Harvey S. Borovetz

On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Fall 2007 Bioengineering E-newsletter.

Read more of the chairman's address.

The University of Pittsburgh Department of Bioengineering has been awarded three NIH T32 grants simultaneously. In a three-part series, we will provide an overview of each award. In previous issues, we reviewed the training grant of Sanjeev Shroff, professor and McGinnis Chair and the training grant of Michael Sacks, William Kepler Whiteford Professor.

In this issue, we highlight the work of Alan Russell and Bob Bowser (inset), who were awarded a training grant to educate future scientists to combine tissue engineering and life sciences.

Read more about Alan Russell and Bob Bowser's grant.

We also learn about Donald O. Freytes, MSBME, who received an F31 Fellowship for hybrid research involving Extracellular Matrix (ECM) and Electrospun poly(ester-urethane) urea (PEUU) scaffolds.

Read more about Donald Freytes.

In this issue, we highlight the achievements of two outstanding alumni. In Making Good (PDF)*, we meet Kristie Henchir Burgess, who is working to construct a device that mimics the functions of the lung.

Megan Rothney works with a team of clinicians at the National Institutes of Health's Metabolic Clinical Research Unit to research obesity and weight loss.

Read about how this alumna follows uncharted territory in metabolic studies.

*by Cara J Hayden and reprinted with permission from Pitt Magazine, Spring 2007.

More than 60 Legacy Funds have been established for the Swanson School of Engineering or one of the departments, with the exception of the Department of Bioengineering. We plan to announce the final amount raised toward this first Legacy Fund for our department during the anniversary celebration on October 19.

Read more about the Legacy Funds and the 10th anniversary event.