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In Assistant Professor Xiaocheng Jiang’s lab, understanding and appreciating the complexities of biological systems is essential to engineering improvements for them. “We are going in two major directions,” Jiang says about his lab’s work. “First, we’re looking at how we can design engineering systems to better understand biological processes. Second, we are trying to get some inspirations from biology and develop new materials and approaches for engineering applications.”

Working with undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars in the Tufts University Department of Biomedical Engineering, Jiang is working to help close the gap between biotic and abiotic systems. Integrating these processes could have direct applications in disease diagnostics, brain-machine interfaces, hybrid information processing, and alternative-energy products.

DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

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ENGINEERING BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

Assistant Professor Xiaocheng Jiang and his team work with micro- and nano-technology to uncover the inner workings of biological systems.

Continued on page 3

Assistant Professor Xiaocheng Jiang in his lab.

Photo: Anna Miller

Working with undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars, Jiang is working to help close the gap between biotic and abiotic systems.

IN THIS ISSUE23345667

From the Chair

New Facilities

Quick Hits

Research Highlights

Graduates

BMES 2017

New Faces

On and Off Campus

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solve complex medical challenges via engineering and biology. Similarly, webs of interactions are key to our effectiveness and success as people—from learning together in classes to providing mentorship and advice to others. We benefit from each other at all stages of our lives.

Of particular need is connecting past students with current students in the BME program. We have fostered the growth of our alumni network, thanks to many active graduates engaged in helping current students. We continue to support alumni gatherings, such as our annual Alumni Dinner, and have fostered a more active alumni community through involvement in course lectures for students, in helping to support a BME student award, and in enlisting the BME society student chapter to organize various professional and social events to engage students. By working together at all levels, we can all achieve more than the sum of our parts in support of our students and programs.

Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome to our 2018 newsletter! We’ve had a lot to celebrate here in the Biomedical Engineering Department over the past year, which we will share in the following pages. But rather than summarize our accomplishments and activities here, I would like to take this opportunity to network with you.

It is interesting to reflect on BME as a discipline, which, at its heart, is based on networks: systems integration to

Notables...Associate Professor Lauren Black was elected a Fellow of the American Heart Association in June 2017. He was also named an Associate Editor of the Journal of Immunology and Regenerative Medicine in January 2018, and was awarded the Educational Award from the Americas Chapter of TERMIS.

At the 2017 conference on Novel Optical Materials and Applications, Professor Mark Cronin-Golomb presented research on the mechanics of optically induced photoliquefaction of ionic crystals. He also designed a new Tufts course called Computational Tools for Interface and Control of Biomedical Instrumentation, where students reverse-engineer an advanced product.

The textbook Quantitative Biomedical Optics: Theory, Methods, and Applications, co-authored by Professor Sergio Fantini, received an Honorable Mention at the 2017 Prose Awards in the category “Best Textbook in Physical Sciences and Mathematics.”

The Journal of Biomedical Optics will publish a special section on Pioneers in Biomedical Optics, dedicated to Professor of the Practice Steve Jacques in recognition of his groundbreaking contributions.

Ph.D. candidate Thanh (Will) Le received a Tufts Graduate Student Research Competition prize.

Ph.D. candidate Dimitra Pouli was invited to participate in the 68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting for Young Scientists. She also received the 2017 School of Engineering Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Academic Scholarship at the doctoral level.

Ph.D. students Kristen Tgavalekos and Thao Pham gave invited presentations on coherent hemodynamics spectroscopy (CHS) at SPIE Photonics West, and at OSA Biophotonics Congress: Biomedical Optics. This new technique was developed in the Diffuse Optical Imaging of Tissue (DOIT) Lab to assess and monitor brain perfusion.

Assistant Professor Brian Timko received a Tufts Collaborates grant. He and Professor Eric Miller propose to develop new classes of innervated, engineered cornea tissue with embedded electronics.

UCHU Biosensors, a student team including Daniel Weinstein, E18, and Noah Hill, E20, competed at the annual Tufts Gordon Institute $100K New Ventures Competition and received the Stephen and Geraldine Ricci Interdisciplinary Prize. UCHU Biosensors is developing an intraoral biosensor designed to monitor and manage oral health.

FROM THE CHAIR My message this year is simple: get involved, help each other, and stay connected. We welcome your involvement in our programs; your experiences and wisdom are invaluable to current students and to us, as we continue to move forward, building upon our networks to foster student progress and career success.

I hope to see you at our next Alumni Dinner on Friday, May 18, 2018.

David Kaplan Professor and Chair

BME Reunion BanquetPlease mark your calendars for the seventh annual BME alumni dinner on Friday, May 18, 2018 at the InterContinental Hotel in Boston. Look for emails from BME_Alumni@tufts.edu and check for upcoming details on our alumni page.

