Department of Bioengineering Annual Report 2021

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & COMPUTING, DEPARTMENT OF

2021 ANNUAL REPORT

I

years of innovation TABLE OF CONTENTS

Remembering Michael Buschmann................................................................................ 3 RESEARCH IMPACT.......................................................................................................... 4

Mason Researchers Study Risk Factors of Brain Aneurysm.......................................... 7 NIH Grants Lead to New Understanding of Aneurysms................................................. 9 Bioengineering Research Featured in Scientific Journal Nature.................................. 10 Bioengineers and Biologists Team Up to Battle Cancer Cells..................................... 13 All Eyes on Machine Learning...................................................................................... 14 Multi-disciplinary Teams Develop Non-invasive Tools................................................. 17 Mason Bioengineering Team Creates Startup AexeRNA Therapeutics....................... 18 List of Grants................................................................................................................. 21 EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES............................................................................................ 23

New Teaching Lab in Tissue Engineering (Cell Culture).............................................. 24 Trainee Program Crosses Boundaries to Offer Diverse Learning................................ 24 Solving Medical Problems Through Clinical Immersion............................................... 26 Bioengineering Student Wins Prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship...................... 27 2021 Katona Scholarship Recipient Awarded.............................................................. 28 OUTSTANDING FACULTY ................................................................................................ 29

From Google X to Mason’s New ImPoWer Lab............................................................. 30 K99 Recipient Brings Neuroengineering Research to Mason...................................... 30 Department Celebrates a Decade of Achievement ..................................................... 33 Primary Faculty............................................................................................................. 34 Department Staff........................................................................................................... 35 Alliance Members......................................................................................................... 35

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Remembering Michael Buschmann The George Mason University

Buschmann came to Mason with

Michael Buschmann, as a brilliant

a bioengineering professor in

community remembers our chair,

mind and translational researcher with a gentle spirit and a burning love for jazz.

Buschmann, who passed away in early March, had been an

Eminent Scholar and the Chair of the Bioengineering Department within Mason’s College of

Engineering and Computing since his arrival at Mason in 2017.

“In 2017, the department was

only in its fifth year of existence,” recalled Ken Ball, the dean of

the College of Engineering and Computing. “While it got off

to a successful start, it was a

young department that needed a

strong and well-respected leader to take it to the next level and to build its research program

commensurate with that of an

R1 research university. Mike did

exactly what we had hoped—he

Computing, after having spent

the previous 20 years at École Polytechnique in Montreal.

Professor Siddhartha Sikdar remembers Buschmann as a

beloved colleague, friend, and mentor. “Mike was a dynamic

and visionary leader who was an inspiration to everyone around

him,” says Sikdar. “He had a unique

technology would make mRNA

vaccines less costly, with fewer side effects, and more readily available worldwide.

“Mike was a true intellectual,” said Ball, who also remembered Buschmann for being an outstanding mentor for many junior faculty and students alike.

“There are many very intelligent people in academia, but Mike had a brilliant mind. He was able to see connections between different research topics and results that were not apparent to almost every other researcher.”

But it was not all work with

at the same time. In less than five

departmental culture led him to

be incredibly efficient and inclusive years, he led a complete overhaul

of the BS, MS, and PhD programs, assembled a highly engaged

external advisory community (the

Alliance), recruited four outstanding new faculty members, and started

many other exciting initiatives both

within the department as well as at the university level.”

collaboration and collegiality within

recently, he had formed the start-

teaching at the forefront.”

applications to the company. The

leadership style and managed to

But it was his passion for research

the department, with students and

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the College of Engineering and

established a strong research

culture while building a high level of

Michael Buschmann (back row third from right) with his team and scientific collaborators have developed improved technology that could help make COVID-19 vaccines better and more readily available.

his wife, Caroline Hoemann,

the commercial rights of four patent

that drove Buschmann most. Most up AexeRNA Therapeutics Inc.,

him. His interest in forming a

start monthly happy hours that

brought the bioengineering faculty and staff closer together. These happy hours continued virtually during the pandemic and were critical in maintaining morale.

“As well as being a brilliant

researcher, Mike was a jazz

aficionado, a wine connoisseur

and a passionate hockey fan. His impact will be felt for many years

to come. He will be sorely missed,” says Sikdar.

in partnership with the university’s

This annual report is a tribute to

He and his team had licensed

this annual report to him.

Office of Technology Transfer.

Mike’s life and work. We dedicate

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Research Impact

Our faculty make an impact through publications in high-quality journals, and they translate their findings and technologies to clinicians and commercialization partners.

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The localized enlargement of arteries in the brain, known as cerebral aneurysms, can have devastating consequences.

Professor Juan Cebral and his

Mason Researchers Study Risk Factors of Brain Aneurysms

team are studying major risk factors

Mason faculty are also working with

an aneurysm and whether a bleb

for aneurysms and how to identify

Cebral, including Martin Slawaski

has a thick or thin wall could help

high-risk patients who need prompt

from the College of Engineering

determine the condition’s severity.

and aggressive treatments.

and Computing, Rainald Lohner from the College of Science,

“The conclusion here is that not

This study, funded by the National

and Fernando Mut from the

all blebs are the same: Some

Institute of Neurological Disorders

Computational Hemodynamics

are more dangerous than others,

and Stroke, includes clinical

Lab, which Cebral leads.

and flow conditions may help us

and research investigators from

recognize which aneurysms need

the University of Pittsburgh,

Cebral and his team are

Northwell Hospital in New York,

specifically focusing on

Allegheny General Hospital, the

aneurysms with blebs, which

Cebral is hopeful that the research

University of Illinois at Chicago

are secondary swellings found

findings contribute to progression

Medical Center, Helsinki University

in weakened sections of the

in how aneurysms and blebs are

Hospital, Tampere University

aneurysm walls. Tearing of the

currently evaluated and treated.

