BioMEDICAL ENgineering Research and Design
Undergraduate Research Options
Biomedical Engineering students are required to complete at least one semester of an independent research project with a design components, and two courses are recommended. Students may register for EN 195/196 or BI 195/196 depending on the departmental affiliation of their faculty mentor. (Two semesters are required for students applying for honors). Many students begin research in their third year and some spend the summer between 3rd and 4th year on a UTRA program in one of several labs which can accommodate summer research projects.
Faculty with laboratory projects appropriate for biomedical engineering include the following:
Professor Kenneth Breuer - Fluid Dynamics, with applications (among others) in biological and biomedical fluid systems. Experiments on the mechanics of bacterial motility, bacterial flagella, the use of bacteria in engineered systems. Design, modeling and performance of microfluidic biochips and microfluidic mixers. Properties of biological fluids. Aerodynamics of bats. Contact: Kenneth_Breuer@Brown.edu.
Professor Joseph (Trey) Cricso III - Research is in the field of orthopedic biomechanics and sports injury prevention. Advanced image processing is used to study joint mechanics in vivo. Mechanical properties of other joints, such as the spine, and its medical instrumentation. Mechanisms in sports injury and prevention with protective equipment. Two to four undergraduate students per year. Students interested in the 5-year Masters program need to contact Professor Crisco by the end of their junior year. Contact: Joseph_Crisco@Brown.EDU. Webpage: www.BrownBiomechanics.org.
Professor Diane Hoffman-Kim - Research goal is to elucidate cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie nerve regeneration, through synthesis and analysis of in vitro systems that closely approximate the in vivo tissue organization. Group uses micropatterning and laser-based techniques to create nervous tissue analogs with high degrees of control over cell position and molecular function. Three new undergraduate researchers per year. Contact: Diane_Hoffman-Kim@brown.edu. Room 387 Biomed Center. See webpage at http://bms.brown.edu/faculty/h/dhkim/
Professor Benjamin Kimia - Medical Imaging analysis is becoming increasingly more important due to an increase in the volume, accuracy, resolution, reliability and the number of readily available imaging modalites, such as MR, CT, US, PET, SPECT, etc. Our laboratory is actively engaged in a number of problems including, segmentation, registration, visualization, image reconstruction and computational atlases. Two or three undergraduates typically per year, especially as summer students. Contact kimia@lems.brown.edu and check www.lems.brown.edu/vision/.
Professor Michael Lysaght - Two tissue engineering projects involving the use of encapsulated cells for improvement of existing therapeutic approaches to renal failure, diabetes, and muscoskeletal disorders. Two to three undergraduates per year. Contact Lysaght@brown.edu
Professor Edith Mathiowitz - A broad range of research programs centered on polymeric biomaterials, drug and gene delivery, and controlled release of growth factors for bioengineering implants. Vascular graft and tissue engineering via recruiting stem cells. Roughly ten graduate students each of whom work with one to two undergraduate student research projects. Contact: Edith_Mathiowitz@Brown.EDU, or simply go to the labs.
Professor Jeffrey Morgan - Research in the areas of tissue engineering and gene therapy seeking to enhance tissue function via genetic modification. Also using microfabrication as a tool to investigate the influence of surface topography on cell and tissue function. 3rd floor Biomed Bld. 2-3 undergraduate researchers per year, prefer students interested in working the summer months prior to their independent study year. Contact Jeff_Morgan@Brown.edu. See webpage at http://bms.brown.edu/faculty/m/jmorgan/
Professor Tayhas Palmore - Research focused on design and fabrication of operational bioelectronic devices and control of biomaterials self assembly. Ongoing research projects include genetically engineered oxidoreductases for electrocatalytic applications; biologic surface modification, synthesis and characterization of biocomposites; and fabrication of microfluidic biofuel cells using soft lithography. Two to four undergraduate positions per year. Contact: Tayhas_Palmore@Brown.edu.
Professor Tom Powers - Molecular and cellular biomechanics; soft matter. Experiments: scale models for bacterial motility. Theory and computation: low Re fluid mechanics, elasticity and statistical mechanics of membranes and polymers, pattern formation and the mechanics of growth. Approximately one undergraduate student per year. Contact: Thomas_Powers@brown.edu, Barus and Holley, Room 733. See: http://www.engin.brown.edu/faculty/powers/index.htm
Professor Sharon Swartz - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Research interests in application of engineering principles and approaches to understanding evolution of the musculoskeletal system and biomimetics, with special attention to structural design for animal flight and bone biomechanics. Two to four undergraduate researchers per year. Office: Room 206, Biomedical Center, 863-1582; Lab: Room 191 Biomedical Center, 863-3549; website: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/EEB/EML/home/ Contact: sharon_swartz@brown.edu.
Professor Jay Tang - Protein and cell biophysics lab explores physical properties of self-assembled protein filaments, filamentous phages, swimming bacteria and adherent cells. Techniques available include single filament imaging, polarization optics, atomic force microscopy (AFM), light scattering and electrophoretic mobility measurements. One particular research aspect addresses the effect of solution electrostatics on microrheological properties of human airway secretion, especially that from the cystic fibrosis patients. Lab at Barus and Holley 409 hosts 2-3 new undergraduate researchers per year. Contact: Jay_Tang@brown.edu. See also: http://biophysics.physics.brown.edu.
Professor Anubhav Tripathi - An active research program interfaces between Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering. The specific applications geared towards translational research and global health.
Research Thrusts: 1) Understanding chemical and biological processes in microgeometries; 2) Novel microfluidic routes for disease detection and diagnostics 3) Novel separation methods for biomolecular identification
4) Transport properties of biomolecular and complex fluids. Contact: Anubhav_Tripathi@brown.edu.
