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Special Sessions & Events

 

More information coming soon

Join us for these activities at the 2018 BMES Annual Meeting!

Special Events
  • Tours
  • Welcome Reception
  • BMES Dessert Bash
  • LGBT Dessert Social Hour
  • Industry & Clinical Mixer

Plenary Sessions

Luncheons
  • Celebration of Minorities in BME Luncheon
  • Women in BME Luncheon (SOLD OUT)

Special Sessions

Student and Early Career Program

Industry Programs
 
Special Events
Georgia Tech Tours (PRE-REGISTRATION IS CLOSED)
Wednesday, October 17th, 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM - GWCC

Tour 1
Wallace H Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology 
SOLD OUT
This tour will highlight some of Georgia Tech’s most innovative and progressive labs & core facilities in the bioengineering field. You will have the opportunity to view our Marcus Nanotechnology Building, Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience, Engineered Biosystems Building and the Whitaker Building. The tour will conclude with a campus walking tour led by one of Georgia Tech’s student ambassadors showcasing campus highlights such as Tech Green and our Albert Einstein sculpture.

Tour 2
Technology Enterprise Park (TEP)
Tickets are limited
Technology Enterprise Park (TEP) is home to our BioID Master’s program. This tour will include a tour of the BioID design space and BME cardiovascular research laboratories. Tour will also include a visit of the Global Center for Medical Innovation and its pre-clinical testing facility, T3 Labs.

Tour 3
Wallace H Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory School of Medicine
Tickets are limited
This tour will include Coulter Department labs in the Health Sciences Research Building (HSRB) and an overview of Emory’s campus and nearby facilities such as Emory Hospital, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) & Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Your tour will be guided by an Emory University student.
 
The Georgia Tech Tours are open to all Annual Meeting registrants and round-trip transportation will be provided. Buses will pick tour attendees up from the Georgia World Congress Center on Wednesday, 10/17 at 2:00 PM (Eastern Time) and will return to the Annual Meeting venue by 5:00 PM. Only one tour may be selected per registrant, as they are running concurrently, and pre-registration is required. Tickets are limited and attendance for each individual tour option is subject to availability. Tour sign-up must be completed separately from your Annual Meeting registration transaction, and is available online only until Wednesday, October 3 at 11:59pm (ET), or until tour sign-up has reached maximum capacity, whichever comes first. 
 
Welcome Reception
Wednesday, October 17th, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM - GWCC, Levels 3 & 4
BMES Dessert Bash
Friday, October 19th, 8:30 PM - 10:30 PM - GWCC, Murphy Ballroom
LGBT and Friends Dessert Social Hour
Wednesday, October 17th, 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM - Omni, International Ballroom ABC
*additional registration and $10 ticket required
Speaker:
Jennifer Hasler, Ph.D., Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering will lead the talk at the event, followed by networking, dessert and a cash bar.
Industry & Clinical Mixer - Sponsored by Brooks Kushman P.C.  (PRE-REGISTRATION IS CLOSED)
Thursday, October 18th, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM - STATS Brewpub
*additional registration and $10 ticket required (includes one drink and hors d’oeuvres)

The Industry & Clinical Mixer will be a fantastic opportunity for recent graduates and current students to network with both industry and clinical professionals in a fun and relaxed atmosphere!  There will be music, food and drinks. Industry & Clinical Mixer pre-registration is available online only through 10/03. 
 
STATS Brewpub is conveniently located just outside of the Georgia World Congress Center.  Parking is located right across the street at the 311 Marietta Street parking deck (attached to the Hilton Garden Inn). 

 
Plenary Sessions
State of the Society & Pritzker Award Lecture - Sidney Marcus Auditorium
Thursday, October 18th, 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM

State of the Society: Lori Setton, Ph.D., BMES President

Pritzker Award Lecture
Rashid Bashir, Ph.D.
Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Professor of Bioengineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Executive Associate Dean and Chief Diversity Officer
Carle Illinois College of Medicine

Biomedical Micro and Nanotechnology: Opportunities for Translational Research and Education

Integration of biology, medicine, and engineering at the micro and nanoscale offers tremendous opportunities for solving important problems in health care and to enable a wide range of applications in diagnostics, therapeutics, and tissue engineering. In this talk, we will present our work on detection of T cells for diagnostics of HIV AIDs for global health, development of blood cell analysis on a chip for sepsis diagnosis, electrical detection of multiplexed nucleic acid amplification reactions, and detection of epigenetic markers on DNA at the single molecule level. While the above-mentioned devices are built with PDMS or silicon using microfabrication approaches, bio-printing with stereolithography can be a very powerful technology to produce bio-hybrid devices made of polymers and cells such as biological machines and soft robotics. As these “biological machines” increase in capabilities, exhibit emergent behavior, and potentially reveal the ability for self-assembly and self-repair, questions can arise about the ethical implications of this work. These research examples pave the need for new models of bioengineering education to train the next generation of leaders. We will discuss these new paradigms in bioengineering and medical education, and also present the development of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the world’s first Engineering Based College of Medicine.

Rashid Bashir is Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Professor of Bioengineering, and Executive Associate Dean and Chief Diversity at the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine (07/2017 – present) at UIUC. Previously, he was the Able Bliss Professor of Engineering, Head of Department of Bioengineering (07/2013 – 06/2017), Director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory (a campus-wide cleanroom research facility) (10/2007 – 06/2013), and Co-Director of the campus-wide Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (10/2010 – 06/2013), a “collaboratory” aimed at facilitating center grants and large initiatives around campus in the area of nanotechnology. Prior to joining UIUC, he was at Purdue University from 1998 – 2007 with faculty appointments in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Bioengineering. He has authored or co-authored over 220 journal papers, over 200 conference papers and conference abstracts, and over 120 invited talks and has been granted 45 patents. He is an NSF Faculty Early Career Award winner and the 2012 IEEE EMBS Technical Achievement Award. He is a fellow of IEEE, AIMBE, AAAS, BMES, IAMBE, RSC, and APS. His research interests include bionanotechnology, BioMEMS, lab on a chip, interfacing of biology and engineering from the molecular to the tissue scale, and applications of semiconductor fabrication to biomedical engineering, all applied to solving biomedical problems such as cancer and infectious disease diagnostics. He has been involved in 3 startups that have licensed his technologies, most recently Prenosis, Inc. In addition to leading his own research group, he was the PI on an NSF IGERT on Cellular and Molecular Mechanics and Bionanotechnology and was PI on an NIH Training Grant on Cancer Nanotechnology. He is co-PI on a recently funded National Research Traineeship (NRT) from NSF. He is also Associate Director and UIUC lead on an NSF Science and Technology Center on Emergent Behavior of Integrated Cellular Systems (with MIT, GT, and other partners).
 
