Harvey S. Borovetz

On behalf of the faculty, staff and students of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, I would like to welcome you to our Fall 2008
e-newsletter. The fact that the sentence above includes the word "fall" means that another summer season has come and gone. And as I always do, I can't help but wonder where the summer of 2008 has gone.

Read more of the chairman's address.

Innovation at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Swanson School of Engineering could benefit people with paralysis and spinal cord injuries

A monkey has successfully fed itself with fluid, well-controlled movements of a human-like robotic arm by using only signals from its brain, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Swanson School of Engineering report in the journal Nature (453, 1098-1101, 19 June 2008). This significant advance could benefit development of prosthetics for people with spinal cord injuries and those with "locked-in" conditions such as Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Read more about the research.

Several bioengineering graduate students have earned prestigious pre‑doctoral fellowships since the Spring Department of Bioengineering e-newsletter was published.

Read about the accomplishments of Ellen Brennan, Oneximo Gonzalez, Chad Eckert, Melanie Ruffner, and Kelly Clause.

Bartholomew Bacak, a senior majoring in bioengineering, has earned the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition's undergraduate research fellowship in computational neuroscience.

Read more about Bacak and the fellowship.

Two other undergraduates also have been recognized for their achievements. Bradley Morneweck and Craig Lehocky, both fifth year students, have received various scholarships and fellowships throughout their undergraduate careers.

Read more about these students' achievements.