Hospital in Finland, Inova Fairfax

wall, or a rupture, is more likely

Hospital, Jikei University, and

to occur when blebs are present.

“Our goal is to help identify patients

Geneva University Hospital. These

These ruptures cause cerebral

who need rapid treatment and

collaborators have assembled a

hemorrhages, leading to serious

those whose diagnosis may not

database of approximately 3,000

health complications or death.

be as threatening,” says Cebral.

aneurysms and have recently

immediate treatment.”

“Understanding that not all

published three articles that have

The research team found two

aneurysms and blebs are the same

led to continued support from the

notable clinical characteristics

is important because we should not

National Institutes of Health.

among patients diagnosed with

assign the same risk level or care

brain aneurysms: patients with

plans to all patients.

blebs are more likely to have dental problems, such as periodontitis and other dental infections, and women who are undergoing hormone replacement therapy tend to have Professor Juan Cebral is hopeful that his research findings will contribute to progression in how aneurysms and blebs are evaluated and treated.

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fewer blebs. They also discovered that the way the blood flows inside 7

NIH Grants Lead to New Understanding of Aneurysms

wall, their potential link to bacterial infiltration through dental infections, and how these sub-structures affect the vulnerability of the aneurysm and its propensity to rupture.

Juan R. Cebral also received another $2.9 million grant. Entitled “Bridging the Gap from Hemodynamic Stress to Intracranial Aneurysm Instability,” this project uses a novel technology developed at the University of

A team led by Juan R. Cebral and

California, Los Angeles, to study

Anne M. Robertson (University

the responses of endothelial cells

of Pittsburgh) was awarded a $3.1

to adverse hemodynamic flow

million grant from the National

conditions in cerebral aneurysms.

Institute of Neurological Disorders

This method uses in-vitro patient-

and Stroke of the National Institutes

specific vascular models combined

of Health. “Improving Cerebral

with in-silico models and clinical

Aneurysm Risk Assessment

and tissue data.

through Understanding Wall Vulnerability and Failure Modes” that focuses on understanding the formation of blebs or secondary outpouchings in the aneurysm

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authored by bioengineering Professor Giorgio Ascoli appeared as the cover articles in the first issue of the October 2021 edition of the scientific journal Nature.

of the motor cortex—the area of

for movement in the mammalian

the mammalian brain that controls

brain. In this study, Ascoli is the

The thrust of Ascoli’s research

movement. The publication is the

first senior corresponding author

involves developing technologies

initial product of the Brain Initiative

of a large collaborative team that

and models to investigate neural

Cell Census Network (BICCN).

includes Mason doctoral graduate

circuits from molecular to whole-

BRAIN CENSUS

A comprehensive cell atlas of the mammalian motor cortex City heat Urban governance must account for rising temperatures

Contrast adjustment Plasmonic microscope slides add colour to tissue samples

Accessible science Reflections on how to make research and results more inclusive

Vol. 598, No. 7879 nature.com

Two research publications

Bioengineering Research Featured in Scientific Journal Nature

The international journal of science / 7 October 2021

Manju Attili (now a lead data

brain scales. These technologies

“The overarching goal of the

scientist at MITRE Corporation),

have implications for a better

BICCN is to leverage these

Research Associate Professor

understanding of brain functions

technologies to generate an

Diek Wheeler, and colleagues

and brain diseases.

open-access reference brain cell

from Massachusetts Institute of

atlas that integrates molecular,

Technology, the University of

“The brain is the most complex

spatial, morphological,

Pennsylvania, Duke University, and

object in the universe; it’s the seat

connectional, and functional

the University of California, Los

of our inner lives and by far the

data for describing cell types in

Angeles, among other institutions.

most intelligent machine we know.

mouse, human, and non-human

Mapping all cell types in the brain

primates,” says Ascoli.

amounts to establishing a ‘parts

Bioengineering department chair Michael Buschmann predicted

list’ which is an essential step in

Much like a population census

even more innovative applications

reverse-engineering the functional

that defines the characteristics

for the research. “The molecular

circuit blueprint,” says Ascoli.

of a group of people and informs

and anatomical neuron atlas of

decisions, cell census information

the motor cortex that Giorgio and

The Nature article, “A multi-

aligned across species will be

colleagues assembled provides

modal cell census and atlas of

valuable for making rational choices

a rigorous ground zero for a

the mammalian primary motor

about the best models for each

myriad of applications in brain-

cortex,” discusses the methods

disease and therapeutic targets.

machine interfaces, biologically-

and techniques used to generate

inspired robotic controllers,

a systematic, multi-modal strategy

The companion article “Cellular

active prosthetics, and artificial

that can be extended to the whole

anatomy of the mouse primary

intelligence.”

brain. The article reports on the

motor cortex” characterizes, in

creation of a cell census and atlas

detail, the connectivity architecture of the network of nerve cells making up the command center

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Two of Professor Giorgio Ascoli’s research publications appeared as the cover articles in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.

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questions that need to be answered

Bioengineers and Biologists Team Up to Battle Cancer Cells

these engineering solutions.

On the biology side, Veneziano and

are trying to target, and use

protein’s complex. When a body

rigid nanoscale objects that would

Bioengineers—like Remi

Veneziano—find solutions to some of the world’s grand problems. But sometimes, it takes collaboration with scientists to investigate the to properly apply and maximize

Veneziano, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computing, is partnering with

Amanda Haymond, a research

assistant professor in the School

of Systems Biology, to apply DNA nanotechnology to create a drug

that boosts the immune response to fight breast cancer.

Haymond are targeting a specific is infected with cancer, a protein

called IL-33 will signal the immune system to flood the cancerous

area with immune cells to combat cancer and stop further damage.

