Barbara Nsiah - Advisors, Bob Nerem, PhD and Todd McDevitt, PhD

"Fluid Shear Stress Pre-conditioning Effects on Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation"

Shear stress is an important cue for vascular development. While shear stress promotes initial vascular differentiation in embryonic stem cells in vitro, its extended effects on embryonic stem cell vascular differentiation are unclear. To determine subsequent effects of shear stress on embryonic stem cells, shear pre-conditioned embryonic stem cells were cultured as embryoid bodies and assessed for expression of vascular genes and proteins. 

Jeff Stirman - Advisor, Hang Lu, PhD

"Optogenetic Manipulation of Neural Networks in Freely Behaving C. Elegant"

Optogenetics is one of the great tools for non-invasive activation and silencing of neurons. In small model organisms, the ability to excite or inhibit a subset of the cells would allow probing circuits in real time. We present an illumination technology that allows both tracking and recording the behavior of freely moving C. elegans while stimulating specific cells that express channelrhodopsin-2 or MAC.

 

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 at manu.platt@bme.gatech.edu.