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Two research centers affiliated with the Department of Biomedical Engineering and housed in the Science & Engineering Complex launched in 2017.

The Tufts Advanced Microscopic Imaging Center (TAMIC) offers a wide array of optical and spectral quantitative imaging techniques for the chemical and structural characterization of materials at submicron scales. Laser excitation and photodetection schemes are optimized for exogenous and endogenous functional imaging of live cells and tissues. The facility is equipped with two state-of-the-art Leica laser scanning confocal/multiphoton systems (TCS SP8) as well as a confocal Leica TCS SP2 microscope.

All users are invited to attend a one-hour free consultation to discuss specific imaging needs and to test samples on TAMIC’s systems. Learn more about the facility and its hourly rates: go.tufts.edu/TAMIC

The Initiative for Neural Science, Disease & Engineering (INSciDE@Tufts) is an interdisciplinary center with multi-scale focus on brain and peripheral nervous system structure, function, and disease. The goal of the Initiative is to elucidate the molecular pathways and cellular and neural circuit defects that cause neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.

INSciDE integrates bioengineering, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine with technological innovation and therapeutic approaches to unravel the mechanisms of cognition and to uncover cures for neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Learn more: go.tufts.edu/INSciDE. n

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Professor Sergio Fantini was named a member of the 2018 Fellows Class of the Optical Society of America (OSA).

Professor Irene Georgakoudi was named a Senior Member of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.

Professor Fiorenzo Omenetto was selected as one of four new Tällberg Global Leaders for his

work on silk as a material platform for advanced technology.

Associate Professor Qiaobing Xu, working with colleagues in mechanical engineering and medicine, received

a 2017 Tufts Collaborates research grant.

In tackling biological processes through engineering, Jiang’s team has developed a hybrid nano-electronic platform where biocompatible hydrogels are used as interfacing material between solid-state devices and biological systems. Utilizing a custom-built projection stereolithography system, the researchers have observed high-resolution patterning of functional hydrogels on top of various electronic devices. These observations yield greater understanding of molecular and cellular processes.

The Jiang Lab also focuses on finding biological inspiration for engineering processes and applications. Researchers are investigating the behavior of certain bacteria, often found in aquatic sediments, that have the capability to directly transfer electrons from cellular metabolism to external electrodes. In the process, the bacteria convert organic waste into electricity. Studying and understanding these evolutionarily developed charge transport systems, Jiang says, is an important step in engineering these microbes as a “cellular factory,” to generate electroactive biomaterials for applications including alternative energy projects.

A third undertaking in the lab has researchers working on developing core/shell bacteria cables as a one-dimensional model system to investigate biological charge transport across different length scales. With rationally controlled cell microenvironments, the researchers are able to establish an

unambiguous understanding of how the electron transfer occurs in the context of different cellular interactions. At the same time, the researchers are developing approaches to optimizing the growth and electrical properties of these biologically produced nanowires, working towards applications in biosensing and electrophysiological recordings.

Since joining the faculty at Tufts in 2015, Jiang has extensively studied these systems and their biomedical applications—with positive results. He recently received a National Science Foundation CAREER award and an Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Program award for his work. The Jiang Lab has also served as a place for undergraduate students to get involved in the research world at an earlier stage in their academic lives. “We got to look at [Professor Jiang’s] lab in nanobiotechnology class, to see how things worked,” says Lydia Vignale, E20, who has worked in the lab for a year. “He was very open to showing me what research was like.”

Jiang plans to continue working across disciplines and perspectives to better understand cell-level systems and their role in biotechnology, disease detection, cancer treatment, and drug delivery. “We are establishing the platforms,” Jiang says. “From there, we can do more and go further.” n

Engineering Biological Systems Continued from page 1

QUICK HITS

Image captured at TAMIC, showing nerve stem cells and muscle cells, confocal fluorescence (T. Dixon).

NEW FACILITIES

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Understanding Intestinal Health with New 3D ModelProfessor David Kaplan, research associate Ying Chen, and their colleagues built a 3D model of the human small intestine using stem cells. This can help researchers better understand how the

immune system responds to diseases like intestinal cancers, and may help to improve diagnostic methods and drug development.

Kaplan, D., et al. “In vitro enteroid-derived three-dimensional tissue model of human small intestinal epithelium with innate immune responses,” PLoS ONE Vol. 12, no. 11, e0187880, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187880 (2017). n

Imaging Processes for Heart DiseasesAn imaging method studied in the labs of Professor Irene Georgakoudi and Associate Professor Lauren Black may provide a new tool to track the progression of calcific aortic-valve disease. The researchers

tracked the disease progression using two-photon excited fluorescence imaging. This method could have applications for research on breast cancer and other diseases.

