We are happy to announce that the Ecker Lab has received seed funding from UNT for a collaborative research project together with Dr. Diana Berman (MTSE), Dr. Tom Cundari (CHEM), and Dr. Jeff Kelber (CHEM).

The project is entitled: “Metal Oxynitrides as Biocompatible Coatings for Medical Device Applications“

The College of Engineering (CENG), College of Science (COS), and the and VPRI office are co-sponsoring targeted seed funding to establish teams of CENG-COS faculty to advance the collection of preliminary data in support of collaborative external research proposal submissions.

I am looking forward to a fruitful collaboration!

A hearty welcome to our new lab members:

• Christine Beauchamp
• Manahil Tariq
• Jessica Baas

They’ll be working on hydrogels to expand our research endeavors.

Lanre has received the UNT Honors College Summer Research Scholarship!

The Honors College is awarding a limited number of $4,000 Summer Research Scholarships to encourage participation, under the guidance of a faculty mentor, in varied research environments. To qualify, students are responsible for locating a professor who is willing to supervise either ongoing or new research this summer during the 10-week summer session (June 1-August 5). Then, such factors as GPA (minimum of 3.5), intensity and length of past research, existing outcomes—for example, exhibits, performances, co-authorship, or manuscripts under submission or preparation—will figure in our deliberations.

Congratulations to all recent graduates from UNT Biomedical Engineering.

We also have some graduates from our lab:

Spring 2021 TAMS Graduates:

• Karina Ambani (38:55)
• Wilson Chao (41:06)
• Alex Fang (42:55)

Spring 2021 Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering:

• Aima Ovai (1:17:42)

Congratulations to all of you! We are proud of your accomplishments and wish you all the best for your future endeavours! You will be missed.

Eric has been accepted into the NSF Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) program! This 2021 Summer Research Experience is hosted by the Department of Physics here at UNT and comes with a stipend of $3,000.

The NSF Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) program supports hands-on research and ongoing mentorship in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) for high school students, STEM teachers, undergraduate STEM students, faculty, and veterans.

Participants present their research findings and gain career insights at the annual Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM, hosted by NSF and AAAS. Mentors also attend this conference to support the REM participants and to share best practices in research/career mentoring with their colleagues

Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering has been approved by THECB!

The Department of Biomedical Engineering is proud to announce their latest degree offering – Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering.  

Our new Ph.D. program offers two tracks: a traditional research track that will help you progress toward your academic career goal and a one-of-a-kind healthcare start-up management track in collaboration with the G. Brint Ryan College of Business. High-achieving students may apply with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering.

For more information about the program and to learn how to register, please look at the BMEN Website.

Big thanks to Shweta Jagdale and Dr. Golden Kumar from the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Lab at UT Dallas for allowing us to be part of this collaborative effort on biocompatibility and thermoplastic formability of Pt-based metallic glasses!

Great work Qichan on the biocompatibility part of this research.

Abstract

Pt-based metallic glasses are considered for biomedical applications, but the presence of Ni poses the cytotoxicity concerns. Here, we compare the in vitro cell response and thermoplastic formability of Ni-free and Ni-containing Pt-based metallic glasses. Three glass forming compositions, Pt_57.5Cu_14.7Ni_5.3P_22.5, Pt_58.7Cu_20.3Ag₁P₂₀, and Pt₅₇Cu₂₃P₂₀ were investigated. The Ni-free Pt-Cu-Ag-P metallic glass combines the best combination of biocompatibility and thermoplastic forming.

You want to read more? The full publication can be found here:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167577X21005668

Congratulations to Qichan for her first paper with our lab!

Overview of MMP-13 as a Promising Target for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative disease characterized by the destruction of articular cartilage and chronic inflammation of surrounding tissues. Matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) is the primary MMP involved in cartilage degradation through its particular ability to cleave type II collagen. Hence, it is an attractive target for the treatment of OA. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms of OA initiation and progression remain elusive, and, currently, there are no interventions available to restore degraded cartilage. This review fully illustrates the involvement of MMP-13 in the initiation and progression of OA through the regulation of MMP-13 activity at the molecular and epigenetic levels, as well as the strategies that have been employed against MMP-13. The aim of this review is to identify MMP-13 as an attractive target for inhibitor development in the treatment of OA.

https://www.mdpi.com/992836

It is also the first paper from our lab in 2021 🙂

Congratulation to all May 2020 graduates from UNT! We are so proud of you and wish you all the best for your future 🙂

Graduates from Ecker Lab are:

• Lauren Adegoke
• Nicholas Johnson
• George Sarkodie

This is a list of all graduates from the College of Engineering:

We know this year’s a bit different, but that shouldn’t stop us from celebrating.

Share a picture or video of yourself on Twitter, and we’ll RT it. Share a photo or video on Instagram, and we’ll include it in our stories. And share it with us on Facebook, and we’ll add you to the 2020 Graduating Class album.

Just tag @UNTEngineering with #UNTGrad20 on any one of our channels. It’s that easy.

We ❤️ you and all you’ve accomplished. Let us share it with the world.

https://engineering.unt.edu/students/2020-graduation