School Notes: School of Engineering & Applied Science
November/December 2017

Protecting organ transplants

Using nanoparticles, Yale researchers have developed a drug-delivery system that could reduce organ transplant rejections. Led by Mark Saltzman, Goizueta Foundation Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, and Jordan Pober, Bayer Professor of Translational Medicine and professor of immunobiology, pathology, and dermatology, the research team developed a drug delivery system in which nanoparticles carry small interfering RNA (siRNA) to the site of the graft. The slow release of the siRNA helps prevent the activation of white blood cells that identify and attack foreign bodies, which is one of the main culprits behind organ rejection. The results of their work are published in Nature Communications.

A royal honor

Steven Zucker, the David and Lucile Packard Professor of Computer Science & Biomedical Engineering, has been named a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. The 89 new fellows were chosen from various disciplines by their peers in recognition of outstanding scholarly, scientific, or artistic achievement. Zucker was cited for pioneering Canadian interdisciplinary vision science and was described as “its most internationally influential scientist.” In an announcement, officials for the Royal Society of Canada wrote: “His research spans computational vision and visual neuroscience, and his demonstration of how brains (and machines) solve real information-processing tasks is path-breaking. Together, his theories provide the new standard for vision science.”  

Pitching PremieBreathe

Presenting for her innovation, PremieBreathe, Professor Anjelica Gonzalez was named runner-up at the 2017 Saving Lives at Birth DevelopmentXChange Competition. Gonzalez, who teaches Biotechnology and the Developing World, serves as principal investigator for PremieBreathe, which has developed a low-cost infant respirator that keeps infants breathing normally by delivering warmed, humidified, and oxygenated air to reduce airway irritation. The project team, which received a grant from USAID, has made significant progress towards getting the device into resource-poor hospitals in Ethiopia and is looking to expand its impact.