Molecular Modalities Comprised of DNA-Origami and Interfering

a grant of nearly $530,000 from the National Institutes of Health’s Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies program, which funds explicitly creative technologies for cancer

detection or treatment. “There are two big things we are trying to do

with this work, one is to answer a

biological question, and the other is to provide a proof of concept for a

new drug modality,” says Haymond.

organization as the protein to

target multiple sites of the protein simultaneously,” says Veneziano.

The drugs they are developing,

33 can recruit a number of other

that will prevent the proteins from

cancer context, the flood of IL-

are activated by binding to IL-33 and tamp down on the immune response,” says Haymond.

Peptides as Inhibitors of ProteinProtein Interactions” received

have the same dimensions and

“However, in a chronic inflammatory

cell types, including MDSCs, that Their work entitled “New Hybrid

DNA nanotechnology to build

The influx of suppressive immune cells can be detrimental as the

body stops fighting the cancer.

In addition, the protein structure

created from the interaction of IL-33 and MDSCs is quite large, which makes it difficult to target with

conventional small molecule drugs.

This is where Veneziano’s work

in DNA nanotechnology comes in.

“With the technology we are

developing, instead of testing multiple drug combinations

therefore, will act as adaptors

interacting together. Veneziano’s

nanotechnology research makes it

possible to precisely target multiple

sites on these proteins concurrently to increase the success of their

drug. So, instead of using three

separate drugs that possibly won’t

work in tandem properly to prevent this immune response, Haymond and Veneziano are developing a

new drug modality that is designed with the exact target in mind.

Veneziano is hopeful that this process could be completely

automated, making it easier to target certain proteins to combat different types of cancer and diseases.

for efficiency, we can take into consideration the structural

parameters of the protein we 12

Assistant Professor Remi Veneziano uses DNA nanotechnology to combat different types of cancer and diseases.

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Associate Professor Qi Wei is helping to develop a data-driven computer model of the eye for diagnosing and treating strabismus.

The human eye may soon see faster diagnosis with machine learning, or AI. Through algorithms, AI can potentially assess eye alignment problems quickly, resulting in better treatment of

All Eyes on Machine Learning There is also the chance of error

double vision.

with AI, and a diagnosis that’s not perfectly accurate.

This is a recent finding from a $1.8 million research grant funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The use of machine learning was

Qi Wei, an associate professor in

further demonstrated at the annual

the Department of Bioengineering

American Association for Pediatric

at George Mason University, is

Opthamology and Strabismus

one of four principal investigators

conference in March in Scottsdale,

researching treatments for

Arizona. Along with Wei, Joseph

strabismus and double vision

Although there is promise, it’s not

Demer, professor of pediatric

through the grant.

necessarily an easy or immediate

ophthalmology and professor

fix, says Wei. Usually, machine

of neurology at the University

Wei is helping to develop a data-

learning models work better when

of California, Los Angeles

driven computer model of the

trained by more data. MRI is still the

participated in a diagnostic show-

eye for diagnosing and treating

gold standard to confirm specific

down where patient strabismus

strabismus. Applying machine

causes of strabismus, but this

cases were presented. Over 100

learning is an exciting new

evaluation is not routinely obtained

ophthalmologists from around the

development, she says.

in most strabismic patients.

world were invited to compare their diagnosis to the AI diagnosis

“From an engineering perspective,

“When it comes to imaging,

in real time. Then the true reveal

the use of machine learning

most eye doctors do not

from a high-performance MRI scan

leverages and integrates data on

prescribe MRI for their patients

was disclosed.

a higher level,” says Wei. “It could

before strabismus surgery,

become a tool or platform to help

sometimes because of the cost

“We hope this was a fun and

physicians diagnose eye problems.”

of the imaging,” says Wei. “While

hands-on approach to test the AI

the machine learning method for

theory and receive feedback from

interpreting office measurements

experts in the field,” says Wei.

of eye alignment is not expensive, the MRI machine is.”

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Associate Professor of

bioengineering Parag Chitnis’ recent grants seem unrelated,

but they share a common theme.

Chitnis leads multidisciplinary

teams that create non-invasive

technologies for imaging, sensing, and modulating physiological

Multi-disciplinary Teams Develop Non-invasive Tools

function. Two of Chitnis’ latest

Ultimately, techniques developed

Once again, the technology

of the latest advances in the field.

studies that will provide insights

studying brain activity, it seeks

In the first grant, Chitnis,

neurodegenerative diseases.

Cressman received $498,000 from

The second grant entitled “Training

grants span the depth and breadth

Remi Veneziano, and John R.

the National Science Foundation’s Biophotonics program. The grant entitled “New class of DNA-

templated near-infrared voltagereporter for deep-brain imaging”

will allow scientists to study mouse and rat brains at the cellular level without damaging or injuring the brain tissue of the animals.

in this research will lead to new into neurological function and

and recovery augmented with ultrasound myography and

assessment (TRAUMA) using a flexible ultrasound-imaging

patch” aims to develop innovative

flexible ultrasound transducers that are powered using miniaturized

electronics for dynamic imaging

of muscle function during physical

activity and rehabilitation exercises.

The project will develop novel DNA-

In this grant, Chitnis and his

with near-infrared dyes that change

Sikdar, from the Department of

changes in cell-membrane voltage.

from the Mechanical Engineering

rodent brains, these nanoparticles

from DoD’s RESTORE program to

of neuronal signaling in deep-

of biomedical ultrasound,

critical gap in current technology.

and machine learning that aims to

based nanoparticles integrated

team of Qi Wei, Siddhartha

their color spectrum in response to

Bioengineering, and Pilgyu Kang

Chitnis says that when delivered to

Department received a $499K

will enable noninvasive imaging

fund the work at the intersection

brain structures, which is a

biomechanics, material sciences,

is non-invasive, but instead of

to observe and measure muscle

function and recovery while people are performing various activities.