Diversity Award Plenary Lecture - Sidney Marcus Auditorium
Thursday, October 18th, 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM

Diversity Plenary Lecture
Anjelica L. Gonzalez, Ph.D.
Donna L. Dubinsky Associate Professor
Yale University, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Vascular Biology and Therapeutics Program

Science as a Unifying Language: Building Connections between Lab and Life

Science is a language that we all speak. We just do this in many different ways. However, historically, scientists have communicated in a way that has excluded many in the public space from appreciating and participating in science in meaningful ways. In doing so, we risk the loss of public engagement, which, at its worst means the loss of contributions from the next generation of scientists that should come from all ethnic, gender and socioeconomic backgrounds. Dr. Gonzalez’s lecture will address the value of scientific engagement with a diverse and global public, and ways in which science can be made increasingly accessible.

Anjelica Gonzalez is Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Yale University where her research is focused on the development of biomaterials for use as investigational tools and therapeutic devices. Anjelica attended Utah State University, earning a B.S. in Irrigational and Biological Engineering and continued on to Baylor College of Medicine to pursue a Ph.D. in Computational Biology.

From Anjelica’s perspective, science and engineering will benefit from people of all perspectives, including those that come from socioeconomically challenged backgrounds, the LGBT community, and educational experiences that differ from the traditional STEM trajectory. Her objective, throughout her career, has been to encourage an improved understanding and appreciation of science and engineering throughout the US and abroad, subsequently increasing the numbers of people with diverse perspectives that contribute to scientific education and innovation. Using national and local platforms to speak and write about science in a way that translates high-level concepts into laymen’s terms, in order to increase an understanding that science belongs to everyone.

To date, Anjelica’s research and writings have been acknowledged by national and international organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, New York Times, USAID, WHO, NBC, American Physiological Society and The Hartwell Foundation.
 
NIBIB Lecture - Lihong Wang, Ph.D. - Sidney Marcus Auditorium
Friday, October 19th, 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM

NIBIB Lecture
Lihong V. Wang, Ph.D.
Bren Professor
Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering
Department of Electrical Engineering
California Institute of Technology

World’s Deepest-Penetration and Fastest Cameras:
Photoacoustic Tomography and Compressed Ultrafast Photography

We developed photoacoustic tomography to peer deep into biological tissue. Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) provides in vivo omniscale functional, metabolic, molecular, and histologic imaging across the scales of organelles through organisms. We also developed compressed ultrafast photography (CUP) to record 10 trillion frames per second, 10 orders of magnitude faster than commercially available camera technologies. CUP can tape the fastest phenomenon in the universe, namely, light propagation, and can be slowed down for slower phenomena such as combustion.

PAT physically combines optical and ultrasonic waves. Conventional high-resolution optical imaging of scattering tissue is restricted to depths within the optical diffusion limit (~1 mm in the skin). Taking advantage of the fact that ultrasonic scattering is orders of magnitude weaker than optical scattering per unit path length, PAT beats this limit and provides deep penetration at high ultrasonic resolution and high optical contrast by sensing molecules. Broad applications include early-cancer detection and brain imaging. The annual conference on PAT has become the largest in SPIE’s 20,000-attendee Photonics West since 2010.

CUP can image in 2D non-repetitive time-evolving events. CUP has a prominent advantage of measuring an x, y, t (x, y, spatial coordinates; t, time) scene with a single exposure, thereby allowing observation of transient events occurring on a time scale down to 100 femtoseconds. Further, akin to traditional photography, CUP is receive-only—avoiding specialized active illumination required by other single-shot ultrafast imagers. CUP can be coupled with front optics ranging from microscopes to telescopes for widespread applications in both fundamental and applied sciences.

Lihong Wang earned his Ph.D. degree at Rice University, Houston, Texas under the tutelage of Robert Curl, Richard Smalley, and Frank Tittel. He is Bren Professor of Medial Engineering and Electrical Engineering at California Institute of Technology. His book entitled “Biomedical Optics: Principles and Imaging,” one of the first textbooks in the field, won the 2010 Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award. He also edited the first book on photoacoustic tomography. He has published 470 peer-reviewed articles in journals including Nature and Science and delivered 460 keynote, plenary, or invited talks. His Google Scholar h-index and citations have reached 120 and 59,000, respectively. His laboratory was the first to report functional photoacoustic tomography, 3D photoacoustic microscopy, photoacoustic endoscopy, photoacoustic reporter gene imaging, the photoacoustic Doppler effect, the universal photoacoustic reconstruction algorithm, microwave-induced thermoacoustic tomography, ultrasound-modulated optical tomography, time-reversed ultrasonically encoded (TRUE) optical focusing, nonlinear photoacoustic wavefront shaping (PAWS), compressed ultrafast photography (10 trillion frames/s, world’s fastest camera), Mueller-matrix optical coherence tomography, and optical coherence computed tomography. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biomedical Optics. He received the NIH’s FIRST, NSF’s CAREER, NIH Director’s Pioneer, and NIH Director’s Transformative Research awards. He also received the OSA C.E.K. Mees Medal, IEEE Technical Achievement Award, IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award, SPIE Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award, Senior Prize of the International Photoacoustic and Photothermal Association, and OSA Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award. He is a Fellow of the AIMBE, Electromagnetics Academy, IEEE, OSA, and SPIE. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering. An honorary doctorate was conferred on him by Lund University, Sweden.
 
Wallace H. Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation Lecture - Sidney Marcus Auditorium
Friday, October 19th, 5:15 PM - 6:15 PM

The Wallace H. Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation Award Lecture
Josh Makower, MD
Co-Founder
Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign

Adjunct Professor of Medicine
Stanford University Medical School

New Enterprise Associates, Inc.

Biomedical Innovation: A Transformation from Phenomenon to Proven Process

Innovation in medicine and surgery over past centuries has historically happened episodically with chance discoveries in the lab or clinic or during unique moments in time where opportunity, talent, and technology phenomenologically combined to produce significant advancements in patient care. More recently, the question has been asked whether we can we purposefully direct innovation and intentionally drive it to occur in spaces where there is the most clinical need. Answering this question and addressing it with a process that can be taught, learned and perfected has been one of the central foci of Dr. Josh Makower’s career. Dr. Makower will discuss the origins of what is now called “The Biodesign Process” and walk through its structure and evolution through the creation of the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Program, which he co-founded with Dr. Paul Yock, to the stories of several innovations produced by students, fellows and faculty of the program, and several companies which he has produced through his own incubator, ExploraMed, in collaboration with New Enterprise Associates.

