Conference Support for the ASME 2018 6th Global Congress on NanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

Advancement of nanoengineering for medicine and biology is critically important to maintain technological competitiveness of the US biotechnology and healthcare industries. Strong education and research training of next generation scientists and engineers in this emerging area will build a foundation to achieve this goal. This proposal is to support participation of students, postdocs and junior faculty investigators in the ASME 2018 6th NanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology Conference (NEMB 2018). The NEMB 2018 aims to bring together leading experts in bioengineering, nanomaterials, biology and medicine, to discuss recent advances and to stimulate new ideas in nanoengineering for medicine and biology. The requested funds will be used to provide travel support of 18 students, 5 postdocs and 8 junior faculty investigators to this emerging conference, which will provide a forum, through lectures and workshops to exchange scientific information and to educate participants, and to broadly disseminate information about this research to the broader public. This meeting will also let participants to identify opportunities for collaboration within academia, government agencies, and industry; and in particular among disparate fields that are traditionally not connected, and educate scientists at all levels about them. Particular efforts will be devoted to involve students and junior researchers from underrepresented groups. The intellectual merit of the NEMB is to integrate nanoengineering and biology with a strong focus in medical applications. We will actively involve a large community of participants, and provide an exciting forum to exemplify the intellectual merit of nano- and micro-technology based biosensing, biotransport, biomechanics and other bioengineering areas in the solution of pressing problems in biology and medicine. Key intellectual questions include the sensitivity and specificity in disease detection using nanoparticle imaging probes, efficacy of targeted drug/gene delivery using nanocarriers, multiscale measurement and modeling of nanoparticle transport in vitro and in vivo, understanding of mechanobiology for engineered and diseased tissues, and manufacturing of nano- and biomaterials. These are emerging areas of bionanoengineering, biotransport and biomechanics that will receive considerable attention throughout this event. The conference will also showcase translational and commercialization efforts, and discuss policy and ethical issues related to nanoengineering applications in medicine. The requested funds will be used to provide travel support of 18 students, 5 postdocs and 8 junior faculty investigators by inviting them through student's poster competition and session/track organization. These are emerging areas that are of great importance for Nano-Biosensing, and Engineering of Biomedical Systems Programs of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Division. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.