The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University

Biodesign collaborative mettle leads to new SARS vaccine project

The Biodesign Institute — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:56:28 -0700

Zhong Huang, Brenda Hogue to make SARS vaccine candidates in tobacco plants

Biodesign Institute research assistant professor Zhong Huang recently received funding to lead a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) vaccine project from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.

ASU Leads the Nation with Largest University Solar Installation

The Biodesign Institute — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:50:03 -0700

Arizona State University has awarded energy contracts to Honeywell Building Systems, Independent Energy Group and SolEquity to install two megawatts of solar electric modules on approximately 135,000 square feet of building rooftop space and some parking structures on its Tempe campus. The installation will begin in August 2008 with completion scheduled for December 2008.

Biodesign Institute appoints finance planning director

The Biodesign Institute — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:49:31 -0700

Biodesign has named Stephen R. Saunders, MBA, director of planning and control for sponsored projects.

Partnership for Personalized Medicine enters international collaboration with Government of Luxembourg to accelerate lung cancer research

The Biodesign Institute — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:15:16 -0700

Biodesign Institute, TGen, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center to drive health care innovation in the U.S. and overseas

The Partnership for Personalized Medicine, formed last fall with funding support from the Virgina G. Piper Charitable Trust and Flinn Foundation, will explore the development of novel diagnostics for lung cancer.

Biodesign’s Rittmann offers fresh perspectives on society’s energy challenge

The Biodesign Institute — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:07:37 -0700

ASU expert touts solar-based bioenergy technologies as best approach

For Bruce Rittmann, the threat of global warming also presents a significant opportunity for innovation and fresh solutions to today’s energy challenges. Rittmann sees a vast untapped potential of using microbes in service to society to meet our energy challenges.

Supercomputing experts help Myanmar relief efforts

The Biodesign Institute — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:45:29 -0700

Project exemplifies goals of proposed university-led consortium to serve humanitarian aid organizations worldwide

Arizona State University is using its supercomputing capabilities to aid humanitarian organizations attempting to provide disaster relief to victims of Cyclone Nargis that hit the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar on May 2. ASU’s High Performance Computing Initiative (HPCI), a part of the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, has established a Web site to provide aid organizations with up-to-date satellite images of conditions on the ground in Myanmar.

The Biodesign Institute adds educators to reach teachers and students

The Biodesign Institute — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:47:45 -0700

Biodesign has appointed Kenneth Costenson and Lisa Osinga as outreach educators. Together, they bring more than 35 years of teaching and educational administrative experience to the institute.

Anti-bacterial soap bad for the environment

The Biodesign Institute — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:47:52 -0700

ASU Biodesign Institute Researcher Rolf Halden studies soap’s effect on environment and impact on human health

The craze over bacteria-killing soaps is likely causing significant harm to the environment and could potentially impact human health, according to ASU Biodesign Institute researcher Rolf Halden, PhD. Halden is a noted expert in determining where in the environment mass-produced chemicals wind up, their impact on health, and how to remove them from drinking water and agricultural soils.

Rittmann bestowed with top civil engineering society, ASU faculty achievement awards

The Biodesign Institute — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:52:40 -0700

Bruce Rittmann, PhD, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, as well as director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the Biodesign Institute, is to receive the Simon W. Freese Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Additionally, Rittmann has been selected as this year’s recipient of the ASU Faculty Achievement Award in Defining Edge Research, Natural Sciences/Math.

Lindsay receives Regents' Professor honor

The Biodesign Institute — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:40:53 -0700

ASU has announced four new ASU Regents’ Professors for 2008. This year’s honorees include Biodesign’s own Stuart Lindsay, PhD, who has been at ASU for 29 years. Lindsay, a professor in physics and chemistry and the Edward and Nadine Carson Presidential Chair in Physics, specializes in biophysics at the molecular level and scanning probe microscopy.

'Boosting' research to develop world's fastest nanomotor

The Biodesign Institute — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:53:51 -0700

In a “major step” toward a practical energy source for powering tomorrow’s nanomachines, researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute report the development of a new generation of tiny nanomotors that are up to 10 times more powerful than existing motors. Just like weekend hot-rodders who tinker with their car engines in the ultimate quest for speed, a research team led by Joseph Wang, who directs the institute’s Center for Biosensors and Bioelectronics, set out to improve on the design of current nanomotors.

