Workshop on Frontiers in Bioengineering Research, February 25-26, 2013, Atlanta, GA

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1258463BaoIntellectual Merit Bioengineering is an interdisciplinary field that integrates engineering and life sciences to advance human health and well-being, and solve other real-world problems. With recent advances in bioengineering and biomedical research, especially in cellular and molecular bioengineering, biological and medical imaging, biomaterials and nanomedicine, a significant amount of cutting edge research has been performed over the last ten years, which has generated, and will continue to generate a large impact to improving human health and promoting environmental sustainability. However, the field of bioengineering is also facing significant challenges. To further develop this field, it is important to examine the current status of bioengineering research, discuss major issues and challenges in this interdisciplinary field, and identify future research directions that will significantly benefit our society.To meet this critical need, the PI and co-PI, Drs. Gang Bao and Robert Nerem have been organizing an NSF-sponsored Workshop titled, Workshop on Frontiers in Bioengineering Research, to be held February 25-26, 2013 in Atlanta, GA. This 2-day workshop will consist of three sessions: (1) Biological and Medical Imaging; (2) Bio-materials and Application; (3) Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering. For each session, we have identified invited speakers and a session chair. The specific objectives of this Workshop are: (1) to bring together leaders of bioengineering to showcase the cutting-edge research in the field, (2) to discuss the critical issues and challenges in further developing this field, and (3) to identify future research directions in bioengineering. Efforts will be made to recruit female and minority speakers and attendees, as well as attracting young faculty members to the Workshop. It is expected that thisWorkshop will help develop novel ideas and transformative research projects that integrate engineering and life sciences, address fundamental biological issues, and solve biomedical problems that significantly improve human health.In order to achieve the goals of the Workshop, outstanding leaders of bioengineering will be invited as keynote speakers or session chairs. This NSF Conference Grant will cover their travel expanses and part of other Workshop expenses. The presentations and discussions at the Workshop will be summarized in a report to NSF. To help disseminate the outcomes of the Workshop, Annals of Biomedical Engineering plans to publish a special issue that may include a position paper on future directions of bioengineering based on the discussions at the Workshop, and review articles in selected areas of bioengineering. The Workshop presentations and reports will also be disseminated at the web site: http://ibb.gatech.edu/frontiersBroader ImpactThe intellectual merit of the proposed workshop is the stimulation of creative, original, and potentially transformative new ideas and concepts and the identification of future directions in bioengineering, thus generating a broader impact to the fields of bioengineering, biotechnology, biology and medicine. The discussions at this workshop will advance our understanding of the underlying scientific and technological issues and challenges in further developing bioengineering, and facilitate interdisciplinary studies that may lead to a broader range of applications of bioengineering to biology and medicine, from advanced bio-imaging technologies and methods for medical applications, to new biomaterials for regenerative medicine, to new devices using living cells as an engine, to new nanomedicine approaches for diagnosing and treating human diseases. By having female and minority speakers as the Workshop as role models, this Workshop will broaden the participation of underrepresented groups. This workshop will also stimulate translational research and innovation, and inspire and help train the young future leaders of bioengineering. The results of the workshop will be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding and impact.