Baugh, Lauren M., et al. “Non-destructive two-photon excited fluorescence imaging identifies early nodules in calcific aortic-valve disease,” Nature Biomedical Engineering Vol. 1, 914–924, doi: 10.1038/s41551-017-0152-3 (2017). n

Building Better SilkA group of researchers at Tufts and MIT, including Professor David Kaplan and postdoctoral fellows Chunmei Li and Wenwen Huang, developed a new way to build silk. First, the researchers

partially dissolved natural silk to a state of microfibrils, and then reconstituted and reshaped the fibers.

Ling, S., et al. “Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning,” Nature Communications vol. 8, no. 1387, doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00613-5 (2017). n

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSTools to Detect Metabolic Changes

A team of engineers and biologists, including Professor Irene Georgakoudi and Zhiyi Liu, Dimitra Pouli, Carlo Alonzo, Antoine Varone, and Kyle

Quinn, developed label-free, non-destructive tools to detect metabolic changes linked to disease. The discovery suggests the possibility of non-invasive metabolic monitoring for use in research and development of improved therapeutics.

Liu, Z., et al. “Mapping metabolic changes by noninvasive, multiparametric, high-resolution imaging using endogenous contrast,” Science Advances, vol. 4, doi: 10.1126/sciadv. aap9302 (2018). n

Engineering Genome Editing SystemsA group of Tufts researchers from the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering, led by Associate Professor Qiaobing Xu, published a study of delivery methods of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat-CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR-Cas) systems. Ensuring an effective and safe CRISPR process through its delivery method will be essential in the treatment of a wide range of genetic disease and disorders in a clinical setting.

Xu, Q., et al. “Engineering the Delivery System for CRISPR-Based Genome Editing,” Trends in Biotechnology, vol. 36, Issue 2, 173 – 185. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.11.006 (2017). n

Tooth-Mounted SensorsTufts biomedical engineers developed a sensor with a mere 2mm x 2mm footprint that can flexibly conform and bond to the irregular surface of a tooth, and can track what a person eats.

The wireless real-time monitoring could add precision to the linkage between diet and health.

Tseng, P., et al. “Functional, RF-trilayer sensors for tooth-mounted, wireless monitoring of the oral cavity and food consumption,” Advanced Materials, doi: 10.1002/adma.201703257 (2018). n

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRADUATES

Bachelor of Science in Biomedical EngineeringAlan Bartels

David Bernstein

Elizabeth Billings

Alison Brack

Alexander Curtiss

Anas Hamad

Luke Hanley

Gary Li

Viktor Maciag

Arin Naidu

Grant Pemberton

Rosemary Soucy

April Truong

Stephen Wong

Master of EngineeringSiran Cao Matthew Lee

Master of ScienceThomas Fernandez

Blake Hotz

Nona Khadivi Nia Javan

Gita Kiaee

Gary Li

Prudence Li

Namitha Mandayam-Krishnakumar

Manahil Naqvi

Caleb Neufield

Robert Trout

Doctoral RecipientsAyhan Atmanli Multiplex analysis of gene expression in individual living Advisor: Lauren Black

Siran Wang 3D neuronal innervated corneal tissue model Advisor: David Kaplan

Keep in Touch1. E-mail BME_Alumni@tufts.edu

with your news, stories, and updated contact information. If you’re not receiving e-mails from us, please let us know!

2. Join our graduate and undergraduate LinkedIn groups.

3. Visit the Tufts Online Community: tuftsalumni.org/olc.

4. Our Alumni Group is looking for volunteers to help plan and host networking events and activities, and to mentor current students. For more information, contact Nick Bayhi at nick.bayhi@gmail.com or Yuki Ito at yito16@gmail.com.

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In 2017, the Tufts BMES executive board focused on developing new prospective events and opportunities for students to network and socialize. If you are interested in learning more, or want to get involved with BMES, email bmestufts@gmail.com or visit sites.tufts.edu/BMES.

NEW FACES

BMES 2017The department was well represented at this year’s Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting, held October 12–14 in Phoenix, Arizona. Professors Black, Jiang, Kaplan, and Xu attended and a number of graduate students and postdocs presented their work  in both poster and platform presentations. Looking forward to another strong Tufts contingent in Atlanta for the Society’s 50th anniversary next fall! 

Platform PresentationsLauren Baugh (PI: Black): Two-Photon Excited Fluorescence Imaging of Heart Valves Non-Invasively Identifies Calcific Nodules 

Olga Liaudanskaya (PI: Kaplan): In Vitro Model for Traumatic Brain Injuries 

Nicole Raia (PI: Kaplan): An In Vitro Model for Injectable Silk-HA Hydrogels to Prevent Preterm Birth 

Whitney Stoppel (PIs: Black and Kaplan): Extracellular Matrix Composition Impacts Regenerative Potential and Immune Response in 3D Grafts Designed for Cardiac Tissue Engineering 

Poster Presentations Breanna Duffy (PI: Black): The Development of Spatially Heterogeneous Silk-cECM Scaffolds for Use as 3D In Vitro Models of the Interaction Between Stem Cells and Infarcted Myocardium

Jonathan Grasman (PI: Kaplan): 3D Model System to Study the Interactions between Neural and Vascular Networks 

Yamin Li (PI: Xu): Efficient Intracellular Gene Therapeutics Delivery Using Biodegradable Lipid-Like Nanoparticles 

Siwei Zhao (PI: Kaplan): Transparent and Stretchable Hydrogel Ionic Circuit Materials for Localized Electrical Stimulation in Aqueous Environments n

Steve JacquesSteve Jacques joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering as a professor of the practice in 2017. He

has worked in the field of photomedicine for over thirty years, focusing on novel optical imaging methods for biomedical research and clinical care. Jacques has developed many tools for biomedical research, including the hand-held bilirubin spectrometer, designed to draw blood from the heels of infants without causing pain. He received a doctorate in biophysics and medical physics and a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a B.S. in biology from MIT.

Thomas NielandThomas Nieland joined the department in 2017 as a research associate professor. His research focuses on developing novel

tissue engineering approaches to elucidate the molecular pathways and cellular and neural circuit defects that cause psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. He has published over 25 manuscripts in journals including Cell, Science, and Nature, and received grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense, and other organizations. He received a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from VU University of Amsterdam and a master’s degree in biology from the University of Leiden.

Madeleine OudinMadeleine Oudin joined the department as an assistant professor in 2018. Her graduate research focused on

understanding the interplay between multiple signaling pathways in driving neuronal cell migration in response to growth factors during adult neurogenesis. Following the completion of her Ph.D. from King’s College London, she completed postdoctoral studies at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. There, she investigated the process of cancer metastasis to understand what tumor cells are likely to metastasize, what pathways render them highly invasive and sensitive to local guidance cues, and how the presence of highly metastatic cells might affect response to therapy.

Associate Professor Black and Ph.D. candidate Lauren Baugh presented at the 2017 BMES.

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ON AND OFF CAMPUSResearch Scholars—TUBERSThis past summer was the sixth year of the Tufts University Biomedical Engineering Research Scholars (TUBERS) Program. Twenty rising juniors or seniors at local high schools were selected and invited to come to the Science and Technology Center for eight weeks over the summer, to gain hands-on laboratory experience. Students were assigned to work with a grad student or postdoc in one of the faculty members’ labs and were encouraged to work on their own independent project.

In addition to gaining lab experience, students in the program also received greater exposure to the department’s work through bi-weekly presentations by each faculty member on their lab’s research. The summer culminated in a poster presentation session where TUBERS students presented their summer work to members of the department as well as family, friends, and their high school science teachers. Several students went on to continue their work for use as their state science fair project, and a few students were able to qualify for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

While the local Boston area was well represented by the students, the program also had significant representation from other locations in the U.S. as well as several international students. We are always seeking to expand the program. If you have any suggestions of interested schools or students, please email Professor Black at lauren.black@tufts.edu. n

Innovation and Public PolicyIn April 2018, the department hosted a lecture by Milan P. Yager, executive director of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and long-time Washington lobbyist. The topic of his talk was “The Science of Failed Public Policy: Why Congress Doesn’t Fund Medical Innovation.” Yager provided strategies for building the political case on why it’s important to support innovation, and discussed how that support could be the key to changing the landscape of new biomedical materials, products, and procedures. Read more: go.tufts.edu/yager. n

Cooperative Education Pilot ProgramThe Department of Biomedical Engineering, in collaboration with the School of Engineering and other entities within the university, is in the process of exploring the adoption of a cooperative education model for students in the undergraduate program beginning in January 2019. The program, focused on providing on-the-job experiences for undergraduates interested in learning more about career opportunities in biomedical sciences, will create opportunities for students to network with and learn new skills from working professionals. n

Some of the students who participated in the program this past summer, with Associate Professor Lauren Black.

Presenting Graduate Research Rotimi Bolonduro presented at the 2017 Tufts Graduate Research Symposium, describing his approach for developing new classes of vascularized, nanocomposite scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering. n

BME RetreatThe 2017 BME retreat took place at Endicott College in Beverly, MA on September 15, 2017. Over 100 faculty, staff, and graduate students attended for a day-long research retreat, featuring presentations and social activities. n

A team of researchers including Ph.D. candidate Dimitra Pouli and Professor Irene Georgakoudi submitted a winning image to the BioArt competition organized by the Foundation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). The team’s image, “White fat cells in a mouse,” was based on their research into fat metabolism, and was taken in the new Tufts Advanced Microscopic Imaging Center (TAMIC). They used specialized technology that incorporated light and vibrations into the imaging process, called Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS). Read more: go.tufts.edu/bioart

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