Dr. Josh Makower serves on the faculty of the Stanford University Medical School as an Adjunct Professor of Medicine and is Co-Founder of Stanford’s Biodesign Innovation Program (now called the Byers Center for Biodesign). Josh helped create the fundamental structure of the Center’s core curriculum and is the chief architect of what is now called “The Biodesign Process.” Over the past 18 years since Josh and Dr. Paul Yock founded the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Program, this curriculum and the associated textbook has been used at Stanford and across the world to train thousands of students, faculty and industry leaders on the biodesign process towards the advancement of medical innovation for the improvement of patient care. Josh has practiced these same techniques directly as the Founder & Executive Chairman of ExploraMed, a medical device incubator, creating 8 companies since 1995. Transactions from the ExploraMed portfolio include NeoTract, acquired by Teleflex, Acclarent, acquired by J&J, EndoMatrix, acquired by C.R. Bard & TransVascular, acquired by Medtronic. Other ExploraMed/NEA ventures include Moximed, Nuelle, and Willow. Josh is currently also working with NEA where he is a General Partner on their healthcare team leading the medtech/healthtech practice. Josh serves on the board of Setpoint Medical, DOTS Devices, Eargo, ExploraMed, Intrinsic Therapeutics, Moximed, Willow, and Coravin. Josh holds over 300 patents and patent applications. He received an MBA from Columbia University, an MD from the NYU School of Medicine, a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and is a Member of the College of Fellows of The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

The Wallace H. Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation recognizes an outstanding individual who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to and made important contributions to patient healthcare.

 
Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award Lecture & BMES Mid-Career Award Lecture & Student Award Winners - Sidney Marcus Auditorium
Saturday, October 20th, 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Lecture
Emily Day, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
University of Delaware

Controlling Nanoparticle Architecture to Enhance Cellular Gene Regulation

Regulating cellular gene expression through the delivery of ribonucleic acids (RNAs) or antagonist antibodies holds great promise as a strategy to treat cancer. Unfortunately, naked nucleic acids display limited cell uptake because of their high molecular weight and negative charge, and those that are internalized are at risk of degradation in endolysosomal compartments. Similarly, freely delivered antibodies are limited by high required doses that may be cost prohibitive and can lead to off-target effects. In this presentation, I will discuss my research group’s experience developing nanoparticle-based RNA and antibody carriers that can overcome the limitations of freely delivered therapeutics. Each nanoparticle platform that we have developed exploits the unique multivalent properties that arise when biomolecules are arranged in a three-dimensional manner on a nanoparticle scaffold. Overall, our findings demonstrate that nanoparticle architecture plays a critical role in cellular interactions and gene regulation potency, and these findings have profound implications for the use of RNA and antibody nanocarriers in medicine.

Dr. Emily Day is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. Dr. Day obtained her B.S. in Physics with a Minor in Mathematics from the University of Oklahoma in 2006, graduating summa cum laude. Dr. Day earned a Ph.D. from Rice University in Bioengineering under the guidance of Dr. Jennifer West. Her research focused on developing nanoparticle-mediated photothermal therapy for the treatment of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of primary brain tumor. At Rice, Dr. Day received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, a Rice President’s Graduate Fellowship, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Med-Into-Grad Fellowship. In 2011, Dr. Day joined the laboratory of Dr. Chad Mirkin at Northwestern University, where she developed ribonucleic acid- nanoparticle conjugates known as spherical nucleic acids for gene regulation of glioblastoma. Dr. Day was awarded an International Institute for Nanotechnology Postdoctoral Fellowship and a National Institutes of Health F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award during her time at Northwestern University. Dr. Day started her lab at the University of Delaware in 2013, and her group investigates the interactions between nanoparticles and biological systems to create novel engineering tools for high precision cancer therapy. She received funding from various sources to support her work, including a W.M. Keck Foundation Grant, an NIH/NIGMS R35 Outstanding Investigator Award, and an NSF CAREER Award. Dr. Day’s contributions to biomedical nanotechnology have resulted in her being named a 2018 Young Innovator in Nanobiotechnology and a 2018 Young Innovator in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering.

BMES Mid-Career Award Lecture
Cynthia A. Reinhart-King, Ph.D.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering
Vanderbilt University

The Intersection of Metastasis and Mechanomedicine

While cancer mechanobiology is often viewed as a new field, it actually dates back to before even the birth of molecular biology. Early work focused simply on the characterization of cellular mechanical properties, but has evolved to examine the integrated effects of mechanics and genetics. Proof and acceptance of mechanics as a key component of cancer progression took many years, but it is now viewed as a critical promotor and initiator of tumor formation and growth. Yet, despite the fact the field has existed for decades, one of its continued hurdles is translating benchtop results into clinically relevant therapies. In this talk, I will discuss our work striving to go beyond mechanical phenotyping to examine the mechanical reciprocity within the tumor microenvironment that drives disease. Our work has demonstrated that mechanical changes in the tumor microenvironment can drive angiogenesis and impair vascular integrity, leading to leaky vasculature. Moreover, we have shown it can alter metastatic cell migration, and that cell migration, the mechanical microenvironment, and cellular energetics are linked. Changes to the structural and mechanical properties of the microenvironment alter cellular energetic demands, laying the foundation for new therapeutic avenues targeting metastatic migration by targeting cancer cell metabolism. Given that we now recognize that mechanics and solid tumor formation are linked, we as engineers need to confront the challenge of translating cancer mechanobiology into therapies for both diagnosis and treatment to help patients.

Cynthia Reinhart-King is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering and the Director of Graduate Studies in Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Prior to joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 2017, she was on the faculty of Cornell University where she received tenure in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. She obtained undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and biology at MIT and her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Bioengineering as a Whitaker Fellow. She then completed postdoctoral training as an Individual NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rochester. Her lab’s research interests are in the areas of cell mechanics and cell migration specifically in the context of cancer and atherosclerosis. Her lab has received funding from the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the American Federation of Aging Research. She was awarded the Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award in 2010 from the Biomedical Engineering Society, an NSF CAREER Award, the 2010 Sonny Yau ‘72 Excellence in Teaching Award, a Cook Award for “contributions towards improving the climate for women at Cornell,” and the Zellman Warhaft Commitment to Diversity Award from the Cornell College of Engineering. She served on the BMES Board of Directors from 2014-2017 and as the 2016 BMES Annual Meeting Program Chair. She is a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She is an inaugural fellow of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine New Voices Program and is currently a standing member of the NIH CMT study section.
 
Luncheons
Celebration of Minorities in BME Luncheon*
Thursday, October 18th, 11:45 AM - 1:15 PM - GWCC
*additional registration and $35 ticket required

Speaker
Paula Hammond, Ph.D.
Koch Professor of Engineering
Department Head,
Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This event is organized by the BMES Diversity Committee to create a community and network within the Society fostering support and professional development of minorities in BMES at all levels. Everyone is invited to attend, as diversity only increases when all groups play a part. The luncheon complements the Diversity Award Lecture on Thursday evening and the Women in BME Luncheon on Friday.

Research and Life Matters: Seeking Passion and Sanity in Career
Scientific and engineering careers provide some of the greatest outlets for creativity, discovery, and fulfillment. Although there are many challenges to seeking a career in a field that can be both inspiring and, at times, discouraging, there are also strategies and perspectives that can help provide grounding and leverage efforts toward success. Flexibility is essential in the ways in which we connect research, life, career, family and other passions at different stages of life. These and any other issues regarding research or broader aspects of career will be discussed.