“The technology has many applications,” says Chitnis, “the bio-feedback provided by these sensors can help improve rehabilitation therapy for stroke patients, it can also aid in recovery of military personnel or athletes after they suffer from musculoskeletal injury or improve physical performance.”

develop a new class of wearable ultrasound patches.

Associate Professor Parag Chitnis leads multidisciplinary teams that create non-invasive technologies for imaging, sensing, and modulating physiological function. Two of Chitnis’ latest grants span the depth and breadth of the advances in the field.

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Mason Bioengineering Team Creates Startup AexeRNA Therapeutics George Mason University

company. The patents address

Buschmann and a team of

related to novel lipid molecules

bioengineering Professor Michael scientific collaborators have

devised improved lipid nanoparticle technologies to deliver mRNA that could make mRNA vaccines such as the COVID-19 vaccines less costly, with fewer side-effects,

and more available worldwide.

Vaccines with mRNA use lipid

nanoparticles (LNPs) to protect the mRNA and facilitate the

immune system’s response to

protect people against infection

by viruses. This technology has

flattened the COVID-19 curve in Western industrialized nations,

but the vaccine will need to evolve to reduce side effects and permit

worldwide vaccination to eradicate the disease.

Working with Mason’s Office of

Tech Transfer (OTT) to form the start-up AexeRNA Therapeutics Inc., Buschmann and his team

have licensed the commercial rights of four patent applications to the

two major LNP technology issues and novel methods of LNP manufacturing.

“Our solutions seek to make the

vaccine more efficient, less costly, and decrease its adverse effects,” said Buschmann, the chair of the

marketplace,” said Hina Mehta, former director of the office.

The investigators see tremendous

potential for mRNA and vaccines as they may hold the keys to unlocking the technology to fight variants of

COVID, influenza, HIV, and many other viral pathogens.

Bioengineering Department within

Buschmann, Mikell Paige from

and Computing.

and Biochemistry within Mason’s

Mason’s College of Engineering

By modifying the structure and composition of the LNPs, the researchers were able to make the vaccine more efficient, less toxic, and easier to make,

the Department of Chemistry

College of Science, and Drew

Weissman, Professor of Medicine

at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania are the scientific founders of the

spin-off. The group also includes

They look forward to now sharing

associate Suman Alishetty,

fight against a global pandemic that has killed millions of people around the world. The current success of mRNA vaccines also paves the way for their use in many other infectious diseases.

A team led by Professor and Chair of the Department of Bioengineering, Michael Buschmann, was awarded a $1.5 MILLION grant from Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. The grant, entitled “Manufacturing and Characterization of Potent mRNA Lipid Nanoparticle Vaccines at Multiple Scales,” increases the delivery efficiency of mRNA. In the project, the team plans to develop and test these methods at several manufacturing scales.

aexeRNA

a quantum leap for mRNA therapeutics

Mason-University of Pennsylvania

handle, and distribute.

their discovery and helping in the

$1.5M Food and Drug Administration Grant Expands mRNA Capabilities

Mason postdoctoral research

PhD student Manuel Carrasco, University of Pennsylvania

postdoctoral research associate

Mohamad Alameh, and venture

capitalist and intellectual property lawyer Thomas Axel Haag.

“OTT ensures the protection of the

intellectual property and works with start-ups like AexeRNA to bring the scientific discoveries to the

