Ankur Singh

Ankur Singh

Ankur Singh

Professor

Prof. Singh has a joint appointment with the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.

Prof. Singh started at Cornell University as an Assistant Professor in 2013 and was promoted with tenure to Associate Professor with joint appointments in the Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. At Cornell, he served as the Associate Director of the NIH T32 training grant on Immuno-engineering, executive council of the Center for Immunology, and the Cornell (Ithaca) – Weill Cornell Medicine (NYC) Academic Integration initiative. Prior to joining Cornell, he completed his postdoctoral training in cell mechanobiology, cell-matrix interactions, and stem cell engineering at Georgia Tech in Mechanical Engineering.

ankur.singh@gatech.edu

Singh Lab Website

Research Focus Areas:
  • Bioengineering

IRI Connections:

Machelle Pardue

Machelle Pardue

Machelle Pardue

Professor
Research Career Scientist, Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation

Dr. Pardue is a Research Career Scientist at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, and a Professor in Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Pardue received her B.S. in zoology from the University of Wyoming and her doctorate in vision science and biology at the University of Waterloo. Her post-doctorate training in visual electrophysiology was completed with Dr. Neal Peachey at Loyola School of Medicine and Hines VA Hospital in Chicago and focused on biocompatibility of retinal prosthetics. Dr. Pardue moved to Atlanta in 2000 to join the Atlanta VA Medical Center and Emory University Department of Ophthalmology. She moved her academic appointment to Biomedical Engineering in 2015. Her research interests are focused on developing treatments for people with vision loss. To this end, she has developed three research themes within her lab: 1) neuroprotective and restorative treatments for retinal degeneration, 2) early detection and treatment of diabetic retinopathy, and 3) retinal mechanisms of refractive development and myopia. Her research has been continuously supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, NIH, and private companies (1999-present). She has served on several VA and NIH grant review panels and frequently reviews manuscripts for several journals including Journal of Neuroscience, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Molecular Vision, Vision Research, Journal of Neuroscience Methods, Journal of Neurochemistry and PlosOne.

machelle.pardue@bme.gatech.edu

404-385-3666

Office Location:
UAW 4104

Website

  • Related Site
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Neuroscience
    • Regenerative Medicine
    Additional Research:
    Pardue's lab is focused on developing treatments for people with vision loss. Steps to successful treatment require understanding the mechanisms of the disease and characterizing temporal changes to identify therapeutic windows, with the ultimate goal of rehabilitation of visual function. She uses behavioral electrophysiological, morphological, molecular, and imaging approaches to evaluate changes in retinal function and structure. Her research is guided by applying knowledge of retinal circuits and visual processing, often leading to studies of cognition and the interaction of retinal and visual circuits during health and disease. Her studies start in animal models and move to human trials when possible.

    IRI Connections:

    Cassie Mitchell

    Cassie Mitchell

    Cassie Mitchell

    Assistant Professor

    Dr. Cassie S. Mitchell is a research engineer, elite athlete, and mentor. She is a current member of the USA Paralympic team and research faculty in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. At age 18 Cassie was afflicted with Devics Neuromyelitis Optica, leaving her as a quadriplegic and with visual impairments. Her faith and philosophy on life has helped her to overcome the resulting challenges. She graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from GT/Emory. She enjoys mentoring high school and college students as well as new spinal cord injury patients at Shepherd Center Brain and Spinal Cord Rehabilitiation Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia.

    cassie.mitchell@bme.gatech.edu

    Office Location:
    UAW 3106

    Lab Website

  • Personal Website
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Neuroscience
    Additional Research:
    Cassie Mitchell's research goal centers around expediting clinical translation from bench to bedside using data-enabled prediction. Akin to data-based models used to forecast weather, Cassie's research integrates disparate, multi-scalar experimental and clinical data sets to dynamically forecast disease. Cassie is the principal investigator of the Laboratory for Pathology Dynamics, which uses a combination of computational, analytical, and informatics-based techniques to identify complex disease etiology, predict new therapeutics, and optimize current interventions. Cassie's research has predominantly targeted neuropathology, but her research applications in predictive medicine expand across all clinical specialties.

    IRI Connections:

    Hee Cheol Cho

    Hee Cheol Cho

    Hee Cheol Cho

    Associate Professor
    Urowsky-Sahr Scholar in Pediatric Bioengineering

    Hee Cheol Cho is the Urowsky-Sahr Scholar in Pediatric Bioengineering and Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics. He received his PhD in Physiology from the University of Toronto in 2003.

    HeeCheol.Cho@emory.edu

    404-727-6356

    Office Location:
    Emory HSRB E184

    Website

  • Related Site
  • Cho Lab
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Regenerative Medicine
    Additional Research:
    The Heart Regeneration Lab focuses on using genes and chemicals to pace and regenerate the heart. We are based at Emory University in Pediatrics and BME in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering of Georgia Tech and Emory University.

