Winter 2022 Faculty Achievements – Miniature Brain Machinery

MBM faculty continue to excel in their fields. Here are a few highlights of recent accomplishments:

In January, Gabriel Popescu received the 2022 International Society for Optics and Photonics Dennis Gabor Award in Diffractive Optics for his outstanding achievements in diffractive wavefront technologies.

Martha Gillette and Hyunjoon Kong are leading a team to design a microfluidics-based chip from human stem cells to model the blood-brain interface.

Deborah Leckband recently led a study that revealed how cadherins, which are Velcro-like cellular proteins, perform critical functions to regulate cell communication and biological tissue growth by sensing tissue mechanics.

Dan Llano has been investigating the relationship between hearing loss and cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease in a study with other researchers at Carle Illinois College of Medicine. This study could help with early detection and new treatment strategies to delay brain atrophy in patients.

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.