD student in
biomedical engineering, was first author
on the paper.
5
McClean to use NSF CAREER Award to explore
nongenetic heterogeneity in microbes
Genetic mutations, as the rise of SARS- the population level—through
CoV-2 variants has demonstrated, can a National Science Foundation
cause major ripple effects, making a virus CAREER Award, while also
more infectious or resistant to drugs. To preparing students to work on
devise strategies to counter those genetic topics that intersect biology
alterations, researchers can sequence the and engineering.
genome of the organism in question to track
McClean will use the five-year,
down a specific mutation.
$629,896 grant to examine
But differences between cells among a the role of transcription
population can also derive from sources factors, proteins that regulate
other than their DNA, emerging from gene expression by controlling
factors such as the ages of cells or what the transcription of DNA
stage they’re at in the cell cycle. into RNA, in nongenetic
heterogeneity among cells.
And that nongenetic heterogeneity can also
To do so, she’ll study the such as ethanol or pharmaceutical
influence things like disease progression,
influence of engineered, light-activated production. McClean says those are
stress tolerance and drug resistance.
transcription factors in Saccharomyces also examples of the kinds of promising
“We can see this nongenetic heterogeneity, cerevisiae, or brewer’s yeast. It’s an solutions to global challenges that involve
but what causes it is more poorly application of some of the optogenetic a combination of engineering and biology.
understood,” says Associate Professor techniques and technology McClean’s As part of her CAREER project, she plans to
Megan McClean. lab has developed, using yeast as a model create a new advanced cellular engineering
microbe, since she arrived at UW-Madison course for engineering undergraduates who
McClean hopes to illuminate one of
in 2015. are interested in biological applications and
the mechanisms behind nongenetic
graduate students from both engineering
heterogeneity—and how that individual Heterogeneity can also disrupt microbe
and biological disciplines.
variation can affect traits and behaviors at performance in biotechnology applications,
Experimental model of ovarian cancer shows effect
of healthy cell arrangement in metastasis
Ovarian cancer “My lab is very interested in identifying with alignment imperfections, causing the
devastates more than ways to slow metastasis. This study is topological defects.
20,000 women in the exciting, because it demonstrates a unique
The researchers seeded ovarian cancer
United States every role for organization of nontumor cells
cells on top of the mesothelial cell layer and
year, due in part to to either aid or slow that process,” says
compared what effect the arrangement
its tendency to evade Kreeger. “Identifying factors that regulate
of the mesothelial cells had on how the
detection and present this organization could help us to achieve
tumor cells passed through this barrier. The
after metastatic our goal.”
patterns of cell flow were different near the
spread. A key element to slowing metastasis
The group’s model consisted of a single defects, with certain defects causing inward
is understanding the mechanisms of how
layer of healthy cells, called mesothelial cell flow, toward the center of the defect. At
tumor cells invade tissues.
cells, the predominant cell type that covers those locations of inward flow, the cancer
A team led by Professor Pamela Kreeger structures inside the abdomen, where cells passed through the mesothelial barrier
and Jacob Notbohm, an assistant professor ovarian cancer often metastasizes. more slowly.
of engineering physics, explained in the
“A common way to fill space is a In addition to pursuing the impact of
journal APL Bioengineering how microscopic
honeycomb-like packing, in which each ‘cell’ topographical organization in cancer
defects in the way in which healthy cells line
would be nearly spherical,” says Notbohm. cell metastasis, the group is looking
up can alter how easily ovarian cancer cells
“But in our case, the mesothelial cells were to investigate the cause of topological
invade tissue. Using an experimental model,
elongated, making the honeycomb packing defects, with the hopes of finding ways to
where the cellular makeup mimics the lining
not possible.” direct cell patterning in uses such as tissue
of the abdominal cavity, the group found
engineering.
disruptions in the normal cellular layout, Such elongation led to areas of well-
called topological defects, affect the rate ordered cell layers and left other areas —Story by AIP Publishing
of tumor cell invasion.
6
DEPARTMENT NEWS
Faculty News Student News
Associate Professor Associate Graduate student Ilhan Bok received a research
Randolph Ashton and Professor award from the UW-Madison Global Health
three lab members Megan Institute to support his work optimizing magnetic
won the 2020 McClean particle imaging to monitor brain activity.
Wisconsin Alumni and John D.