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List of Grants

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PI

Title

Sponsor

Ascoli, Giorgio

Cytoskeletal Shape Develop

Ascoli, Giorgio

Award Amount

Start Date

End Date

Georgia State University

7/1/19

6/30/24

$372,231

Neuronal Morphology Renewal

US Department of Health and Human Services

5/1/20

4/30/25

$737,900

Ascoli, Giorgio

Cell Types of Mouse Brain

University of California at Los Angeles

7/15/20

5/31/22

$985,066

Ascoli, Giorgio

Neuronal Projections

US Department of Health and Human Services

9/15/21

9/14/24

$1,287,090

Bray, Laurence

Life Stem Eager

National Science Foundation

9/1/18

7/31/21

$299,951

Buschmann, Michael

Clinical Immersion

US Department of Health and Human Services

8/19/20

5/31/25

$43,200

Buschmann, Michael

Clinical Immersion/PS

US Department of Health and Human Services

8/19/20

5/31/25

$36,000

Buschmann, Michael

Manufacturing mRNA LNP Vaccines

Food and Drug Administration

9/15/21

8/31/24

$498,998

Buschmann, Michael

Lipid Nanoparticle Development

AexeRNA Therapeutics, LLC

8/1/21

7/31/22

$250,000

Cebral, Juan Raul

ComputationFlowDiverYear10

Mayo Clinic

9/1/20

8/31/21

$115,000

Cebral, Juan Raul

Cerebral Aneurysm Risk

University Of Pittsburgh

5/2/21

4/30/26

$164,490

Cebral, Juan Raul

Cerebral Aneurysms

Philips Medical Systems North America

10/1/13

11/30/21

$50,000

Cebral, Juan Raul

Neuroscience Aneurysm Research

George Mason Univ Foundation

3/15/18

3/14/22

$101,000

Cebral, Juan Raul

Bridging the Gap

University of California at Los Angeles

7/1/21

4/30/22

$85,283

Chitnis, Parag

TRAUMAS Ultrasound

Columbia University

2/21/20

6/20/22

$548,051

Chitnis, Parag

Ultrasound Imaging Patch

Department of Defense

3/15/21

3/14/24

$499,977

Chitnis, Parag

Deep-Brain Imaging

National Science Foundation

9/1/21

8/31/24

$498,166

Chitnis, Parag

CASBBI Summer

George Mason University

6/1/19

6/30/21

$5,000

Chitnis, Parag

Muscle Injury and Recovery

Inova Healthcare

7/1/19

12/31/22

$87,558

Sikdar, Siddhartha

Synergy/Collab/Fatigue

National Science Foundation

1/1/17

12/31/21

$399,931

Sikdar, Siddhartha

Synergy/Collab/FatiguePS

National Science Foundation

1/1/17

12/31/21

$16,000

Sikdar, Siddhartha

Carotid Stenosis 2017-2018

Dept of Veterans Affairs

10/1/17

9/30/21

$319,447

Sikdar, Siddhartha

Transdisciplinary Grad Training

National Science Foundation

9/1/19

8/31/24

$2,999,928

Sikdar, Siddhartha

OpenData Sharing Platform

National Science Foundation

9/1/19

8/31/22

$199,962

Sikdar, Siddhartha

Sonomyographic Prosthetics

US Department of Health and Human Services

2/1/20

1/31/25

$1,469,397

Sikdar, Siddhartha

Prosthetic Control System

US Department of Defense

9/15/20

9/14/24

$1,490,735

Sikdar, Siddhartha

Wearable Ultrasound

Center for Innovative Technology

6/17/19

1/16/22

$98,456

Veneziano, Remi

Exosomes on a Chip

US Department of Health and Human Services

1/23/18

12/31/21

$429,695

Veneziano, Remi

DNA-NP Antigen Presentation

US Department of the Army

10/1/21

1/14/22

$314,000

Wei, Qi

Biomechanical Simulation Eye

US Department of Health and Human Services

6/1/19

5/31/23

$1,285,754

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Educational Initiatives The department offers innovative multidisciplinary training, robust research opportunities, extensive lab experiences, and meaningful partnerships with major hospitals, biomedical companies, and research institutes.

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Adaptive Systems of Brain-Body Interactions, along with a team of faculty representing four Mason colleges.

PhD student Shriniwas Patwardhan is one of the trainees on the grant.

New Teaching Lab in Tissue Engineering (Cell Culture) A new teaching laboratory has been designed by Professor Caroline Hoemann along with Assistant Professor Remi Veneziano, Melissa Burns and former Mason architect Laura Manno, as part of a new building to be constructed on the SciTech Campus starting in the spring of 2023. The laboratory will be equipped with cell culture, microscopy, molecular biology facilities, and a preparatory room to teach tissue engineering to upper-level undergraduates in the bioengineering concentration of biomaterials and nanomedicine.

“This new teaching lab is designed to lead students to understand tissue engineering processes from molecules-to-cells,” says Hoemann. The infrastructure will permit students to learn basic cell culture methods, plasmid DNA purification, gene transfer, cell transfection, reporter gene expression, fluorescence microscopy, quantitative imaging through software interfaces, and 24

enzyme-based detection methods.

The laboratory also incorporates good laboratory practices and engineering principles including traceable international standards, quality control, and how to transform signals into quantitative measures.

Trainee Program Crosses Boundaries to Offer Diverse Learning Graduate students from various disciplines spent the academic year 20-21 engaged in multidisciplinary research projects as part of Mason’s firstever National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) program. The students explored new ways to enable all individuals to participate in needed and desired life roles and activities, taking on projects related to opioiduse disorders, mental health in school-age children, Parkinson’s disease, accessibility, and reentry into the community following incarceration. The $3 million grant is led by Siddhartha Sikdar, Professor of Bioengineering and Director of the Center for

The program will train the next generation of leaders to take on some of today’s most challenging problems. These complex problems cannot be addressed by one individual or even one discipline. Leaders will need to work together across traditional academic disciplinary boundaries while engaging with stakeholder communities in a mutually beneficial manner. The training involves a team science boot camp, data science workshops, a year-long community-engaged team design project, and professional development. The interdisciplinary program involved 25 graduate students from 12 different graduate programs across the university and nearly 55 community stakeholders.

“Working in multidisciplinary teams helped us gain a much deeper understanding of the real problem and freed us from the shackles of having to think within the silos of our science disciplines,” says Shriniwas Patwardhan, a PhD candidate in bioengineering.

Patwardhan and his fellow trainees became immersed in community settings to confront the traditional hierarchies between researchers and participants. They teamed up with community stakeholders as full participants in the research process and worked with them to identify challenges and needs, formulate research questions, and engage in participatory design to develop and test solutions.

© UNRWA/Francesco Romagnolo

“I have really enjoyed my experience with the trainees.

Integrating patient input into every aspect of research and development is so necessary for success,” says Soania Mathur a physician, as well as a Parkinson’s patient and advocate.

both their motor and non-motor symptoms with their care team.

The students sought to empower the patients (with Parkinson’s) in their healthcare decisions by improving communication channels between the patients, their caregivers, and their physicians.

At the conclusion of the traineeship, the students presented their findings to and engaged in conversation with the Mason community, their community partners, and other stakeholders at the first annual program retreat.

People with Parkinson’s typically meet their physician one or two times a year, for 15-20 minutes.

“In that short span of time, it is hard for the physician to get a good understanding of their varying symptoms throughout the year,” says Patwardhan, “That is why it would benefit the patients and their physicians greatly if the physician could see data related to their daily states in real-time.”

For the NRT project, Keri Anne Gladhill and her team of Shriniwas Patwardhan and Lindsay Shaffer focused on understanding how people with Parkinson’s track and communicate

A variety of ways to track symptoms, from pen and paper to wearable devices, already exist; however, none of the existing methods allow for reliable, accurate, continuous, and accessible measurements.

One approach to solving this problem is to establish a data-rich communication channel between the patients, their caregivers, and their physicians by collecting data about motor and non-motor symptoms. The team members believe that if executed well, they could expand the same process to other chronic conditions and improve health outcomes while enabling mobile health solutions and more.