Professor Paula T. Hammond is the David H. Koch Chair Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. She is a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the MIT Energy Initiative, and a founding member of the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology. She recently served as the Executive Officer (Associate Chair) of the Chemical Engineering Department (2008-2011). The core of her work is the use of electrostatics and other complementary interactions to generate functional materials with highly controlled architecture. Her research in nanomedicine encompasses the development of new biomaterials to enable drug delivery from surfaces with spatiotemporal control. She also investigates novel responsive polymer architectures for targeted nanoparticle drug and gene delivery and has developed self- assembled materials systems for electrochemical energy devices.

Professor Paula Hammond was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 2017. She was elected into the National Academy of Medicine in 2016, and into the 2013 Class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also the recipient of the 2013 AIChE Charles M. A. Stine Award, which is bestowed annually to a leading researcher in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of materials science and engineering, and the 2014 AIChE Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research. She was selected to receive the Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Teal Innovator Award in 2013, which supports a single visionary individual from any field principally outside of ovarian cancer to focus his/her creativity, innovation, and leadership on ovarian cancer research.

Celebration of Minorities in BME Luncheon Sponsored by:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
 

Women in BME Luncheon*  (SOLD OUT)
Friday, October 19th, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM - GWCC
*additional registration and $35 ticket required

Speaker
Jennifer West, Ph.D.
Fitzpatrick Family University Professor of Engineering
Duke University

Mentors and Networks for Success

It takes a village. For career success, this village is the people in your community who support you and help you grow. Usually, this involves multiple people with different expertise and views. At some stages, these individuals are clearly identified, like your thesis advisor. At other points in your career, you may need to more actively seek out people who can help you define your goals, provide sage advice or serve as a confidante. Most successful biomedical engineers develop strong professional networks and benefit from input from multiple mentoring relationships. This is especially important for women. For example, the NRC Report on Gender Differences found that women STEM faculty who had a mentor were 23% more likely to have a successful grant application, whereas there was no improvement in success in grant applications for men with mentoring. As we mature in our careers, it is also important to work on developing our skills as mentors to help build our future generations and to use our professional networks to facilitate the success of others.

Jennifer West joined the faculty at Duke in 2012 as the Fitzpatrick Family University Professor of Engineering, after having been the department chair and Cameron Professor of Bioengineering Rice University. Professor West was one of the founding members of Rice’s Department of Bioengineering, building it to a top ten program over the prior sixteen years. She was appointed as Associate Dean in the Pratt School of Engineering in 2015. Professor West’s research focuses on the development of novel biofunctional materials. An example of this work is the application of near-infrared absorbing nanoparticles for photothermal tumor ablation. Professor West founded Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc. to commercialize the nanoparticle- assisted photothermal ablation technology, now called AuroLase. Professor West has received numerous accolades for her work, including: National Academy of Inventors (2017), National Academy of Engineering (2016), Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award (2015), Thomson Reuters as a Highly Cited Researcher (2014), Texas Inventor of the Year (2010), Admiral of the Texas Navy (highest honor the governor of Texas can bestow on a civilian, 2010), The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas O’Donnell Prize in Engineering (2008), and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor (2006). Professor West has authored more than 200 research articles. She also holds 18 patents that have been licensed to eight different companies.

Women in BME Luncheon Sponsored by:
UC Davis Biomedical Engineering
 
Special Sessions
Wednesday, October 17
 
BMES Student Chapter Development Event
Wednesday, 3:30pm – 5:00pm -- A411
Calling all BMES student chapter leaders! Join us for multiple, short presentations by the chapters leading the nation in various club aspects. These presentations will be followed by two breakout workshops chosen by you based on your personal interests.
The first breakout session period will focus on General Leadership and the second on Targeted Officer Roles. Work with your peers to generate new ideas and leadership strategies for your chapters. This event will generate exciting, new ideas for your chapters. As an added bonus, meet up with other student chapter leaders to start out the week and make weeklong and lifelong friends which will certainly improve your overall conference experience. Event hosted by BMES at UC Davis (ucdbmes@gmail.com).
Chair: Michael Brooks (UC Davis) and Sarah St. Clair (UC Davis)
Black Women in Biomedical Engineering: Lessons for Healthy and Successful Career Advancement
Wednesday, 3:00pm – 5:00pm -- Omni, Dogwood AB Room
*additional registration and $20 ticket required
According to a recent joint study released by the National Society for Black Engineers and the Society for Women Engineers, 25% of black women leave the engineering field within the first 5 years. Through this event, we hope to address some of the issues related to the dismal retention rates of black women in STEM. Extensive literature has shown that black women experience more oppression, poor work-life balance, and harsh work environments than their counterparts in STEM fields. Guest speaker, Dr. Joy
Harden Bradford, a licensed Psychologist in Atlanta, GA, and host of the weekly podcast “Therapy for Black Girls” will the address emotional and mental health issues, as well as provide tips for black women to survive and thrive in their professional careers.
 
This event is targeted towards black women in biomedical engineering, advocates, and those interested in the retention and career advancement of underrepresented and underserved populations in BME. The event will facilitate the retention of black women in the field. Through the lens and experiences of black women, much can be learned about how to promote healthy and successful careers for all BMEs. A networking reception will follow the session.
Chairs: C. LaShan Simpson, Ph.D.  Princess Imoukhuede, Ph.D.  Gilda Barabino, Ph.D
Thursday, October 18
 
50th Anniversary Student Chapter Jeopardy Tournament
Thursday, 8:00am – 9:30am -- Exhibit Hall
Grab your classmates and professors and come show your school spirit at the 2018 BMES student chapter jeopardy tournament.
Student chapters from across the country will face off in a jeopardy tournament utilizing questions from biomedical engineering coursework and 50 years of BMES history in a fun, fast-paced, and friendly competition. Students will compete for prizes as well as for the inaugural BMES student chapter jeopardy title!
Chairs: Martine LaBerge, Liz Richards, Matthew Brown
The Future of Bioelectronics: Materials, Processes, and Applications
Thursday, 8:00am – 9:30am -- A301
The bioelectronics field encompasses a broad range of materials and devices. This symposium will highlight efforts in the field including organic and low dimensional carbon-based bioelectronic materials and devices for biosensing, diagnostics, actuation, drug delivery, and active tissue engineering. Focus will also be placed on both active and passive materials and processes meant to impart flexible, conformal, stretchable, and/or transient/degradable functionality. This symposium intends to further emphasize the need for cross-disciplinary efforts in the development of next-generation bio-integrated electronics by bringing together more fundamental research efforts with those of industrial participants – highlighting systems-level challenges (power and signal transmission/communication) and rising clinical needs.
Chairs: Jonathan Rivnay (Northwestern University), Tzahi Cohen-Karni (Carnegie Mellon University), Chong Xie (UT Austin) and
Jacob Robinson (Rice University)
State-of-the-Art ImmunoEngineering and Future Opportunities
Thursday, 8:00am – 9:30am -- A411
The symposium will bring forth thought-leaders in immunoEngineering to present state-of-the-art research and opportunities for future directions. Topics to be covered will represent the breath to which immunology intersects with different areas of biomedical engineering such as imaging, biomechanics, biomaterials and computational biology. ImmunoEngineering is a very timely subject of great interest to many bioengineers as wells as the funding agency, National Institutes of Health (NIH). The National Institute for
Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) recently established the first ImmunoEngineering program at NIH. At this gathering of biomedical engineers, a panel discussion will be facilitated by the NIH representative, with the panel consisting of the four speakers and two co-chairs. The purpose of this discussion is to foster ideas from panelists and the audience. Issues to consider include opportunities for further engagement of the biomedical engineering community in immunoEngineering, identify gaps and opportunities for collaboration amongst the community and with immunologists, and how NIH programs can support such endeavors. The NIBIB is of the view that the biomedical engineering community can utilize their expertise and out-of-box solutions to help immunologists, cancer biologists or HIV experts to address unresolved issues that will benefit from a multidisciplinary team-based approach.

8:00-8:05am -- Session Introduction
[Julia Babensee (Georgia Tech/Emory University), Susan Thomas (Georgia Tech)]
 
8:05-9:05am -- Speaker Presentations
Phillip Santangelo (Georgia Tech/Emory University) – Imaging host pathogen interactions in vivo
Arpita Upadhyaya (University of Maryland) – Immune biomechanics
Darrell Irvine (MIT) – Biomaterial-based immunomodulation
Douglas Lauffenberger (MIT) – Systems biology for understanding immune concepts 

9:05-9:15am -- Roundtable Introduction:  NIH program in ImmunoEngineering description and future outreach/opportunities
[Shadi Mamaghani (NIBIB, NIH)]
 
9:15-9:30am -- Roundtable discussion
[Shadi Mamaghani, moderator; Santangelo, Upadhyaya, Irvine, Lauffenberger, Babensee, Thomas, panelists]

Chairs: Julia Babensee (Georgia Tech/Emory University), Susan Thomas (Georgia Tech/Emory University), Shadi Mamaghani
(NIBIB, NIH)
Single Cell Analysis and Tumor Heterogeneity
Thursday, 8:00am – 9:30am -- A301
The tumor heterogeneity is a critical factor in understanding the biology of aggressive tumors and mechanisms underlying resistance to an expanding repertoire of targeted therapies in cancer. The session will focus on technology developments and the data analytics for single cell analysis to explore the tumor heterogeneity. The session will highlight important areas of single cell analysis including technologies and tools related to single cell isolation and single cell analytical methods (RNA, DNA, protein).
Chairs: Sunitha Nagrath (University of Michigan) and Lydia Sohn (UC Berkley)

8.00am  Opening remarks from Session Chair Sunitha Nagrath, University of Michigan 
8.10-8.30 Guillem Pratx, Stanford University
Title: PET imaging at the single-cell level: a tool for dissecting heterogeneous tumor metabolism
8.30-8.50 Lydia Sohn, UC Berkley
Title: Characterizing Epithelial Cells with Mechano-Node-Pore Sensing
8.50-9.10 Todd Sulchek, Georgia Tech.
Title: Examining heterogenic responses of cancer cells to drugs based on isolation by mechanical properties
9.10-9.30 Jeff Wang, Johns Hopkins University
Title: Microfluidic Digital Melt Detection of Circulating Methylated DNA
 
High School Biomedical Engineering Expo
Thursday, 9:30am  – 6:30pm 
High school students primarily from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in science and engineering will have the opportunity to connect with biomedical engineers, students, faculty and industry, get exposure to the biomedical engineering field, and share projects they are working on related to life sciences (biology, chemistry, biotechnology, healthcare), biomedical engineering, or bioengineering. Selected students will present a poster in the exhibit hall during a poster competition at the Expo and prizes will be awarded to the top winners. The program is supported by funding through the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation (BMES Minority Network).
NIH Funding Panel Session
Thursday, 1:30pm – 3:00pm -- A301
The session will provide an overview of NIH funding opportunities and resources particularly well-suited to the BME research community. NIH Program Officers and awardees will offer insights and “lessons learned” from the perspective of winning these NIH awards as well as in serving on NIH review panels. The session will explore how researchers may develop strategies to align their research interests with NIH opportunities and priorities. The session is supported by funding through the National Institutes of Health NIBIB, NCI, NIAMS, NICHD and NINDS.
Chairs: Zeynep Erim (NIBIB) and Tony Dickherber (NCI)
Soft Material-Enabled Electronics for Medicine, Healthcare, and Human-Machine Interfaces
Thursday, 1:30pm – 3:00pm -- A310
The session will feature renowned speakers who made significant advancements in low-profile, stretchable wearable and implantable electronics for disease diagnostics, health monitoring, therapeutics, and machine interfaces. Introduction and discussion of the emerging technologies and systems regarding wearable and implantable biosensors and bioelectronics will make a direct contribution to the biomedical engineering society since this emerging research area is focusing on the development of advanced materials and engineering technologies to advance human health and well-being.
Chairs: Prof. Woon-Hong Yeo (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Prof. Jae-Woong Jeong (Korea Advanced Institute of Science &
Technology, South Korea)
6th US-Korea Joint BMES Workshop on Biomedical Engineering
Thursday, 2:30pm – 5:00pm -- A411
The goal of the 6th Annual US-Korea Joint Workshop on Biomedical Engineering is to promote cooperation, collaboration, and networking between the members of Korean Society of Medical and Biological Engineering (KOSOMBE) and Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). In the past five years, this annual Workshop has become increasingly well-known among biomedical engineers in both US and Korea, attracting >~100 PIs and trainees from both countries as part of the Annual BMES meeting. The workshop will cover topics on various convergent technologies to better understand and improve human health via different approaches in multi-disciplines including biomaterials, tissue engineering, mechanobiology, biotransport, neuro-engineering, exosome, and immunotherapies, drug delivery, medical imaging, immune cancer therapy, stem cell therapy, and bionanotechnology. The Workshop provides an important venue and serves as bridge for a long-term relationship and mutual benefit for both Society members in US and Korea.
Chairs: Ho-Wook Jun (University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Hanjoong Jo (Emory University and Georgia Tech)
DEBUT Winner Presentations and Award Ceremony
Thursday, 3:45pm – 5:15pm -- A301

Speakers:
Zeynep Erim, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
Phil Weilerstein, VentureWell
Colin J.H. Brenan, Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of HiFiBiO BV, Editor-in-Chief of IEEE PULSE Magazine

The winners of the DEBUT (Design by Undergraduate Biomedical Teams) jointly sponsored by the National Institute of Biomedical
Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and VentureWell, will present their projects and receive their awards. The session will conclude with a talk on “Next steps in the path to commercialization” by Colin J.H. Brenan, Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of HiFiBiO
BV, Editor-in-Chief of IEEE PULSE Magazine.