Deep sea exploration from the desert

The Biodesign Institute — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:45:06 -0700

Fulton Dean and Biodesign researcher Meldrum uses remote sensing to plumb the ocean floor

A key partner in a multi-institutional, deep sea exploration effort is the Center for Ecogenomics, which is based in ASU’s Biodesign Institute and directed by Deirdre Meldrum, dean of the university’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. Meldrum’s center is developing sensors and other sophisticated devices to make an underwater observation system designed to provide real-time data and measurements to researchers on land.

Cardineau chosen as Centennial Professor

The Biodesign Institute — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:22:15 -0700

Guy Cardineau, a Faculty Fellow in the Center for the Study of Law, Science, & Technology at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, is one of two ASU faculty members to be named a 2008-2009 Centennial Professor by Associated Students of ASU.

Biodesign's Nickerson Speaks on Capitol Hill

The Biodesign Institute — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:51:19 -0700

Biodesign Institute researcher Cheryl Nickerson recently served as a key witness in a hearing with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, regarding NASA's International Space Station (ISS) Program. Nickerson was part of a prestigious panel that provided testimony expounding on the significance of NASA's ISS Program and its tremendous potential to benefit mankind.

Mayo Clinic, Biodesign Institute collaboration examines link between gut bacteria and obesity

The Biodesign Institute — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:39:42 -0700

Obesity is more than a cosmetic concern, because it increases a person’s risk for developing high blood pressure, diabetes, and many other serious health problems. In the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers from Mayo Clinic Arizona and the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University examine the role that bacteria found in the human gastrointestinal tract play in regulating weight and the development of obesity.

Chemical cousin of DNA new nanotechnology building block

The Biodesign Institute — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:27:47 -0700

While scientists are fully exploring the promise of DNA nanotechnology, Biodesign Institute scientist John Chaput is working to give researchers brand new materials to aid their designs. Chaput and his research team have made the first self-assembled nanostructures composed entirely of glycerol nucleic acid (GNA)—a synthetic analog of DNA.

Biodesign Institute appoints Mike McLeod to Director of Facility Services

The Biodesign Institute — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:53:35 -0700

The Biodesign Institute has appointed Michael McLeod as director of facility services. In this role, he will oversee facility improvements, maintenance, space management, security, and shipping and receiving.

“Healing clays” hold promise in fight against MRSA superbug infections and disease

The Biodesign Institute — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:07:20 -0700

Mud may be coming to a medicine cabinet or pharmacy near you. Scientists from Arizona State University report that minerals from clay promise could provide inexpensive, highly-effective antimicrobials to fight methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections that are moving out of health care settings and into the community. These “superbugs” are increasingly resistant to multiple antibiotics and cause thousands of deaths each year.

Biodesign Institute names human resources director

The Biodesign Institute — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:58:23 -0700

The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has named Melvin L. Holcom, PhD, SPHR, as director of human resources. He brings more than 15 years of corporate and consulting experience to this role.

The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University

The Biodesign Institute — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:18:48 -0700

News from The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University

Arizona high school bioscience summit to strengthen statewide programs

The Biodesign Institute — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:00:46 -0700

More than 100 bioscience educators will discuss ways to expand statewide biotechnology curriculum and programs at the state’s first bioscience education summit on April 18.

Solving an avian scourge could also provide benefits to human health

The Biodesign Institute — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:10:00 -0700

The old adage ‘a bird in hand is worth two in the bush’ may very well apply to a new vaccine project underway in the lab of ASU School of Life Sciences Professor Roy Curtiss, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at the Biodesign Institute.

Microscopic ‘astronauts’ go back in orbit

The Biodesign Institute — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:22:27 -0700

When space shuttle Endeavor blasted off at 2:28 a.m. EST on March 11 to make a blazing torch against the backdrop of night, some tiny ‘astronauts’ piggybacked onboard an experimental payload from Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute. The new experiment, called “Microbial Drug Resistance Virulence,” will continue the research studies of Cheryl Nickerson, PhD, project leader and scientist in the institute’s Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology.

A spoonful of sugar: Scientists discover regulatory details for metabolic gene network

The Biodesign Institute — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:09:56 -0700

A scientific team from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Stony Brook University and the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has found a vital missing link for the regulation of genes essential for cell metabolism.

Hao Yan honored with prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship

The Biodesign Institute — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:32:04 -0700

Hao Yan, a Biodesign Institute researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been named the recipient of a prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship.