Announcements

The paper "Vastly Extended Drug Release from Poly(pro-17β-Estradiol) Materials Facilitates in vitro Neurotrophism and Neuroprotection" was published in Nature Communications. The paper is a collaboration between Ryan Gilbert's group in Biomedical Engineering and Ed Palermo's group in Materials Science. The authors are Anthony D'Amato, Devan Puhl, Samuel Ellman, Bailey Balouch, Ryan Gilbert, and Edmund Palermo.

The abstract of the paper is shown below:

Four biomedical engineering students will be honored with Rensselaer's Founders awards. The award recipients are: Jessica L. Funnell, Jonathan Kulwatno, Nicos Prokopiou, and Haokang Zhang The Founders Award of Excellence was established in 1994 to honor students who embody qualities of creativity, discovery, leadership, and the values of pride and responsibility at Rensselaer. The award consists of a special certificate, recognition by faculty, staff, and peers at the Honors Convocation ceremony, and a cash prize.

Xavier Intes has been elected a Fellow of The Optical Society (OSA) by the Board of Directors during their 16 September 2019 meeting in Washington, DC. Since 1959, over 2,500 members have joined the ranks of OSA Fellow. These members have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics through distinguished contributions to education, research, engineering, business and society.

Juergen Hahn, the head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been invited to speak at the next meeting of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST). Hahn also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Joan Llabre, a graduate student in Dr. Deepak Vashisht's lab, has received a 2019 ASBMR Young Investigator Award for her abstract presentation Circadian Rhythm Disruption in Combination with High-Fat Diet alters Glycemic Control and impair Bone Health.

The Rensselaer Board of Trustees has approved Eric Ledet's promotion to the rank of Professor. Eric Ledet joined the Rensselaer faculty in 2005 as an assistant professor and he was promoted to associate professor in 2012. In 2013, Dr. Ledet received the Board of Trustees' Outstanding Teacher Award and in 2015 he was awarded the ISSLS prize by the International Society for Study of the Lumbar Spine and the journal SPINE. Dr. Ledet's laboratory focuses on translational orthopaedic biomechanics and medical device design.

The Graduation reception is held at the Academy Hall Auditorium on May 17, 2019 to celebrate the achievements of the students graduating this year. A total of 95 students are graduating with a BS, 12 with a Masters, and 12 PhDs are awarded. The number of doctoral students receiving degrees is at a record level and the number of BS degree recipients is among the highest that the department has had, reflecting the popularity of the program. In addition to honoring the graduating students, several awards are given: The Paul B. Daitch Memorial Award: Douglas M. Wich The Zelda & David G.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowships were announced today and three current BME graduate students have been selected as winners of the NSF fellowships: - Robert Culibrk (Mariah Hahn's lab) - Jessica Funnell (Ryan Gilbert's lab) - Samuel Stephen (Deepak Vashishth's lab) Not only is receiving three NSF Fellowships the highest number that the department has had in many years, but BME students won half of the NSF GRFPs assigned to the entire institute! This is an excellent reflection of the high quality of students joining the program and the mentoring that they receive. In addition to current g