Agenda:
3:45pm
Welcome and Introductions

3:48-4:40pm
DEBUT Award winner presentations (5)
  
4:40-5:15pm
“Next steps in the path to commercialization” by Colin J.H. Brenan, Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of HiFiBiO BV, Editor-in-Chief of IEEE PULSE Magazine

Chair: Zeynip Erim (NIH/NIBIB) and Phil Weilerstein (VentureWell)
Novel Photoacoustic Imaging: Systems, Computation, and Agents
Thursday, 3:45pm – 5:15pm -- A310
The special session will feature four world-leading experts on the latest breakthroughs in photoacoustic imaging, including Drs. Lihong V. Wang (Caltech, USA), Stanislav Emelianov (Georgia Tech, USA), Daniel Razansky (TUM, Germany), and Chulhong Kim (POSTCH, South Korea). Photoacoustic imaging, also referred to as optoacoustic imaging, is most sensitive to rich optical absorption contrast and has overcome the fundamental depth limit of high-resolution optical imaging. The image resolution, as well as the maximum imaging depth, is highly scalable with the optical and acoustic configurations at depths up to several centimeters in biological tissues. Photoacoustic imaging can provide anatomical (e.g., tumor angiogenesis and artery plaque), functional (e.g., neuronal activity and ischemic hypoxia), and molecular information (e.g., protein-protein interaction and gene expression) of living tissues. Photoacoustic imaging is a valuable tool for personalized medicine, using numerous exogenous contrast agents (e.g., organic dyes, metallic and nonmetallic nanoparticles, and reporter gene products) with biomarkers. The invited speakers will collectively cover four exciting topics: (1) Omniscale photoacoustic imaging from organelles to patients, (2) ultrafast photoacoustic imaging of biological functions and dynamics, (3) contrast agents for theranostic photoacoustic imaging, and (4) clinical and commercial translation of photoacoustic imaging.
Chairs: Junjie Yao (Duke University), Muyinatu (Bisi) Bell (John Hopkins University) and Jun Xia (University of Buffalo)
Friday, October 19

Systems Thinking in the Education of Biomedical Engineering Students
Friday, 8:00am - 9:30am -- A301
This session is dedicated to discussions of innovative BME teaching modalities in the area of computational biomedical systems analysis and highlights novel ideas pertaining to classroom education in the rapidly emerging field of dynamical systems analysis in health and disease. The session begins with real-life illustrations from a critical care unit that set the stage by demonstrating the importance of systems-based biomedical engineering. The subsequent presentations describe different approaches toward fostering systems thinking in the next generation of biomedical engineers.
Chairs: Eberhard Voit and Denis Tsygankov
Advanced Biomanufacturing Session I: Advanced Tissue Biofabrication
Friday, 8:00am - 9:30am -- A311
Advanced Biomanufacturing Special Interest Group (ABioM SIG) is pleased to organize two special sessions: “Advanced Cell
Biomanufacturing” and “Tissue Biofabrication” to highlight grant challenges and R&D opportunities as well as workforce training in these emerging fields. Invited speakers include Director of National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), Director of NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Cell Manufacturing Technologies, Director of NIH Center for Engineering Complex Tissues, and pioneers and leaders in these fields.
Chairs: Kaiming Ye (Binghamton University, SUNY) and Cheng Dong
AAA-BMES Symposium: Engineering and Imaging the Stem Cell Niche for Guided Regeneration
Friday, 8:00am - 9:30am -- A411
This symposium will focus on anatomical and bioengineering approaches. The theme of the symposium is multi-scale imaging and mechanical contributions to deriving stem cell derived therapeutic tissue growth with emphasis on the matrix and signaling events that are measurable using novel imaging and organoid-on-a-chip approaches.
Chair: Scott Simon (University of California-Davis)
Advanced Biomanufacturing Session II: Advanced Cell Biomanufacturing
Friday, 1:15pm - 2:45pm -- A311
Advanced Biomanufacturing Special Interest Group (ABioM SIG) is pleased to organize two special sessions: “Advanced Cell Biomanufacturing” and “Tissue Biofabrication” to highlight grant challenges and R&D opportunities as well as workforce training in these emerging fields. Invited speakers include Director of National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), Director of NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Cell Manufacturing Technologies, Director of NIH Center for Engineering Complex Tissues, and pioneers and leaders in these fields.
Chairs: Kaiming Ye (Binghamton University, SUNY) and Cheng Dong
Young Innovators of Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, Part I
Friday, 8:00am - 9:30am
AEMB/BMES Regulatory and Intellectual Property Protection Strategies (open to all)
Friday, 1:00pm - 2:30pm -- Georgia State Room
Learn important considerations for translating medical device designs from the classroom and the lab into commercially viable products to improve human health and wellbeing. Experts from the medical device industry will describe how to determine the market for a product and the pathways to gain regulatory approval (US and global). Additionally, a patent attorney will present strategies to protect intellectual property, another critically important step toward creating a commercially viable device. This session is open to all conference attendees and is part of the Mentoring for Innovative Design Solutions (MINDS) Scholar Program, which is run by Alpha Eta Mu Beta and funded through the National Science Foundation. The session is co-sponsored by BMES.
Young Innovators of Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, Part II
Friday, 1:15pm - 2:45pm
Engineering Solutions to Health Care Disparities
Friday, 1:15pm - 2:45pm -- A409
Health and health care disparities remain a costly and burdensome challenge in the U.S. and pose a serious threat to continued improvement in overall quality of care and population health. Biomedical engineers are well positioned to employ novel biodesign strategies toward the elimination of these disparities. This interactive session will explore approaches for research and education related to the application of biomedical technologies and engineering designs to solve health disparities. The session will feature outstanding designs developed in the 2018 BMES Coulter College.
Chairs: Gilda Barabino, Cato Laurencin
BMES-NSF Special Session on CAREER and UNSOLICITED Awards
Friday, 1:30pm - 4:30pm -- A301
*pre-registration required - Click here to register
BMES and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have partnered to convene a special session focused on innovative research in biomedical engineering and grant writing. The session will bring together NSF Bioengineering and Engineering Healthcare grantees, young investigators, junior and senior faculty, and post-doctoral fellows for idea exchange and networking related to conducting and funding cutting-edge research in BME. The session will showcase NSF funded research and researchers, foster collaboration and idea exchange, familiarize participants with NSF funding mechanisms, and provide strategies for preparing competitive grant proposals, in particular NSF CAREER and unsolicited grant applications. The session is funded through the National Science Foundation. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CBET – 1824363. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Click here to register
Physical Science Oncology Networking
Friday, 3:30pm - 5:00pm -- A411
A Network of "Physical Science Oncology Centers & Projects" is being funded by the National Cancer Institute, and many faculty and students in Biomedical Engineering Departments are Directors, Investigators, or Fellows in the Network. This symposium will describe the Center efforts while highlighting ongoing work and will breakup into small roundtable discussions to answer science questions and also describe opportunities for interactions.
3:30-3:46  Intro and PSOC@Penn, Dennis Discher
3:47-4:01  Utah PSOP, Orly Alter
4:02-4:19  Johns Hopkins U. PSOC, Kostas Konstantopoulos
4:20-4:37  U Minn PSOC, David Odde
4:38-4:52  Georgia Tech PSOP, Cheng Zhu
4:52-5:00  break-up into roundtable question/answer & discussion
Chair: Dennis Discher (PSOC@Penn Director) Co-chair: Kostas Konstantopolous (Johns Hopkins University PSOC)
Athanasiou Annals of Biomedical Engineering Student Award Session
Friday, 3:30pm - 5:00pm -- A409
In 2017 the Kerry and Kiley Athanasiou Endowment was established within the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) to promote graduate students and post-doctoral scholars through their publications in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (ABME). This session will include up to six speakers selected by the ABME Editorial Board based on their outstanding publications in ABME during the past year. Each award recipient will present a 10 minute summary of their paper followed by 5 minutes ofQ&A. A plaque and award of $500 will be presented to each winner.
Chair: Stefan Duma (Virginia Tech)
BMES Graduate Medical Innovation Program Workshop Part III: Defining Student Archetype(s)
Friday, 3:30pm – 5:00pm -- A310
Graduate medical innovation (GMI) programs provide pathways for engineers, life scientists, and MDs to amplify each other’s efforts in developing new innovations in medicine. These programs are emerging from engineering departments, but also from medical schools, business programs, and entrepreneurship centers. All of these different graduate programs have in common the need to identify high-quality students with strong potential for success. At the same time, the process of bringing new medical technologies to market requires contributions from individuals with disparate skill sets, such as engineers, researchers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs. This diverse range of skills demands a careful consideration of the student archetypes who should be included in such programs.
This workshop emerged from the second GMI Program Workshop, held at the 2017 BMES Annual Meeting; at that event, a break-out session brainstormed attributes of “ideal” candidate students for GMI programs. Following up on that workshop, the organizers distributed surveys to both administrators and alumni of GMI programs. The 2018 Workshop will include detailed review and discussion of the results of these surveys, with the goal of continuing to define the archetype(s) of prospective students with the potential for success in this style of program.
Chairs: Jennifer Amos (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Gilda A. Barabino (The City College of New York), Jeffrey S. Garanich (The City College of New York) and Michael O’Donnell (UC Berkeley / UC San Francisco)
Saturday, October 20
 