Visit casbbi.gmu.edu/nrt-program to learn more about the NRT program. 25

Solving Medical Problems Through Clinical Immersion In summer 2021, the College of Engineering and Computing’s Department of Bioengineering launched its first clinical immersion program. This academic year, seniors from the program used their observations to design and build solutions to medical problems.

The new program, funded by a nearly $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, takes bioengineering students on a six-week clinical immersion experience into major hospitals in D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia.

In the program, students are matched with doctors at either Inova Hospital, Georgetown Hospital, or the Children’s National Medical Center for the summer and identify solutions to clinical problems they observed.

“We are providing an enriched real-world environment for students to work in and develop their network of colleagues with complementary skill sets,” says Michael Buschmann, chair of the department.

Then, throughout the year, they are advised by a clinical mentor from one of the hospitals, a faculty advisor in the Department of Bioengineering, an advisor from either the School of Nursing, the health administration program, or the health informatics program at Mason, and an industry advisor from the Mason Bioengineering Alliance.

Due to the pandemic, the program was scaled down and was offered as a hybrid experience in 2021.

Seven students participated in this experience at Inova Hospital and Georgetown University.

Senior Natai Jinfessa spent his summer doing a virtual immersion with Stanley Fricke, director of medical physics at Georgetown University. “We talked a lot about the functionalities of MRIs and

X-Ray technologies,” says Jinfessa.

He learned about machine operator and patient safety issues and analyzed potential solutions for marketability, feasibility, and impact in the medical field.

At the start of the fall semester, Jinfessa and other students who completed the clinical immersion program presented their findings to their classmates and formed their teams. “Our project is to design an MRI-compatible temperature monitoring system for the eyes,” says Jinfessa. “In MRI machines, radio frequency deposition can cause tattooed skin to heat up.

On other parts of the body, there are simple solutions like placing an ice pack, but the eyes don’t have such solution.”

The monitoring system would let the MRI operator know when the eyes are heating up to dangerous levels and warn them before possible injuries to the eyes can occur.

“When I first heard about it, the program seemed like a great opportunity. I’m happy I did it,” says Jinfessa.

Bioengineering Student Wins Prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship When George Mason Bioengineering undergrad Medhini Sosale was a child, she loved trivia and had a curiosity about everything around her. This knack for questioning her world led her to pursue a career in STEM research, and more recently, win the Barry Goldwater Scholarship.

MRI located in the Peterson Life Sciences Building on the Fairfax Campus.

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The scholarship is one of the highest rewards in the U.S. for undergrad students interested

Medhini Sosale won the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the highest awards for undergraduates in the U.S.

in developing STEM research careers, with winners receiving up to $7,500 annually. Sosale sees her win as not only helping her towards her career goals, but financially freeing up her time to delve into research more fully.

“I don’t really personally know many people who have pursued PhDs,” says Sosale.

“This scholarship offers a big community network of recent scholars and I’m excited to draw from this network, for general career advice and advice about graduate school.”

She says being inquisitive probably played a part for her in going after the scholarship. The application process has several steps, and Sosale made sure to start early and find out every detail she could about what she needed to submit.

Although the application required one research essay, Sosale wrote two. She then worked with Karen

Lee, her scholarship mentor, and other members in the Mason Office of Fellowships to decide which essay would work best.

Her essay on the research project, Modelling Cerebral Blood Flow to Optimize Ischemic Stroke Treatment was the winning choice.

The project focuses on studying the effects of various factors on ischemic stroke treatment. She also previously worked on a project with Parag Chitnis, Assistant Professor in Bioengineering, to develop a 3-D cell model that examines the barrier between the brain and the blood stream.

“I am very grateful to now be a Goldwater scholar,” says Sosale.

“It definitely wasn’t a one - person process. There were a lot of people behind the scenes that helped me get here and I want to thank each and every one of them.”

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Outstanding Faculty Our faculty members are internationally recognized

leaders. Their knowledge and experience in the many From left: Peter Katona, Inas Zabin, and Department Chair Michael Buschmann stand in the hallway of the Peterson Life Sciences Building.

2021 Katona Scholarship Recipient Awarded Recognizing and motivating bioengineering students to help the community in the field of bioengineering is a big part of what the Katona Scholarship for Excellence in Bioengineering is about, according to Claudia Borke, advisor for the bioengineering department at Mason.

“This is a scholarship that recognizes not only bioengineering excellence but looks at the student holistically,” says Borke.

Named for Peter Katona, founder of the bioengineering program at Mason, the scholarship awarded

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fields of biomedical engineering, guide students and help partners advance their research and development.

$1,000 to 2021 winner Inas Zabin, a Mason senior whose education combines bioengineering with a concentration in pre-health.

“Winning the scholarship gave me the little bit of extra push that I needed, and I’m very grateful,” says Zabin. “There are so many qualified people in the bioengineering department. But if you’re thinking of applying for the scholarship, just go for it.”

According to Katona, the students selected for the scholarship show exceptional promise to engage in a successful bioengineering career, which in turn helps society.

“We certainly look at GPA, and it’s a part of the criteria for the scholarship, but it’s not all we see,” says Katona. “We also look at a

student’s leadership skills and how they have tried to enhance their skills outside of the classroom.”

Showing an initiative to help other students is also an example of leadership that is a welcome asset for a potential scholarship winner, says Katona.

“We have had some excellent applicants, and we are delighted that we can do this for our bioengineering students showing exceptional promise,” he says.

The Katona Scholarship for Excellence in Bioengineering began in 2015 and is awarded to bioengineering seniors at Mason who show excellence across their academic performance, leadership initiatives, and career aspirations that aim to support society at large. 29

Assistant Professor Quentin Sanders directs the new ImPoWeR Lab. His team’s research seeks to develop rehabilitation robotic and prosthetic devices.

