PhD students Andrew Bremer, Marc Steven Chooljian, Phillip Kang, Stacey Lee, and Nicole Anne Repina have been named the 2019 UC Berkeley Siebel Scholars in Bioengineering by the Siebel Foundation. The Siebel Scholars program recognizes outstanding graduate students from the world’s most prestigious business, computer science, energy science, and bioengineering graduate schools.

The Department of Bioengineering undergraduate program is one again ranked #7 in the United State in the US News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, released today.

To develop useful in vitro model systems for identifying the correlation between genetic deficiencies and environmental stress for cardiomyopathy, Professor Kevin Healy and his lab teamed up with molecular biologists at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases to combine cutting edge tissue engineering and genome editing techniques to create a “diseased heart micro-tissue” model to mimic both the genetic and physical components of cardiomyopathy.

Alumni startup Bolt Threads has taken synthetic spider silk from fiction to fashion. Forbes magazine delves into their history and future creating multiple synthetic fabrics inspired by nature and accomplished through bioengineering.

The 2018 Academic Rankings of World Universities (ARWU), an assessment of 500 top institutions around the globe by the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, placed UC Berkeley at #3 in the world in the field of Biotechnology. Hey, that's us! Go BioE Bears!

Professor Kevin Healy has been elected to the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Class of 2018 Fellows. Fellowship is awarded to members who demonstrate exceptional achievements and experience in the field of biomedical engineering, and a record of membership and participation in the Society. Congratulations Professor Healy!

Get to know PhD alumna Laura's work with Booze Allen Hamilton.

University of Minnesota Distinguished McKnight University Professor John Bischof has been appointed for a three-year term as director of their Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM). Bischoff is a bachelor's and master's alumnus of UC Berkeley Bioengineering.

Samantha McBirney (BS 2012) has grabbed the cover of the ACS Sensors journal for her graduate work on an inexpensive magnetic detector for malaria.

Researchers led by BioE PhD student Shakked Halperin, working in the laboratories of David Schaffer and John Dueber at UC Berkeley, have described yet another creative application for CRISPR: a platform to spur evolution of specific genes inside cells.

Professors Steve Conolly and David Schaffer have been selected for the Bakar Fellows Program, which supports faculty working to apply scientific discoveries to real-world issues in the fields of engineering, computer science, chemistry and biological and physical sciences. Conolly is a worldwide pioneer in medical imaging and magnetic particle imaging, while Schaffer is an innovator in the field of gene therapy.

Professor Teresa Head-Gordon has been elected to the 2018 class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society. Fellows are recognized for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession, and the Society.

Alumni startup Diassess has been selected for an award of up to $21M for further development of a consumer at-home influenza diagnostic, which could have significant impact on controlling the spread of the flu. The company was founded by PhD alumni Debkishore Mitra and John Waldeisen.

Respira Labs, a startup by MTM alumna Dr. Maria Artunduaga, has been selected as a 2018 E-Team by VentureWell. Respira is also a Fall 2018 HotDesk Team at the Berkeley Skydeck accelerator, and an NSF I-Corps team.

Professor Luke Lee discusses the challenge and promise of on-chip diagnostics and the state of the industry after the trouble with Theranos.

Macrophages are the body's immune attack force, but how do they recognize their target particles? Fletcher Lab investigators have shown how macrophage target recognition is controlled by the height of the antibody above the target cell surface. They found that the gap created between the target cell and macrophage by the antibody, which bridges an antigen on the target cell surface and the macrophage's receptors, must be small enough to exclude a molecule that turns off the receptor. This has broad implications for development of therapeutic antibodies because it establishes a size threshold for effective cell surface antigen targets.

New research from Prof Niren Murthy's lab uses his CRISPR-Gold nanoparticle delivery technique to lessen some autism symptoms in mice with a form of fragile X syndrome, the most common known single-gene cause of autism spectrum disorder. Published in Nature Biomedical Engineering June 25, 2018.

Congratulations to our PhD students awarded named department fellowships for 2018-19! Endowed fellowships allow our talented students to pursue independent , cutting-edge research not yet funded by a major grant. 2018-19 Brodie Scholar: Jordi Silvestre-Ryan 2018-19 Craven Scholar: Emily Suter 2018-19 Lloyd Scholars: Thomas Carey and Tiama Hamkins-Indik 2018-19 Lewis Scholar: Anjali Gopal