Application of Two Dimensional Materials in Healthcare
Saturday, 8:00am - 9:30am -- A310
2D materials offer high sensitivity due to large surface area, thin atomic profile, tunable electronic/optical properties, flexibility, mechanical strength, and optical transparency. The distinct chemical and physical properties of 2D materials make them ideal for detecting various biological targets, such as nucleic acids, proteins, and small molecules. In recent years, 2D materials and their composite structure with other nanoscale materials (such as nanoparticles, enzymes, nanotubes) have attracted great attention in various technologies related to healthcare, including biochemical sensors, drug delivery, design of in vivo probes, substrate for immobilization of biomolecules, etc. This Special Session intends to share some of the exciting research efforts in the filed on application of 2D materials in healthcare, and can create new collaborative opportunities between the attendees with different areas of expertise, including biomedical engineering, materials science/engineering, electrical engineers, and chemical engineering.
Chair: Aida Ebrahimi (Pennsylvania State University)
Scientific Advancement in the Biomechanics of Prosthetic Heart Valves
Saturday, 8:00am - 9:30am -- A311
Over the past 60 years, prosthetic heart valves have evolved from mechanical valves to tissue valves implanted surgically, to recent stented tissue valves implanted percutaneously. As one of the major medical devices in clinical cardiovascular disease treatment, prosthetic heart valve has dramatically improved the quality and length of the lives of millions of patients worldwide who otherwise may have no treatment options. Behind its marvelous success, biomedical engineering analysis has played a critical role in improving prosthetic valve design and functionality. In the symposium, we will review and discuss the scientific advancement of prosthetic valve design and the associated engineering analyses done in the past 60 years, ongoing research, and future research directions.
Chair: Ajit Yoganathan (Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University)
BMES-NSF Special Session on Graduate Research Fellowships Program
Saturday, 8:00am - 9:30am -- A301
*pre-registration required - Click here to register 
BMES and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have partnered to convene a special session focused on NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP). The goal of the session is to bring together program officers, grantees, reviewers and graduate students to highlight the NSF GRFP and inform undergraduate and graduate students on GFRP guidelines and strategies to develop winning GRFP grant proposals. The session is funded through the National Science Foundation. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CBET – 1824363. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 
Click here to register 
International Collaboration in Biomedical Engineering Education
Biomedical Engineering Education Track
Saturday, 1:30pm -- 3:00pm - A310
This special session will highlight progress in the development of joint biomedical engineering programs between U.S. universities and universities in China, Singapore, and South Korea. This event is a key step in forming partnerships between the BMES and biomedical engineering societies abroad. The invited speakers will share their experience in development/running of international BS/MS/PhD Programs in Biomedical Engineering.
Chairs: Damir Khismatullin (Tulane University) and Song Li (UCLA)
 
Student and Early Career Program
Tips for First-time Student and Early Career Attendees
Wednesday, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM -- Room A412
Welcome to your first BMES Annual Meeting! Attending a meeting as eventful as the BMES Annual Meeting can be overwhelming, but BMES is here to help our students and young professionals navigate the program. You’ll hear tips from professionals in academia and industry help to make the most of your time in Atlanta. So be sure to attend this session and meet other first-time attendees.
 
Marketing Yourself: Tips for a Successful Job Search
Thursday, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM -- A412
Learn how to search for jobs in BME, how to locate BME companies, how to connect with BME employers, and hear about resume writing tips specifically for BME.
 
BME Careers in Industry I
Thursday, 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM -- A412
Explore the various industry options for BME professionals. Representatives from industry share their career paths, educational training, insight into the hiring market, and suggestions for current student and recent graduates.
 
Rapid Resume Review -- Members Only
Thursday, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM -- Exhibit Hall Career Zone
Experienced BME professionals will review an electronic or hard copy of your resume and work with you to make improvements. Or simply get some career advice.
 
BME Careers in Academia
Thursday, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM -- A412
Hear the various career paths and opportunities in academia. Representatives from academia share their career paths, educational training, and suggestions for current students and recent graduates.
 
BME Careers in Industry II
Thursday, 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM -- A412
Explore the various industry options for BME professionals. Representatives from industry share their career paths, educational training, insight into the hiring market, and suggestions for current student and recent graduates.
 
BMES Student Chapter: Chapter Best Practices I
Friday, 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM -- A310
Outstanding Student Chapter awardees will provide their chapter best-practices. During this workshop, each chapter will have the opportunity to present their chapter’s goals and accomplishments in the areas of Mentoring, Outreach, and Chapter-Industry. Our chapter winners include Outstanding Achievement awardee University of Southern California, Commendable Achievement awardee San José State University, Outstanding Outreach Program awardee University of California Los Angeles, Outstanding Mentoring Program awardee University of California Davis and Outstanding Chapter-Industry Program awardee Purdue University.
This workshop will allow new and current student chapters an opportunity to ask questions, exchange ideas and implement new goals for their upcoming year.
 