Graduate students Ashley Hiebing and Kelsey
Research Foundation MacArthur
Tweed earned National Science Foundation
(WARF) Innovation Award contest Professor and Claude Bernard
Graduate Research Fellowships. Recent
for their work using stem cells to Professor David Beebe are using a
graduates Laura Guerrero and Jennifer Leestma
derive improved brain and spinal five-year, $3.8 million grant from
also received fellowships.
cord tissue models. the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases to create a new Undergraduates Ryan Anderson, Thor Larson,
kind of microfluidic system that should Tae Ji Lee, Alex (Ximian) Li, Angelica Lopez,
Associate Professor
reveal new details about the dispersal Samuel Neuman, Tsani Rogers, Ruby Salbego
Kevin Eliceiri was
process in systemic fungal infections. and Anne Wong received Hilldale Fellowships
elected fellow by
McClean also received a WARF to support research projects. Meanwhile,
The Optical Society
Accelerator Microbiome Challenge undergraduates Joshua Andreatta, Emily
for outstanding
Grant for a project to develop a smart Masterson, Shrey Ramesh and Greta Scheidt
research in cellular
probiotic for programming fungal earned Sophomore Research Fellowships.
microenvironment imaging and
bio-image informatics. Eliceiri will members of the microbiome.
help lead an initiative to develop
and advance light sheet microscopy Harvey D. Spangler
technology through a five-year, $1.2 Professor and H.I.
million grant from the Arnold and Romnes Faculty Two more AIMBE fellows
Mabel Beckman Foundation. Fellow William
Murphy received a brings total to 12
Vilas Distinguished UW-Madison Kellett Professor Walter Block and Associate Professor
Professor Shaoqin Mid-Career Award, which supports Kevin Eliceiri were elected to the American
“Sarah” Gong is part of faculty members who are seven to Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s
a UW-Madison team 20 years past their first promotion (AIMBE) prestigious College of Fellows in
developing and testing to a tenured position. February 2021, giving BME 12 faculty members
a new therapy for who have earned the selective honor.
restoring vision in patients with severe Professor Melissa Block received the honor for his work on
visual impairment or blindness due Skala was named magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology
to certain kinds of retinal disorders the Retina Research and techniques, including applying MRI to guide
through a five-year, $7.7 million award Foundation Daniel M. brain therapies. Eliceiri, who also holds the Retina
from the National Eye Institute. Albert Chair through Research Foundation Walter H. Helmerich
the McPherson Eye Research Chair in the McPherson Eye Research
Assistant Professor Research Institute at UW-Madison. Institute, was cited for his research on open-
Aviad Hai earned a source imaging and image analysis tools.
National Institutes of Assistant Professor The AIMBE College of Fellows is made up of the
Health (NIH) Director’s Colleen Witzenburg top 2% of medical and biological engineers. The
New Innovator Award, received a $439,514 other BME members are: John D. MacArthur
which consists of a grant from the National Professor & Claude Bernard Professor David
five-year grant of nearly $2.3 million. Science Foundation Beebe; Peter Tong Department Chair Paul
His project aims to develop injectable, to support her work Campagnola; Vilas Distinguished Professor
wireless electronics that could offer quantifying the spatial variance of Shaoqin “Sarah” Gong; Professor Pamela
a global look at the actual electrical material properties in soft tissues and Kreeger; Associate Professor Kip Ludwig;
activity of the brain, all without the predicting points of failure, specifically Vilas Distinguished Professor and H.I. Romnes
need for surgical procedures. in ventricular tissue after a heart attack. Faculty Fellow Kristyn Masters; Professor Beth
Meyerand; Harvey D. Spangler Professor and H.I.
Vilas Distinguished Assistant Professor Romnes Faculty Fellow William Murphy; Retina
Professor Kristyn Masters Filiz Yesilkoy will use a Research Foundation Daniel M. Albert Chair and
coauthored a commentary Wisconsin Partnership Professor Melissa Skala; and Vilas Distinguished
in the journal Cell calling Program grant to create Achievement Professor Justin Williams.
upon the National a portable antibody
Professors Emeritus Thomas “Rock” Mackie and
Institutes of Health to test that could allow for
Willis Tompkins are also AIMBE Fellows.
address documented disparities in the wider COVID-19 immunity monitoring
agency’s funding of Black researchers. across the state, including in rural and
low-income urban settings.
7
www.engr.wisc.edu/bme
Department of Biomedical Engineering
1550 Engineering Dr., Room 2130
Madison, WI 53706
Up and running
While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted its opening, BME’s
new teaching lab in the Engineering Centers Building is giving
undergraduates like Kristen Schill (right, standing) access to brand-
new equipment, including a motion capture sensor and inground
force plates.
In addition to biomechanics tools, the lab also includes equipment
for tissue engineering applications, such as biosafety cabinets
and fume hoods. Assistant Professor Filiz Yesilkoy will also lead a
new lab course in the space on optics and biophotonics, in which
undergraduates will construct and evaluate a variety of microscopes
and work with nanophotonic and bioanalytical devices.
With the lab’s opening, BME has more than tripled its teaching
lab space and now boasts the kind of multi-use, flexible setup that
allows instructors like PhD student and lecturer Christa Wille (right,
kneeling) to introduce students to new technology and techniques.
Wille teaches a pair of courses, BME 315: Biomechanics and BME
415: Biomechanics of Human Movement, that will use the lab.
BME undergrads like Schill can also access the lab for their design
projects. During the spring 2021 semester, Schill led a team that
designed wearable technology capable of collecting knee data to
inform strategies to prevent anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
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