From Google X to Mason’s New ImPoWer Lab Assistant Professor Quentin Sanders holds a joint appointment in the bioengineering and the mechanical engineering departments. He received his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2015, and his Master’s and PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Irvine in 2018 and 2020, respectively.

Prior to joining the Department of Bioengineering, Sanders spent a year working at X, the moonshot factory (formerly Google X). He also conducted research as a post-doctoral scholar in the joint biomedical engineering program between the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University. His 30

research focuses on developing expertise in intelligent assistive technology, neuromuscular control, wearable sensor technology, and rehabilitation robotics to evaluate and restore sensory motor function either through retraining or assistance.

Sanders says he has always had a passion for tinkering, building things, and understanding how things worked. “As I got older, my passion for robotics grew when I saw the type of helpful impact robotics could have on people’s lives,” he says.

At Mason, Sanders will extend his robotics research as he directs the new ImPoWeR Lab. The lab’s research team will seek to develop innovative and globally relevant rehabilitation robotic and prosthetic devices to enhance the quality of life of individuals who have experienced a neurological injury or amputation.

our mechanistic understanding of memory circuits and neural coding with the ultimate goal to support the development of better treatment options for neurological disorders.

This research is supported by a K99/R00 Career Transition Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health entitled “The Role of Sensory Inputs and Cholinergic Modulation for the Coding of Location and Movement Speed in the Entorhinal Cortex.”

study of microglia and their role in Alzheimer’s disease. He continued this inquiry in his PhD thesis in the Experimental Epileptology and Cognition Lab in Bonn, Germany, studying neuronal ensembles and neural engrams, and their modulation by the neuromodulator acetylcholine. After finishing his PhD thesis, he joined the laboratory of Michael E. Hasselmo in Boston, Massachusetts, where he continued his experimental and computational work on the cholinergic role in memory.

Dannenberg received his education in Germany, where his interest in neuroscience and memory led him to pursue the

To further advance our mechanistic understanding of memory circuits in the brain, his Spatial Cognition lab at Mason uses chronic implants

of microwires and fiber optic implants in freely behaving rodents to monitor, probe, and manipulate the activity of neurons and neural circuits. Researchers in his lab also use deep learning tools and deep neural networks to analyze neural activity and rodent behavior in the context of spatial navigation, and use signal processing techniques to study the temporal dynamics of electrophysiological and neuromodulatory activity in the brain. This research aims to understand neural mechanisms of spatial memory and memoryguided navigation, fundamental cognitive processes that are often impaired in various neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

K99 Recipient Brings Neuroengineering Research to Mason Holger Dannenberg joined the Department of Bioengineering and the Interdisciplinary Program for Neuroscience in 2021 to build the Spatial Cognition lab within the Neurotechnology and Computational Neuroscience Pillar of the department. The Spatial Cognition lab uses a combination of experimental and computational techniques to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the coding of spatial memory and spatial navigation in rodents as model organisms.

Dannenberg’s area of expertise includes electrophysiology, optogenetics, single unit recordings, and fiber photometry in freely behaving rodents. The lab’s research vision is to advance

Assistant Professor Holger Dannenberg (on right) with students in the Spatial Cognition lab.

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years of innovation Department Celebrates a Decade of Achievement

Joseph Pancrazio, founding

The day also included a student

director of the Bioengineering

poster session, PhD student

Program in 2009 and founding

award presentations, a symposium

More than 100 faculty, staff,

chair of the Bioengineering

on the future of Biomedical

students, and guests celebrated

Department in 2011, a role he

Education research, and a talk

10 years of the George Mason

held until 2015, says that he was

from invited speaker Robert

College of Engineering and

confident in success upon his

Satcher, a bioengineer, surgeon,

Computing Bioengineering

arrival. “I was excited about what

astronaut, and associate professor

Department on April 4. Notable

was going on. I found exceptional,

at the University of Texas MD

players from the department’s

energetic, and optimistic faculty

Anderson Cancer.

founding were among the

about what was going to be built,”

assembled.

he says. “And that’s what we have here today - the faculty that came,

Peter Katona was a faculty

they came to build something.”

of Electrical and Computer

Pancrazio was instrumental

Engineering at Mason in the late

in overseeing the transition to

2000s, when he was instrumental

department status, recognizing

in establishing the department.

the institution’s culture as part of

Katona says that as he worked

this success. “It’s only now that

across the university, talking to

I recognize how unusual it is in

deans and faculty in the sciences,

academia to have a department

he discovered a tremendous

host a growing and emerging

amount of interest in launching a

program with the idea that

bioengineering program at Mason.

you’re going to have to love it

And further, “I was told that this is a

long enough to learn to let it go.

place where you do things first and

And to do so with the grace and

ask for permission later.”

collegiality that they did.”

member in the Department

Shani Ross, associate chair,

discussed the future of the program, noting developments such as more

The celebration was held

in honor of Mike Buschmann,

who was department chair until his untimely death in March.

“Mike was extremely valued as a colleague and he was extremely respected,” says CEC dean Ken Ball. “He made contributions throughout the entire university.

Among the senior leadership team of the college, Mike was a valuable contributor, did a tremendous amount, and was a leader among his peers.

Mike defined the vision and mission of the department, establishing our four research pillars. For a department that’s 10 years old, we’re in a great place, thanks to Mike.”

hands-on experiences for students; enrichments of senior design; new industry-focused courses; internship experiences; and increased student recruitment efforts.

