Presenting:
Jerald Dumas - Advisor, Manu Platt, PhD

"The Advent of Protease Sensitive Technologies for Disease Detection, Treatment, and Research Platforms"

Cysteine cathepsins are known to be upregulated in disease states such as cancer. Hence, there is a need for technologies to detect these proteases allowing for quick clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and the study of the pathological microenvironment. We utilize cathepsin zymography and biomaterials with the following aims: development of early disease detection devices, innovative treatment strategies, and novel research platforms.

Douglas White - Advisors, Melissa Kemp, PhD, and Todd McDevitt, PhD

"Computational Rules Based Modeling of Embryonic Stem Cell Fate Transitions"

Pluripotent embryonic stem cells have the unique ability to differentiate into multiple lineages, however the specific mechanisms governing this process are poorly understood. As technology for modulating stem cell microenvironments in 3D progresses, computational models which can predict cell behavior in a variety of contexts are necessary. Our system uses a combination of physics and rules based modeling to accomplish this task.

The Graduate and Post-Doc (GaP) Seminar Series is a weekly event of research presentations by two graduate students or post-docs conducting bio-related research.  The series is organized and sponsored by the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB) with additional support from the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. It is held every Wednesday at 12:00pm in IBB 1128 and refreshments are provided. If your research group or department would like to present at future seminars, please contact Manu Platt, PhD.