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Prof. Chengde Mao Speaks at BME

Last week, Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) welcomed Purdue University Chengde Mao to campus. He had been invited to give the 164th lecture in the Biomedical Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series, in which he gave a fascinating lecture entitled, “Programmed DNA Self-Assembly.” Professor Jiang Xingyu, Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering hosted the lecture.

Prof. Chengde Mao(Fourth from the left)

In this lecture, Prof. Mao introduced molecular self-assembly promises an effective approach for nanoconstructions. DNA, in particular, has been used as a programmable ‘smart’ building block for the assembly of a wide range of nanostructures. Prof. Mao discussed the recent development in programmed DNA self-assembly in his research group, including: DNA polyhedra, DNA 2D arrays and 3D crystals, and his exploration in RNA nanostructures.

Dr. Dan Cojoc Speaks at BME

Last week, Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) welcomed senior scientist PI of National Research Council (CNR) of Italy Dan Cojoc to campus. He had been invited to give the 165th lecture in the Biomedical Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series, in which he gave a fascinating lecture entitled, “Cell Mechanics Investigated with Optical Techniques.” Professor Jiang Xingyu, Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering hosted the lecture.

Dr. Dan Cojoc 

In his lecture, Dr. Dan Cojoc talked about investigating the mechanical properties of cells represents a high potential in finding label-free markers of cancer and other diseases. He discussed the application of two optical techniques to cell mechanics: optical tweezers (OT) and quantitative phase imaging (QPI). Moreover, he introduced  QPI as a non-contact technique allowing to measure cell stiffness and compare it with OT and AFM.  Finally, he showed that OT is an adequate tool to study cell mechanotransduction.

Chair Prof. Xingyu Jiang and Dr. Dan Cojoc

 

CAE Academician lectures on biomedical technology and innovation

Chris Edwards | 12/17/2019 12
On December 15, the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) Academician Cheng Jing came to Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) to give an insightful lecture on “Technological Innovation, Transformation, and Application.” Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) Head Chair Professor Jiang Xingyu chaired the meeting.
Professor Cheng Jing is a Tsinghua University School of Medicine (Department of Biomedical Engineering) Chair Professor and the director of the National Engineering Research Center of Beijing Biochip Technology. He is also a member of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences. Professor Cheng’s research is mainly focused on basic and clinical medical-related biotechnology. He has studied areas such as diagnostic and prognostic molecular typing chip technology systems that have led to biochips required for gene, protein and cell analysis. Some of his biochips have been certified by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and entered clinical trials. Professor Cheng has published 145 SCI-standard papers in journals like Nature Biotechnology and 8 monographs. He has received more than 260 domestic and foreign patents (at the time of publishing) and has also won the second prize in the State Science and Technology Prizes on two separate occasions.
 
 
Professor Cheng discussed the integration of a healthy nation with biomedical engineering. He pointed out that the new biochip, using the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) visual inspection is a good example. An analysis of a patient’s eye can assist doctors in better-diagnosing problems, and thereby reducing errors. New surgeries are replacing traditional techniques, and micro-non-invasive operations have led to “no disinfection, no anesthesia and no wound” procedures.
 
 
He also highlighted the importance of proactive health prevention and chronic disease control within the ambit of Healthy China, as well as looking after the elderly in their homes. Biomedicine developments have improved our quality of life, and this should be treasured.
 
Professor Cheng took many questions from the enthusiastic students and faculty at the end of his presentation.
 

“Synthetic Biology” key project launched

On December 9, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) hosted the first meeting of the “Synthetic Biology” key project of the National Key R&D Program. It is a project being undertaken by SUSTech that seeks to use synthetic DNA for data storage. SUSTech Acting Vice President Zhang Dongxiao, Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) Head Professor Jiang Xingyu, Hunan University Professor Tan Weihong, and Shanghai Jiaotong UniversityProfessor Fan Chunhai attended the meeting. They were joined by members of the Shenzhen Municipal Science, Technology and Innovation Commission, as well as key members of this project. Several expert groups also sent representatives to the meeting, along with members of the project team.

BME Head Professor Jiang Xingyu introduced all the attendees to the meeting. He was followed by SUSTech Acting Vice President Zhang Dongxiao, who spoke on behalf of SUSTech. Expert group researcher Dai Junbiao highlighted the importance of this project for the nation and hoped that everyone would work together in laying the foundation for the future development of DNA storage.

Hunan University Academician Tan Weihong chaired the meeting. BME Department Head Professor Jiang Xingyu, as project leader and chief scientist, gave a detailed briefing for the project, along with the sub-project leaders. The project advisory team provided a lot of advice for the teams.