Superfund renewed to create a safer and healthier RI

Brown's Superfund Research Program (SRP) brings together researchers from engineering, biology and medicine, geological sciences, and sociology to investigate human health risks of environmental contamination, and to design new technologies to mitigate those risks. The grant amount is $15.4 million over a period of five years (April 2009-March 2014). This new award serves as a renewal to our original grant, which began in 2005 and expired in April 2009.

The vision of the grant is to create a safer and healthier Rhode Island through basic and applied research, education, training, and community outreach related to health effects and remediation of chemical contamination. We have partnerships with the Rhode Island Department of Health, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and many local community groups.

Here is the SRP website: http://brown.edu/Research/SRP/

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Nanoparticles eliminate bacterial infection on prosthetic

Infected implants now have a foe. Brown University researchers have created a nanoparticle that can penetrate a bacterial-produced film on prosthetics and kill the bacteria. The finding, published in the International Journal of Nanomedicine, is the first time that iron-oxide nanoparticles have been shown to eliminate a bacterial infection on an implanted prosthetic device.

Press release here: http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2009/06/biotechnology

Resulted in July 9th Providence Journal story: http://www.projo.com/education/content/BROWN_CANNONBALLS_07-09-09_5EEVHR2_v9.3015298.html
Nano “cannonballs” bash infected implants
Patients suffering from infected prostheses may now have an ally in tiny “cannonballs.” The nanoparticles created by graduate student Erik Taylor and engineering associate professor Thomas Webster have been shown in lab tests to kill bacteria that congregate on implants.

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Hydrodynamics of Microorganisms

Professor Powers' article, Hydrodynamics of Swimming Mircoorganisms, was accepted this week in Reports on Progress in Physics.
Preview the article here: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/652169/reviseLaugaPowersv3.pdf
Abstract.
Cell motility in viscous fluids is ubiquitous and affects many biological processes, including reproduction, infection, and the marine life ecosystem. Here we review the biophysical and mechanical principles of locomotion at the small scales relevant to cell swimming, tens of microns and below. At this scale, inertia is unimportant and the Reynolds number is small. Our emphasis is on the simple physical picture and fundamental flow physics phenomena in this regime. We first give a brief overview of the mechanisms for swimming motility, and of the basic properties of flows at low Reynolds number, paying special attention to aspects most relevant for swimming, such as resistance matrices for solid bodies, flow singularities, and kinematic requirements for net translation. Then we review classical theoretical work on cell motility, in particular early calculations of swimming kinematics with prescribed stroke and the application of resistive-force theory and slender-body theory to flagellar locomotion. After examining the physical means by which flagella are actuated, we outline areas of active research, including hydrodynamic interactions, biological locomotion in complex fluids, the design of small-scale artificial swimmers, and the optimization of locomotion strategies.

In addition, some of his recent work was highlighted on the NSF news page:
Scientists studying how marine bacteria move have discovered that a sharp variation in water current segregates right-handed bacteria from their left-handed brethren, impelling the microbes in opposite directions. This finding and the possibility of quickly and cheaply implementing the segregation of two-handed objects in the laboratory could have a big impact on industries like the pharmaceutical industry, for which the separation of right-handed from left-handed molecules can be crucial to drug safety.
More here: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114587&org=NSF&from=news

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RI Woman of the Year

The Rhode Island Commission on Women (RICW) is pleased to announce the 2009 Women of the Year, Lynn Ewart-Paine, ’85 ’86 Sc.M. ’90 Ph.D., Science and Technology. This award recognizes influential women in Rhode Island who demonstrate a history of individual achievement, or who have made lasting and positive contributions in the community to help elevate the presence of women and improve the quality of life for women in the state.

Created in 1989, the Women of the Year Award celebrates the work of pioneering Rhode Island women who are influential in areas such as the arts, business, economic development, employment, education, health, legal rights and politics. These women have a positive impact on the lives of women and/or girls in our state through their work as role models and mentors.

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Graduation Weekend

We enjoyed celebrating with our graduating class and returning engineering alumni this past weekend! Best of luck in your future endeavors and keep in touch!

Here are photos from Commencement/Alumni Weekend. As always, you can download original files by clicking on the "all sizes" button on the top left corner of the photo.

Engineering Alumni Reception:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brownengin/sets/72157618734131187/

PRIME Brunch:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brownengin/sets/72157618748917297/

BEAM Dinner:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brownengin/sets/72157618830022848/

Undergraduate Diploma Ceremony:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brownengin/sets/72157618831571292/

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Brown FSAE places 25th

Brown FSAE Team traveled to Detriot, Michigan to compete against nearly 100 teams from around the world. Our team placed 25th this year and notably had the only female driver in the endurance competition. The team placed 16th on fuel efficiency. They are clearly aware of energy and resource consumption.

Brown's team has finished the endurance portion 12 out of the past 13 years, which is a portion of the race that less than 30% of teams complete. They should be applauded for their reliable car.

Here are the results from the FSAE website:
http://www.sae.org/images/cds/selfservice/242668107_FSAE_MI_2009_result.pdf

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Biosensor to Measure Vitamin D Levels

A team from Professor Palmore's lab consisting of two grad students (Steve Rhieu and Vince Siu) and one undergraduate (Daniel Ludwig, '09) is in the Finalist round of the BMEIdea 2009 competition on June 9th – June 11th, in New York City, New York. This work was made possible by an OVPR seed grant and has a preliminary patent application submitted.

Here is the brief project summary:

We propose a new methodology to measure vitamin D levels in serum using electrochemical detection. Vitamin D is a prohormone that is hydroxylated in the liver to become 25(OH)D, which is further hydroxylated in the kidney by the enzyme CYP27B1 to become the biologically active form. The electrochemical approach is based on the hypothesis that the hydroxylation of 25(OH)D can be measured via the catalytic reaction of CYP27B1 immobilized on an electrode. The reaction requires a supply of electrons, generating a detectable current that is proportional to the concentration of 25(OH)D. Similar to a commercial glucose meter, our proposed vitamin D biosensor will use a disposable testing strip that is inserted in the portable device along with a sub-microliter sample. The sample is analyzed and the result is displayed both qualitatively and quantitatively on a liquid crystal display. Specific recognition of 25(OH)D by a CYP27B1-based electrode system eliminates the need for extensive extraction and/or purification of the sample allowing for inexpensive, accurate, and rapid measurements.

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