The Path to Graduate School
Friday, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM -- A412
This workshop focuses on the process of applying to graduate school. Hear about what things to consider when you are making the decision to apply to graduate school and how to search for programs that fit your needs and interests, and learn how to put together the best application possible. This session is designed to be very interactive – lots of questions from the audience and a conversation of the do’s and do not’s for writing a statement of purpose, requesting letters of recommendation, etc. You will come out of this session with a more concrete idea of whether or not graduate school is a good choice for you as well as strategies for putting together a solid application.
 
BME Entrepreneurial Careers
Friday, 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM -- A412
Entrepreneurs discuss translating ideas from the university to commercial use. Panelists will discuss tips and insight into how to take an idea from concept to commercial product. Discussion will include university resources, finding funding, IP, licensing and start-up options.
 
BMES Student Chapter: BMES Undergraduate Student Design Competition
Friday, 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM -- A310
The theme of this year’s competition is Tissue Design, focusing on interactions between medical devices. The session will bring together the top 6 winning design teams that were selected. The top 6 include Clemson University, Johns Hopkins University, Lawrence Technological University and Virginia Commonwealth University (with 3 design entries). This competition allows each design team to orally present their projects and students to ask questions after each presentation.
Upon completion of all presentations, the judges will select and announce the top 3 winners. Winners will receive First, Second and Third place prize money during the awards ceremony on Saturday, October 20 during the Plenary at 10:30 AM.
 
Abbott Professional Development Program Information Session 
Friday, 2:30 PM - 3:00 PM -- A412
Discover the career of a lifetime.  Learn about Abbott's Technical Sales Specialist Associate Program at an information session.  Please bring several copies of your resume as there will be a meet and greet following the information session.  TREAT THIS AS AN INTERVIEW.  Click here for the flyer for more information about the program.    
 
Rapid Resume Review -- Members Only
Friday, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM -- Exhibit Hall Career Zone
Experienced BME professionals will review an electronic or hard copy of your resume and work with you to make improvements. Or simply get some career advice.
 
Design Competition Judges -- Judges Only
Friday, 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM -- A310
 
Networking Effectively Online and in Person
Friday, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM -- A412
Networking is one of the quickest ways to a new job. Networking means staying in touch with people you know and meeting new people. Employers really prefer to hire someone known to a current employee than a complete stranger. Connecting with people at your target employers or choosing to work for an employer because you already have friends who work there is one of the most effective methods of landing a new job. At this highly motivational workshop facilitated by an internationally renowned television personality, communication and professional development training expert, and author, Nadia Bilchik, President of Greater Impact Communications. You will be introduced to strategies for establishing and maintaining career relationships through social media and in person.
 
Industry Programs
Tech Transfer Innovation Challenge
Thursday, October 18th, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM -- A402
This session will be a forum for select researchers and academics to pitch to companies interested in sponsoring research or licensing a technology. The technology topics will align with the commercial interests of the participating companies. Company representatives will be available after the pitches for questions and networking.
Chair: Andrew Cobb, Abbott
Entrepreneur Workshop
Thursday, October 18th, 1:15 PM - 3:15 PM -- A402
The session will include a panel discussion where the individuals will cover one or more of the below areas.  The second half of the session will include an open roundtable whereby attendees can interact with panelists individually to address specific questions they might have. 
  • US Regulatory strategy
  • OUS Regulatory strategy
  • Verification/Validation
  • Pre-clinical trials
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Clinical trials
  • Design
  • Manufacturing
  • Quality Management System
  • Risk Management
  • Reimbursement
  • Corporate Governance
  • Financial Modeling
  • Marketing/Sales
  • Fundraising Strategy
  • IP Strategy
  • Launch
  • Post-market surveillance
  • Post-market studies
  • Company growth
  • Exit strategy
Chair: Paul Vellano, Barclay Damon LLP
Industry and Clinical Mixer
Thursday, October 18th, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM -- STATS Brewpub, 300 Marietta St NW
*Ticket Purchase Required
The Industry and Clinical Mixer will be a fantastic opportunity for recent graduates and current students to network with both industry and clinical professionals in a fun and relaxed atmosphere! Hors-d'oeuvres and one free drink will be provided for those in attendance. STATS Brewpub is conveniently located just outside of the Georgia World Congress Center. Parking is located right across the street at the 311 Marietta Street parking deck (attached to the Hilton Garden Inn). 
Co-chairs: Alec Thomas, University of Colorado, and Stephanie Mansfield, Brooks Kushman P.C.
Product Development Implications based on FDA Medical Device Classification
Friday, October 19th, 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM -- A402
A panel-based presentation and discussion on FDA device classifications and their impact on requirements for new product development. Specific content will include discussions on the regulatory submission pathways, sterilization methods, physics-based computer modeling and simulation, and the role of ASTM/ISO standards in the regulatory submission.
Chair: Christopher Basciano, BD
Speakers:
  • Christopher Basciano, PhD, BD
  • Justin Huckaby, University of North Carolina
  • Stacy Arnold, AxoGen Inc.
  • Theodore Nicholson III, PhD, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
  • Patrick W. Strane, Global Center for Medical Innovation
Connecting Engineering Skillsets with Professional Achievement and Advancement
Friday, October 19th, 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM -- A402
The medical technology and pharmaceutical industries contain a broad range of career pathways that includes positions at small companies, global corporations, and regulatory agencies. Successful entry and advancement for each organization often requires individual professionals or students to navigate open-ended scenarios that extend beyond technical work completed in a laboratory, office, or classroom. To help students and professionals make informed decisions on the value of different skill sets and equip individuals for making their next career transition, the current session will present descriptions on different career pathways and offer guidance from professionals who are employed in various medical organizations. Responses from an anonymized survey of multiple industry professionals giving their opinions on career advancement and professional achievement will also be presented as part of the discussion.
Chair: Christopher Basciano, BD
Speakers:
  • Christopher Basciano, PhD, BD
  • Jennifer Amos, PhD, University of Illinois
  • Leonardo Angelone, PhD, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
  • Stephanie Mansfield, PhD, Brooks Kushman P.C.
  • Rachael Blackstone, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.
  • Stacie Chvatal, PhD, Axion BioSystems
Clinical Innovators Spotlight
Friday, October 19th, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM -- A402
One of the challenges in biomedical engineering careers is developing an understanding of current and anticipated unmet clinical needs, and how to address those needs with existing and new technologies. The audience will be treated to a detailed view, from leading clinical innovators, on how real-world problems in cardiology, oncology, organ transplantation, and orthopedics can be addressed with biomedical engineering solutions.
Co-chairs: Jonathan Gunn, Briteseed, and Omid Veiseh, Sigilon