MBM Trainees Teach Girls About Biobots – Miniature Brain Machinery

Gelson Pagan-Diaz demonstrates a biobot — Gelson Pagan-Diaz (center) demonstrates a biobot model with fellow students in the EBICS program

This summer, MBM trainees Lauren Grant and Gelson Pagan-Diaz participated in Girls’ Adventures in Mathematics, Engineering, and Science (GAMES) Camp, an Illinois-based program designed to give academically talented high school girls an opportunity to explore engineering and scientific fields. They were accompanied by fellow trainees and undergraduates in the EBICS program.

32 girls participated in the division of GAMES devoted to bioengineering. They were split into three smaller groups and rotated between the three activities:

Lauren Grant gave a presentation on biobots, as well as a lab tour and a demonstration of skeletal muscle electrical stimulation and contraction.
Gelson Pagan-Diaz led a discussion on ethics modules.
A few undergraduate students associated with the EBICS program led a demonstration of the ways in which biobots “walk” and respond to light.

Lauren Grant presents a lecture on biobots to GAMES participants

Overview

Discoveries relevant to our brains, which influence and control such a wide range of actions, emotions, and thoughts, have relied on two complimentary approaches: cognitive and behavior studies and brain cell and tissue biology studies. Our research traineeship program utilizing miniature brain machinery, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), combines these two paradigms to train the next generation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce to advance discovery. Our students are recruited from neuroscience, cell and developmental biology, molecular and integrative physiology, chemistry, chemical and biomolecular engineering, bioengineering, electrical and computer engineering, and psychology to foster a culture of innovation and translational research, and will significantly impact efforts to understand and control brain activities ongoing at other institutions.