    IRI Connections:

    Jeffery Markowitz

    Jeffery Markowitz

    Jeffery Markowitz

    Assistant Professor

    Our work focuses on how the brain decides which action to perform at each moment in time – that is, action selection. We are interested in the cortical and subcortical circuits that mediate this process, and how they go awry in neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, we perform measurements of large-populations of neural activity in freely behaving mice using imaging and physiology, and distill their behavior in real-time using 3D cameras and probabilistic approaches to machine learning. Additionally, we are pursuing new methods to control activity in these circuits using precision closed-loop deep brain stimulation.

    jeffrey.markowitz@bme.gatech.edu

    Office Location:
    UAW 3102

    https://markolab.org/


    IRI Connections:

    Kyle Allison

    Kyle Allison

    Kyle Allison

    Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine/Infectious Disease, Emory University

    kyle.allison@bme.gatech.edu

    404-727-6974

    Office Location:
    Emory HSRB E146

    Website

  • Related Site
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Systems Biology
    Additional Research:
    Our lab studies the response of bacteria to antibiotics in order to develop new methods for eradicating persistent bacteria. Bacterial persistence is a form antibiotic resistance in which a transient fraction of bacterial cells tolerates severe antibiotic treatment while the majority of the population is eliminated. These 'persisters' can contribute to chronic infections and are a major medical problem. Despite their medical and scientific importance, presistence is not fully understood. A crucial challenge in studying bacterial persistence results from a lack of methods to isolate persisters from the heterogeneous populations in which they occur. As a result, systems-level analysis of persisters is beyond current techniques, and fundamental questions regarding their physiological diversity remain unanswered. Our lab seeks to develop methods to isolate persisters and study them with systems-wide, molecular techniques. The resulting findings will be used to engineer improved antibiotic therapies. Dr. Allison's previous research included development of a novel method to eradicate pathogenic bacteria, includingEscherichia coliandStaphylococcus aureus,by metabolic stimulation and the finding that bacteria communicate with each other to alter their tolerance to antibiotics.

    IRI Connections:

    Shuichi Takayama

    Shuichi Takayama

    Shuichi Takayama

    Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
    GRA Eminent Scholar, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
    Price Gilbert, Jr. Chair in Regenerative Engineering andMedicine

    Shu Takayama earned his BS and MS in Agricultural Chemistry at the University of Tokyo. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California studying bio-organic synthesis with Dr. Chi‐Huey Wong. He then worked as a postdoc with Dr. George Whitesides at Harvard University where he focused on applying microfluidics to studying cell and molecular biology.

    Takayama began his career at the University of Michigan, where led his lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Macromolecular Science & Engineering for over 17 years. In 2017, the lab moved to Georgia Tech where Shu became the Georgia Research Alliance Price Gilbert Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering.

    Takayama’s research interests are diverse and motivated by clinical and biotechnology needs. He is always interested in hearing from stakeholders in these areas who are seeking engineering collaboration.

    takayama@gatech.edu

    404.385.5722

    Office Location:
    EBB 4018

    Takayama lab

  • BME Profile Page
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Bioengineering
    • Biomaterials
    • Cancer Biology
    • Cell Manufacturing
    • Medical Device Design, Development and Delivery
    • Micro and Nano Device Engineering
    • Miniaturization & Integration
    • Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Biomechanics
    • Nanomaterials
    • Systems Biology
    Additional Research:

    Use of micro/nanofluidics for cell analysis; diagnostics; and chromatin analysis; High throughput 3D cell cultures; Organs-on-a-chip construction and design; Role of rhythm in cell signaling; Self-switching fluidic circuits; Fracture fabrication


    IRI Connections:

    Wei Sun

    Wei Sun

    Wei Sun

    Adjunct Associate Professor
    Chief Executive Officer, Sutra Medical Inc.

    wei.sun@bme.gatech.edu

    404-385-1245

    Office Location:
    TEP 206

    Sutra Medical

    Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Biomechanics
    Additional Research:
    Heart Valve Biomechanics, Engineering Analysis, and Medical Device R&D 

    IRI Connections:

    C. Ross Ethier

    C. Ross Ethier

    C. Ross Ethier

    Professor
    Georgia Research Alliance Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr. Eminent Scholar in Bioengineering

    Prof. Ethier was originally trained as a mechanical engineer, receiving his Ph.D. from MIT in 1986 working in the lab of Roger D. Kamm. He then joined the University of Toronto, where he was a Professor of Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering and Ophthalmology, and latterly the Director of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. Prior to joining Georgia Tech/Emory, Professor Ethier was the Head of the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College, London from 2007-12. 

    His research is in the biomechanics of cells and whole organs. His specific research topics include glaucoma (biomechanics of aqueous humour drainage in the normal and glaucomatous eye, and the mechanical and cellular response of optic nerve tissues to intraocular pressure), study of hemodynamic basis of arterial disease.

    ross.ethier@bme.gatech.edu

    404-385-0100

    Office Location:
    Petit Biotechnology Building, Office 2306

    Website

  • Related Site
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
    • Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Biomechanics
    • Neuroscience
    • Regenerative Medicine
    Additional Research:
    "Biomechanics and mechanobiology, glaucoma, osteoarthritis, regenerative medicine, intraocular pressure control, optic nerve head biomechanics. We work at the boundaries between mechanics, cell biology and physiology to better understand the role of mechanics in disease, to repair diseased tissues, and to prevent mechanically-triggered damage to tissues and organs. Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness. We carry out a range of studies to understand and treat this disease. For example, we are developing a new, mechanically-based, strategy to protect fragile neural cells that, if successful, will prevent blindness. We are developing protocols for stem-cell based control of intraocular pressure. We study the mechanobiology and biomechanics of neurons and glial cells in the optic nerve head. We also study VIIP, a major ocular health concern in astronauts. Osteoarthritis is the most common cause of joint pain. We are developing paradigms based on magneto-mechanical stimulation to promote the differentiation and (appropriate) proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells."

    IRI Connections: