Ogeda Chavez Blue

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Laboratory Technician II
Office
Petit Biotechnology Building, Office 1101
IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Research Professional
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology

John Blazeck

John Blazeck
john.blazeck@chbe.gatech.edu

The Blazeck Lab tackles challenges at the interface of immunology, engineering, and metabolism to improve human health. We utilize our expertise in cellular and protein engineering to control biological function and to develop novel therapies to fight disease.

Synthetic Immune Systems

Our immune system uses very complex processes to make exquisitely specific receptors that recognize disease causing agents, and much of our ability to fight diseases is contingent upon the development of a diverse repertoire of immune receptors. Many questions remain unanswered about these immune receptors. For instance, at a population level, can we characterize the millions of receptors each person makes? And then further determine which of these millions of receptors is most important towards recognizing and targeting a pathogen? And can we control the generation of immune receptors to have desired properties? We are striving to answer these questions by harnessing our immune system’s power in a synthetic setting to improve understanding and treatment options for numerous diseases, while developing applications for vaccine design, personalized medicine, and enzyme engineering.

Engineering Cellular Therapies

Immunotherapies are treatments designed to modulate the immune response that have shown astounding clinical potential, yet there are no current treatments with guaranteed success. We are working to engineer cellular systems with controllable, enhanced, and non-native functions that improve their impact and capability. By developing high throughput technologies to interrogate immune function, we hope to translate our findings into improvements in the next generation of cellular therapeutics. 

Developing Proteins that Fight Cancer and Control Metabolism

It is widely accepted that cancer cells have a significantly altered genomic and metabolic makeup relative to normal cells, but how can we best target these differences? By combining our expertise in metabolism and therapeutic protein engineering, are working to engineer proteins to directly target and fight cancer. For instance, certain enzymes can control the metabolic environment around tumors to inhibit their growth or to stimulate a native anti-cancer immune response. We utilize directed evolution approaches to optimize protein function and efficacy.

Assistant Professor
IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Shweta Biliya

Shweta Biliya
sbiliya3@gatech.edu
Research Scientist I
Phone
Research Scientist I
Office
Petit Biotechnology Building, Office 3228
IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology

Pamela Bhatti

Pamela Bhatti
pamela.bhatti@ece.gatech.edu

Dr. Pamela Bhatti is Professor and Associate Chair for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech. Her research is dedicated to overcoming sensory loss in human hearing through focused neural stimulation, and novel implantable sensors. Dr. Bhatti also conducts research in cardiac imaging to assess and monitor cardiovascular disease. She received her B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley (1989), her M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington (1993), and her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2006). In 2013, she earned an M.S. in Clinical Research from Emory University, and co-founded a startup company (Camerad Technologies) based on her research in detecting wrong-patient errors in radiology. Dr. Bhatti is the IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine, Editor-in-Chief; and, in 2017, received the Georgia Tech Class of 1934 Outstanding Interdisciplinary Activities Award.

Assistant Professor
Phone
404-894-7467
Office
MiRC 225
Additional Research

Biomedical sensors and subsystems including bioMEMS Neural prostheses: cochlear and vestibular Vestibular rehabilitation

IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Bioengineering and Bioscience
Matter and Systems
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Saad Bhamla

Saad Bhamla
saadb@chbe.gatech.edu

Saad Bhamla studies biomechanics across species to engineer knowledge and tools that inspire curiosity.

Saad Bhamla is an assistant professor of biomolecular engineering at Georgia Tech. A self-proclaimed "tinkerer," his lab is a trove of discoveries and inventions that span biology, physics and engineering. His current projects include studying the hydrodynamics of insect urine, worm blob locomotion and ultra-low-cost devices for global health. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Economist, CNN, Wired, NPR, the Wall Street Journal and more.

Saad is a prolific inventor and his most notable inventions includes a 20-cent paper centrifuge, a 23-cent electroporator, and the 96-cent hearing aid. Saad's work is recognised by numerous awards including a NIH R35 Outstanding Investigator Award, NSF CAREER Award, CTL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, and INDEX: Design to Improve Life Award. Saad is also a National Geographic Explorer and a TED speaker. Newsweek recognized Saad as 1 of 10 Innovators disrupting healthcare.

Saad is a co-founder of Piezo Therapeutics.

Outside of the lab, Saad loves to go hiking with his partner and two dogs (Ollie and Bella).

Assistant Professor
Phone
404-894-2856
Office
ES&T L1224
Additional Research

Biotechnology; Complex Systems; Materials and Nanotechnology. The Bhamla Lab explores fundamental and applied research questions through the development of new experimental tools and techniques at the intersection of soft matter, organismic physics and global health. Ultra-fast Organismic Physics Biologists are just starting to systematically examine ultrafast motion across species (jellyfish, mantis shrimp, trap-jaw ants), some of which achieve accelerations exceeding a million g-forces in nanoseconds. At the single-cell level, the physical biology of ultra-fast motility remains poorly understood. What is the fastest motion a single cell can achieve? How do single-cell organisms amplify power and survive repeated high accelerations? These fundamental questions guide our exploration of several non-model unicellular and multicellular organisms to uncover the principles of extreme motility at cellular scales. Biological Soft Matter Our bodies are composed almost entirely of soft, wet, squishy materials. How do the fundamental principles of soft matter and complex fluids enable us to grasp dynamic processes, from the self-assembly of proteins to the stretching of a spider web? We study a spectrum of biological soft matter, from the tears on our eyes to biological foams from insects, with the goal of connecting the microscale structures (lipids, proteins) to their consequences for macroscale biological function (contact lens-eye interaction, microbiome health). As engineers, we leverage this understanding for human-health applications, ranging from diagnostics and monitoring to artificial therapeutic replacements and biomedical devices. Frugal Science and GlobalHealth Today, although information is free to anyone with internet, access to scientific tools and healthcare devices still has many barriers. How do we design and build tools that are scientifically rigorous, but cost a few cents on the dollar? Driven by the spirit of doing “frugal science”, we box ourselves in to find out of the box solutions for global challenges in science education, agriculture, and healthcare. Projects in this area include field-work, science outreach, and citizen-science initiatives. Disciplines: Biotechnology Complex Systems Materials and Nanotechnology

IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Renewable Bioproducts > Faculty
Bioengineering and Bioscience
Renewable Bioproducts
Matter and Systems > Affiliated Faculty
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Research Areas
Matter and Systems
  • Computing and Communication Technologies

Paul Benkeser

Paul Benkeser
pbenkeser@gatech.edu

Paul Benkeser is a professor and senior associate chair in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. A member of the Georgia Tech faculty since 1985, he was one of the founding faculty of the Coulter Department in 1998 and served as its first associate chair for undergraduate studies.    

His early research interests were in therapeutic and diagnostic applications of ultrasound. After joining the Coulter Department he redirected his energies toward enhancing undergraduate biomedical engineering  education, with particular interests in integrating problem-driven learning and global experiential learning opportunities in the curriculum. His research and education endeavors have been funded by grants from NIH, NSF, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Whitaker Foundation.    

Dr. Benkeser has been active in engineering accreditation activities for ABET since 2002, serving in a number of capacities including program evaluator, EAC Commissioner, and member of its board of delegates. He is a member of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society, and American Society for Engineering Education, and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.    

He received his BS from Purdue University and MS and PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, all in electrical engineering.

Professor
Senior Associate Chair
Phone
404-894-2912
Office
UAW 2125
Additional Research
Ultrasonic bioengineering, biomedical signal and image processing, and biomedical engineering education.
IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Georgia Institute of Technology > College of Engineering > Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering

Guy Benian

Guy Benian
pathgb@emory.edu

Guy Benian is a professor of cell biology and pathology in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. His research focus is on myofibril assembly and maintenance in the model genetic system, Caenorhabditis elegans; focus on the functions and structures of giant multi-domain proteins, and the mechanism by which myofibrils are attached to the muscle cell membrane and transmit force.

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Professor
Professor of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine
Professor of Pathology, Emory University School of Medicine
Phone
404-727-5953
Office
Biomedical Research Building 105E
Additional Research
We use the powerful model genetic organism, C. elegans, to discover new conserved aspects about muscle assembly, maintenance and regulation. Although our work is basic science, it has relevance to human diseases of muscle including cardiomyopathies and muscular dystrophies. Our main projects are: (1) The structures and functions of giant polypeptides in muscle, >700,000 Da, that consist of multiple Ig and Fn domains and one or two protein kinase domains. One focus is to determine the substrates for these kinases, and how they are activated (normally autoinhibited). The problem of activation is being studied in collaboration with structural biologist Olga Mayans (Univ. of Konstanz) and biomedical engineer Hang Lu (Georgia Tech). Recently, we have discovered that UNC-89 (human "obscurin") kinase activity is required for proper mitochondrial organization and function. This has initiated a collaboration with Jennifer Kwong in Emory's Pediatrics Dept. (2) The molecular mechanism by which the muscle contractile units (sarcomeres) are attached to the muscle cell membrane and transmit force. This involves "integrin adhesion complexes" (IACs) consisting of the trans-membrane protein integrin and many other proteins. C. elegans muscle has 3 such IACs, and through a mutant screen, we discovered a conserved protein (a GEF for Rac) that directs assembly specifically at one of these sites. (3) In collaboration with biophysicist Andres Oberhauser (UTMB), we are studying the mechanisms by which the conserved myosin head chaperone, UNC-45 folds or re-folds myosin heads, and we have recently discovered a role for UNC-45 in muscle aging (sarcopenia). This project has also branched into a screen for small compounds that increase the expression of UNC-45 and reduce sarcopenia. (4) We have a long-term collaboration with Dan Kalman in Emory's Pathology Dept. to study the beneficial effects of small molecules produced by the gut microbiome that promote healthspan, especially the attenuation of sarcopenia.
IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Bioengineering and Bioscience
University, College, and School/Department
Emory University > Department of Pathology

Holly Bauser-Heaton, MD, Ph.D.

Holly Bauser-Heaton, MD, Ph.D.
hbauser@emory.edu

 As a physician scientist, Dr. Bauser-Heaton's clinical and research interests are focused on pulmonary vascular disease. Our 3D bioprinted disease modeling allows study of patient specific geometries and cell types for potential therapeutic targets. Through collaborations with several IBB members, we have created a pipeline for disease modeling that includes computational fluid dynamics, particle image velocity measurement of shear stress, additive manufacturing and iPSC utilization. 

Assistant Professor
Phone
317.345.5268
Office
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Egleston 1405 Clifton Rd Atlanta, GA, 2nd floor cardiology suit
IRI and Role
Bioengineering and Bioscience > Faculty
Bioengineering and Bioscience