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Primary Faculty AY 2021-22 Our faculty members—who combine practical experience with in-depth scholarly studies—instruct students, guide them, and make them partners in advanced research projects. For more information go to bioengineering. gmu.edu/people/primary-faculty

Giorgio Ascoli Professor Research Interests: Neuroinformatics and Data-Driven Brain Simulations

Kim Blackwell Professor Research Interests: Mechanisms of Memory Storage in Neurons

Laurence Bray Associate Professor Research Interests: Computational Neuroscience

Juan Cebral Professor Research Interests: Image-based Computational Modeling of Blood Flows, Cerebral Aneurysms, Stroke

Parag Chitnis Associate Professor Research Interests: Wearable Sensors, Focused Ultrasound, Photo Acoustic Imaging, Drug Delivery

Holger Dannenberg Assistant Professor Research Interests: Spatial Cognition and Neuroengineering

Caroline Hoemann Professor Research Interests: Biomaterials and Nanomedicine

Eugene Kim Term Assistant Professor Research Interests: Engineering Education, Synthetic Biology, Bioadhesive Materials

Nathalia Peixoto Associate Professor Research Interests: Neurotechnology and Computational Neuroscience

Shani Ross Assistant Professor and Associate Chair Research Interests: Neural Engineering

Quentin Sanders Assistant Professor Research Interests: Neuromuscular Control, Intelligent Assistive Technology, Wearable Sensor Technology, Rehabilitation Robotics

Remi Veneziano Assistant Professor Research Interests: DNA Nanotechnology

Qi Wei Associate Professor Research Interests: Computational Biomedical Engineering

Department Staff AY 2021-22

Claudia Borke Academic Advisor and Success Coach

Terry McGowan Fiscal Coordinator

Carol McHugh Academic Program Assistant Michael Buschmann Professor and Chair Research Interests: Messenger mRNA Nanotherapeutics

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Vasiliki Ikonomidou Associate Professor Research Interests: Computational Biomedical Engineering

Siddhartha Sikdar Professor Research Interests: Biomedical Imaging and Devices

Amal Nadel Fiscal Coordinator

Randy Warren Lab Manager Adjunct Faculty

Carolyn Wilson Internship Coordinator Adjunct Faculty

Bioengineering Alliance Supports Our Mission The Mason Bioengineering Alliance is a distinguished group of accomplished individuals from our biomedical and health sciences community.

The alliance serves as the critical industry and institutional advisor to the department’s activities and programs. Members play a key role in advising and planning new courses in biomanufacturing, biomedical robotics, and digital health. They link our department to industry and commercialization by sponsoring workshops in university startups, financing, and intellectual property.

The board is composed of 33 members:

Alliance Members AY 2021-22

Charles Anamelechi Manager Deloitte Consulting, LLP Strategy & Operations Arlington, Virginia

Jeff Arndt Senior System Engineering KBR, Inc. Chantilly, Virginia

Krishna Balakrishnan Senior Technology Transfer Manager National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), NIH Rockville, Maryland

Peter Basser Senior Investigator, Intramural Research Program (IRP), NIH Head, Section on Quantitative Imaging and Tissue Sciences (SQITS), Associate Scientific Director (ASD), Division of Imaging, Behavior and Genomic Integrity (DIBGI), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bethesda, Maryland

Robert Caldwell President & CEO Strategic Health Solutions, LLC Washington, D.C.

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Vizma Carver Founder & CEO Carver Global Health Group LLC

Jeff Conroy CEO Embody Inc. Norfolk, Virginia

Kevin Cleary Scientific Lead, The Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation Children’s National Medical Center Washington, D.C.

John F. Deeken Inova Schar Cancer Institute, Senior Vice President, Professor of Medicine Inova Fairfax Hospital, Inova Health System, University of Virginia Fairfax, Virginia

Ross Dunlap CEO Ceres Nanosciences, Inc. Manassas, Virginia

Steve Hoang Head of Computational Biology Hemoshear Therapeutics Charlottesville, Virginia

Neal Koller Chairman and CEO Alphyn Biologics, LLC Annapolis, Maryland

Roland Probst Founder & Chief Innovation Officer ACUITYnano, LLC Rockville, Maryland

Marinka Tellier Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer Blue Lake Biotechnology Alexandria, VA

Arthur L. Edge III Associate Director Global Technical Operations AstraZeneca

Richard Hughen CEO Linshom Annapolis, Maryland

R. Prakash Kolli CEO and Founder Blue Point Materials Research, LLC Herndon, VA

Steven Roberts Research Scientist Geneva Foundation/USUHS Rockville, Maryland

Eric Vollmecke Deputy Director, Rapid Prototyping Research Center George Mason Volgenau School of Engineering Fairfax, Virginia

Stanley Thomas Fricke Director of Medical Physics, Department of Radiology Georgetown University CEO, HyperMC2, LLC Washington, D.C.

Praduman Jain Founder and CEO Vibrent Health Fairfax, Virginia

John Newby CEO VirginiaBio Richmond, Virginia

Mahesh B. Shenai Clinical Director of Inova Neurosurgery Director of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery Inova Hospital Fairfax, Virginia

Erin O. Johnson Executive Director, Operations, Vaccines Expansion Merck Elkton, Virginia

Nnamdi Nwachukwu Vice President, Regulatory Science & Quality Operations RRD International, LLC Rockville, Maryland

Thomas Haag Managing Partner Linden Lake Venture Capital Bethesda, Maryland

David J. Hamilton Neuroscientist Intelligent Mission Consulting Services (IMCS)

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Christopher Juncosa Consultant, Juncosa Consulting Tampa, Florida

Todd Pantezzi Chief Strategy Officer Customer Value Partners Fairfax, VA,

Morgan Sisk Modeling & Simulation Engineer Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) McLean, Virginia

Irving Weinberg President Weinberg Medical Physics, Inc. Rockville, Maryland

Chris Wimmer Executive Vice President SPGlobal Chantilly, Virginia

For a full listing of department personnel including adjuncts and affiliates go to bioengineering. gmu.edu/people Michael Tarlov Chief, Biomolecular Measurement Division National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, Maryland

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Peterson Family Health Sciences Hall, Suite 3100, 4400 University Drive, MS 1J7, Fairfax, VA 22030 | (703) 993-5846 IV