Matthew Tirrell, Ph.D.
2019 Fred S. Grodins Keynote Lecture
Title: Polyelectrolyte complexation: From phase separation to self-assembly to therapeutic nanoparticles

Professor and Dean
Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory
mtirrell@uchicago.edu
http://pme.uchicago.edu/

Lecture Information:
Friday, November 1, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
MCB (Michelson Building), Conference Room, 101
Followed by a reception right outside MCB 101 from
4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Open to all BME Faculty, Staff, and Students.

Abstract:
Polyelectrolyte complexation expands the toolset for useful self-assembled objects and materials. Liquid-liquid phase separation can be used for man-made encapsulation applications just as it has evolved for creating membrane-less intracellular compartments in biology. Micelles formed from block copolymers with electrostatically complexed cores can be made and used for therapeutic protein and nucleic acid delivery. Examples of these properties will be discussed culminating in our work on the delivery of micro-RNA inhibitors to retard undesired vascular remodeling in atherosclerosis and arterio-venousfistulae.

Biography:
In 2011, Matthew Tirrell was appointed as the founding Pritzker Director and Dean of the Faculty of the Institute for Molecular Engineering and established the first University of Chicago engineering
program, which he continues to oversee (now the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering). Professor Tirrell simultaneously served as Deputy Laboratory Director for Science (September 2015 - April 2018) and Chief Research Officer (January 2017 - March 2018) at Argonne National Laboratory. Immediately prior to joining the University of Chicago, he was the Arnold and Barbara Silverman Professor and Chair of Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley, with additional appointments in chemical engineering and materials science & engineering, as well as a Faculty Scientist appointment at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Dr. Tirrell completed ten years as Dean of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara on June 30, 2009. From 1977 to 1999, he was on the faculty of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota, where he served as department head from 1994 to 1999. Tirrell received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Northwestern
University in 1973 and a Ph.D. in 1977 in Polymer Science from the University of Massachusetts. He has co-authored more than 390 papers and one book, has supervised over 95 Ph.D. students and 50 postdoctoral researchers. Professor Tirrell is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Indian National Academy of Engineering, and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers, the AAAS, and the American Physical Society.

Kullervo Hynynen, PhD
2018 Fred S. Grodins Keynote Lecture
Title: Non-invasive brain treatments using image-guided and modulated ultrasound beams

Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, and Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Lecture Information:
Tuesday, November 13
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm Lecture
4:00pm - 5:30 pm Reception
Location: MCB (Michelson Building), Conference Room, 101

Abstract:
When combined with imaging-guidance focused ultrasound (FUS) provides means for localized delivery of mechanical energy deep into tissues. This focal energy deposition can modify tissue function via thermal or mechanical interactions with the tissue. MRI-guided hemi-spherical phased array technology with CT based beam modulation has made FUS treatments of brain through intact skull possible in the clinical setting. Thermal ablation of a target in a thalamus has been shown to be effective in the treatment of essential tremor and is now FDA approved. The impact of an ultrasound exposure can be potentiated by intravascular microbubbles that can enhance blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability for a wide variety of molecules, particles and even cells. The ability to modulate the BBB has been shown to be effective in treatments of many deceases in animal models with initial patient trials showing clinical feasibility. In this talk, the progress in utilizing ultrasound phased array technology for brain treatments will be reviewed and its further potential discussed.

Biography:
Dr. Hynynen received his PhD from the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom. After completing his postdoctoral training in biomedical ultrasound also at the University of Aberdeen, he accepted a faculty position at the University of Arizona. After, he joined the faculty at the Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. There he reached the rank of full Professor, and founded and directed the Focused Ultrasound Laboratory. In 2006 he moved to the University of Toronto. He is currently the Director of Physical Sciences Platform at the Sunnybrook Research Institute and a Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics and Cross Appointed Professor at the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on utilizing focused ultrasound for non-invasive, image-guided interventions. His work in the brain spans from developing devices and methods for focal tissue ablation in clinical testing to research for targeted drug and cell delivery and stroke treatments.

Na Ji, PhD
2017 Fred S. Grodins Keynote Lecture
Biomedical Engineering Department
Title: Probing neural circuits with shaped light

Associate Professor Departments of Physics and Molecular Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Lecture Information:
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Location: EEB 132
3:00 - 4:00 pm Lecture
4:00 - 5:30 pm Reception

Abstract:
To understand computation in the brain, one needs to understand the input-output relationships for neural circuits and the anatomical and functional relationships between individual neurons therein. Optical microscopy has emerged as an ideal tool in this quest, as it is capable of recording the activity of neurons distributed over millimeter dimensions with sub-micron spatial resolution. I will describe how we use concepts in astronomy and optics to develop next-generation microscopy methods for imaging neural circuits at higher resolution, greater depth, and faster speed. By shaping the wavefront of the light, we have achieved synapse-level spatial resolution through the entire depth of primary visual cortex, optimized microendoscopes for imaging deeply buried nuclei, and developed a video-rate (30 Hz) volumetric imaging method. We apply these methods to understanding neural circuits, using the mouse primary visual cortex as our model system.

Biography:
Na Ji studied chemistry and physics as an undergraduate in the University of Science and Technology of China, then pursued her graduate degree at the University of California Berkeley. In 2006, she moved to Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where she worked with Eric Betzig on improving the speed and resolution of in vivo brain imaging. She started her own group in Janelia in 2011, where, in addition to imaging technology development, her lab applies the resulting techniques to outstanding problems in neurobiology.