{"674878":{"#nid":"674878","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Lu Wins Award for Muscle Activation Technology at InterfaceRice 2024","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Ph.D. candidate Jiaao Lu has been awarded a Verbal Poster Award at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/interface.rice.edu\/\u0022\u003EInterfaceRice 2024\u003C\/a\u003E, which was held in Houston, Texas from April 30 to May 1.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, done in collaboration with Emory University and Johns Hopkins University, focuses on new device technologies to support innovation in optogenetics, a technique used to control neuron activity or other cell types with light.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe two-day conference, hosted by Rice University and the Texas Medical Center, connects researchers, clinicians, and business leaders in the fields of neuroengineering, neurotechnology, neuroscience, and neurosurgery.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe award recognizes excellence in oral presentation among presented posters. There were 70 total posters accepted to this year\u2019s conference.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELu and fellow researchers in ECE Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/directory\/muhannad-s-bakir\u0022\u003EMuhannad Bakir\u2019s\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bakirlab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EIntegrated 3D System Group\u003C\/a\u003E are working on integrating a \u03bcLED chip with a flexible microelectrode array (MEA) for optogenetic activation, while simultaneously recording electrical activity in muscle tissue.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, they developed an MEA with a single blue LED, which allows for targeted activation of specific opsins. Opsins are light-sensitive proteins that can be expressed in specific cells to control their activity using light.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, the technology has been successful in activating facial muscles and inducing jaw movement in transgenic mice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI had a rewarding time at the InterfaceRice conference,\u201d Lu said. \u201cThe feedback on my project was highly encouraging, and discussions extended beyond engineers to include clinicians - actual users of my technology - who offered invaluable insights. These conversations also led to several opportunities for potential collaborations, which was very exciting.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next step in the research for Lu and her collaborators is to add multiple optical channels and incorporate more LED colors, allowing them to activate and observe more opsins.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe ECE Ph.D. candidate was recognized for her research on a flexible implant that can activate muscles using blue light.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The ECE Ph.D. candidate was recognized for her research on a flexible implant that can activate muscles using blue light."}],"uid":"36558","created_gmt":"2024-05-23 20:04:09","changed_gmt":"2024-05-23 20:28:55","author":"zwiniecki3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-05-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-05-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674069":{"id":"674069","type":"image","title":"Lu Award.jpg","body":null,"created":"1716496035","gmt_created":"2024-05-23 20:27:15","changed":"1716496035","gmt_changed":"2024-05-23 20:27:15","alt":"Jiaao Lu Award","file":{"fid":"257538","name":"Lu Award.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/23\/Lu%20Award.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/23\/Lu%20Award.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":399207,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/05\/23\/Lu%20Award.jpg?itok=bMBIlAJ-"}}},"media_ids":["674069"],"groups":[{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"101","name":"Award"},{"id":"193745","name":"Best Poster"},{"id":"11635","name":"optogenetics"},{"id":"193746","name":"InterfaceRice"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EZachary Winiecki\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["zwiniecki3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}