The Bioengineering and Bioscience Unified Graduate Students (BBUGS) group announces new student leadership for the 2011-2012 academic year.

BBUGS is currently the largest, most diverse, graduate student group on the Georgia Tech campus and is an interdisciplinary student group, comprised of 8 different departments, with their home in the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. BBUGS serves as the core student group for the bioengineering and bioscience community and is open to all Georgia Tech and Emory University students from bio-related fields.

In 1998, the student organization began as a student leadership council of a NSF-funded Engineering Research Center which was focused on tissue engineering research. Since this time, biotechnology research experienced exponential growth on both campuses. The group soon recognized that expansion was needed as more and more graduate students with verying interests began to get involoved. For this reason, in 2007, the group reorganized and BBUGS was created to encompass students from multiple departments and organize through formation of seven committees.

The committees integrate traditional graduate education with elements of life beyond graduate school including industry, education and outreach, clinical seminar series, networking, and political/public policy.

The 2011-2012 BBUGS Leadership:
General Directors
 - Stacie Gutowski (BME) and Alice Li (BME)

Education & Outreach Committee – Ashley Allen (BioE-BME), Patricia Pacheco (BioE-ME) and Jessilyn Dunn (BME)

Industry Committee
- Akhil Srinivasan (BME), Qingfen Pan (BioE-ME) and Gareth Gunavasen (ECE)

Public Policy Committee
- Alex Caulk (BioE-ME), Inthu Somasuntharam (BME) and Roy Wang (BioE-ME)

Research Committee
- Maryam Doroudi (Biology) and Ailia Gardezi (BioE-ECE)

Social Committee Chair - Eli Fine (BME) and Chris Quinto (BME)

Professional Development Committee
- Lauren Priddy (BioE-BME) and Jenna Wilson (BioE-BME)

Communications Committee
- Jonathan Lyon (BME)