20
April
2016
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00:00 AM
Europe/Amsterdam

Three University of Pittsburgh Bioengineering Students Accepted into the Whitaker International Program

PITTSBURGH (April 21, 2016) … Alex Josowitz, Saundria Moed and Timothy Keane, students in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering ( Department of Bioengineering), received awards from the Whitaker International Program. Josowitz and Moed were appointed as 2016 Whitaker Fellows, and Keane was appointed as the 2016 Whitaker Scholar. 

Whitaker Fellows and Scholars spend one to two years abroad (outside of the U.S. and Canada) to conduct research in a university or laboratory, pursue coursework at an academic institution or intern at a policy institute or in an industrial or non-profit setting ( http://www.whitaker.org/grants/fellows-scholars).

The Whitaker award provides round-trip international airfare, a monthly living stipend and other benefits to facilitate the students’ time abroad. Recipients of this national award must demonstrate outstanding scholarship, a strong background in research and a well-thought out research plan for the duration of the fellowship to be selected.

“Whitaker Fellows and Scholars represent world-class student researchers and the future leaders of global collaboration in bioengineering,” said Sanjeev Shroff, Distinguished Professor and Gerald McGinnis Chair of Bioengineering at Pitt. “These three students have an excellent opportunity not only to gain international experience but also to serve as ambassadors for Pitt research outside of the U.S.” 

Alex JosowitzAlex Josowitz plans to travel to the United Kingdom and work in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Krams at the Imperial College London. His research project will focus on optimizing the RNA isolation protocol for a microfluidic cell-capture system to provide new insight into the progression of cardiovascular diseases. Josowitz will also be enrolled in the Master of Research program in biomedical engineering at the Imperial College London. As an undergraduate student at Pitt, Josowitz has conducted research under the mentorship of David Vorp, Associate Dean for Research and William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Bioengineering, and Justin Weinbaum, research assistant professor. He has been working to develop and evaluate a novel technique of uniformly seeding 3D tubular constructs with cells or cell-like structures, such as microspheres, in tissue-engineered blood vessels.

Saundria MoedSaundria Moed will travel to Israel and work in the laboratory of Prof. Rosa Azhari and Dr. Idit Golani at the Ort Braude College of Engineering in Karmiel, Israel. Her research project will focus on enhancing the delivery of active materials to the brain using nanoparticles. Moed participated in two independent research activities in Israel last summer at Ort Braude College of Engineering in Karmiel and at Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. As an undergraduate student at Pitt, Moed conducted research under the mentorship of Ian Sigal, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the School of Medicine’s Ocular Biomechanics Laboratory. Her research involves analyzing optical coherence tomography images for quantifying ocular tissue microstructure, especially collagen fibers.

Timothy KeaneTimothy Keane will travel to the United Kingdom and work in the laboratory of Dr. Molly Stevens as a postdoctoral fellow at the Imperial College London. His work will focus on developing a biomaterial that can mitigate inflammation in the heart following myocardial infarction. As a PhD candidate at Pitt, Keane conducted his research work under the mentorship of Stephen Badylak, professor in the Department of Surgery and deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He is focusing on developing minimally invasive therapies for treating inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

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Author: Matt Cichowicz, University Communications

Contact: Paul Kovach