News Archive
February 5, 2019
UC San Diego Institute of Engineering in Medicine
At the University of California San Diego, engineers, computer scientists, physicians and clinical researchers work together to improve human health. The collaborations span the lab, the clinic and the classroom. The work addresses a broad array of medical innovations, drives the next generation of medical care, and helps people live longer, healthier lives. Full Story
February 5, 2019
Physician-Engineer Match-Making at UC San Diego
Matching physicians with engineers and computer scientists, and then providing seed funding for their research collaborations, are two critical tasks that take place through UC San Diego’s Galvanizing Engineering in Medicine (GEM) Initiative. UC San Diego clinicians identify unmet needs in patient care and then work with teams of engineers and computer scientists to solve the problem and move the technology to the clinic. Full Story
February 5, 2019
Programming White Blood Cells to Fight Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is the third most lethal cancer in the United States. Patients typically don’t know they have it until it’s too late, making it difficult to treat. Only 9 percent survive five years after diagnosis. But recent discoveries at the UC San Diego Institute of Engineering in Medicine are raising hope. Engineers and surgeons are working on a treatment by reprogramming white blood cells to target and eradicate pancreatic cancer tumors. Full Story
February 4, 2019
Training Clinical Engineers
UC San Diego's Clinical Bioengineering course offers undergraduate engineering students hands-on learning experience to solve clinical problems. The course reflects the Institute of Engineering in Medicine's mission to connect engineers with physicians to produce medical innovations. Full Story
January 28, 2019
Study uncovers why heart attack triggers arrhythmia in some, explores potential treatment
A team of researchers led by the University of California San Diego has identified a genetic pathway that causes some individuals to develop an abnormal heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, after experiencing a heart attack. They have also identified a drug candidate that can block this pathway. Full Story
January 24, 2019
Bioengineer describes the promise of biomaterials for tissue repair in Science
“Biomaterials that can promote tissue repair and regeneration on their own without the need for delivering cells or other therapeutics have emerged as a potentially powerful paradigm for regenerative medicine.” That’s one of the key statements in a perspective piece written by Karen L. Christman, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California San Diego in the Jan. 24 issue of the journal Science. Full Story
December 10, 2018
Undergraduate team wins 2nd place at global synthetic biology competition
A team of 11 undergraduate students from UC San Diego earned second place out of 250 teams from around the world at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGem) competition for their approach to creating an accurate liquid biopsy test for cancer. Full Story
December 6, 2018
Scientists cut main heart disease risk locus out of DNA by genome editing
Over the past decade we’ve learned that billions of people carry a mysterious specter in their DNA that strongly increases their risk for life threatening cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks, aneurysms or strokes, no matter what diet, exercise or medical regimen they follow. Now, a team led by Scripps Research scientists and involving UC San Diego bioengineers have made a major breakthrough in unveiling this medical mystery by precisely cutting the DNA culprit from the genome, which prevents blood vessel cell abnormalities related to these devastating diseases. Full Story
November 28, 2018
Easy to use 3D bioprinting technique creates lifelike tissues from natural materials
Bioengineers have developed a 3D bioprinting technique that works with natural materials and is easy to use, allowing researchers of varying levels of technical expertise to create lifelike tissues, such as blood vessels and a vascularized gut. The goal is to make human organ models that can be studied outside the body or used to test new drugs ex vivo. Full Story
November 2, 2018
Bioengineers awarded $14M from NIH to build digital maps of brain, other organs at single-cell level
Kun Zhang, professor of bioengineering at the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, has received $14 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health to build 3D, digital single-cell maps of the human brain and organs in the respiratory and urinary systems. The work aims to provide a deeper understanding of the functions and malfunctions of organs in the human body at the level of individual cells. Full Story
October 26, 2018
UC San Diego Signs MOU with Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation at Kobe
The University of California San Diego and the Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation at Kobe (FBRI) have entered into a five-year memo of understanding (MOU). The MOU was announced Oct. 19, 2018 in Japan at the 20thanniversary celebration of the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster, of which FBRI is the core research institute.The MOU affirms a shared interest between UC San Diego and FBRI in cooperative biomedical research that will include joint research projects and publications, co-hosting seminars and workshops, and site visits. The primary contacts for the MOU are Dr. Shu Chien for UC San Diego and Dr. Ryuji Hiramatsu for FBRI. Full Story
October 25, 2018
Machine learning identifies antibiotic resistance genes in tuberculosis-causing bacteria
Researchers have trained a machine learning algorithm to identify and predict which genes make infectious bacteria resistant to antibiotics. The approach was tested on strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis—the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB) in humans. It identified 33 known and 24 new antibiotic resistance genes in these bacteria. The approach could be used to predict resistance in other infection-causing pathogens. Full Story
October 1, 2018
Four researchers recognized for innovative and transformative work by NIH
Three researchers at the University of California San Diego have been selected to receive 2018 NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards. In addition, David Traver from the UC San Diego School of Medicine, has received an NIH Director’s Transformative award. Full Story
September 19, 2018
Engineering graduate students selected as Siebel Scholars
Five Jacobs School of Engineering graduate students working to improve immunology, cardiac health, blood transfusions and our understanding of the genome have been named 2019 Siebel Scholars. The Siebel Scholars program recognizes the most talented students in the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, bioengineering and energy science. Full Story
September 6, 2018
UC San Diego clinician-engineer teams selected as 2018 Galvanizing Engineering in Medicine awardees
Four clinician-engineer teams from UC San Diego have been selected to receive the 2018 Galvanizing Engineering in Medicine (GEM) awards. GEM, an initiative of UC San Diego Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute (ACTRI) and UC San Diego Institute of Engineering in Medicine (IEM), brings engineers and clinicians together to develop innovative technologies that can be applied to solving challenging problems in medical care. This year’s projects address challenges in the areas of urology, telerobotic surgery, oncology, and spinal cord injuries. Full Story
August 22, 2018
Scientists discover a destructive mechanism that blocks the brain from knowing when to stop eating
An international team of researchers has uncovered a destructive mechanism at the molecular level that causes a well-known phenomenon associated with obesity, called leptin resistance.They found that mice fed a high-fat diet produce an enzyme named MMP-2 that clips receptors for the hormone leptin from the surface of neuronal cells in the hypothalamus. This blocks leptin from binding to its receptors. This in turn keeps the neurons from signaling that your stomach is full and you should stop eating. This is the first time that a destructive molecular mechanism has been observed and described. Full Story
August 17, 2018
Bioengineers receive $12M grant from NIH to further research on building blocks of human metabolism
The University of California San Diego has received a $12 million, four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to expand the Metabolomics Workbench, a searchable, interactive repository of data for all research in the field of metabolomics—the study of the small molecules called metabolites that are found within cells and biological systems. The Metabolomics Workbench project, led by bioengineering professor Shankar Subramaniam at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, launched in 2012 with a $6 million grant from the NIH. This new infusion of funds will allow Subramaniam and colleagues to add a wide range of clinical data to the Workbench and take the project into the clinic itself. This in turn will allow researchers and physicians to develop better tools to diagnose diseases through metabolite markers in blood. Full Story
July 31, 2018
Medical mist could fight hospital-acquired infections
A team of engineers and physicians in San Diego have developed a device that diffuses potent disinfectants for airborne delivery. Notably, the device works on a range of disinfectants that have never been atomized before, such as Triethylene glycol, or TEG. In a study published in the August issue of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, the team used the device to atomize disinfectants onto environmental surfaces contaminated with bacteria and showed that it effectively eliminated 100 percent of bacteria that commonly cause hospital-acquired infections. In addition, atomized bleach solution, ethanol and TEG completely eliminated highly multi-drug resistant strains of bacteria including K. pneumoniae. Full Story
July 23, 2018
UC San Diego bioengineers bring functional genomics data into personal websites
Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a programming library that can enable researchers to effortlessly visualize and share genomic data on their personal websites. The new open source programming library, named “GIVE” (genomic interaction visualization engine), can be used by non-experts and in many cases even eliminates the need to write any computer codes. Full Story
July 17, 2018
High vinculin levels help keep aging fruit fly hearts young
A new discovery in how heart muscles maintain their shape in fruit flies sheds light on the crucial relationship between cardiac function, metabolism, and longevity. Researchers from the University of California San Diego discovered that maintaining high levels of the protein vinculin—which sticks heart muscle cells to one another—confers health benefits to fruit flies. Their work shows that fruit flies bred to produce 50 percent more vinculin enjoyed better cardiovascular health and lived a third of their average life span longer. Full Story