Collaborative Pathways: Educating Emerging Biomedical Innovators

Abstract:

Biomedical engineering exists at the intersection of engineering, biology and medicine. Its inherently multidisciplinary nature makes collaborative work critical for driving biomedical innovation and solving complex problems. Experiential learning plays a foundational role in biomedical engineering education by bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application, particularly through the design of solutions for critical gaps in clinical care. Hands on experiences, such as clinical immersion, industry partnerships, and team-based design projects enable students to develop technical expertise, interdisciplinary collaboration skills and an understanding of the healthcare innovation process. With the support of a distributed innovation pipeline that fosters collaboration between medical and engineering students to identify clinical opportunities, develop and validate solutions, and assess market potential, students benefit from structured support that strengthens their ability to generate intellectual property and advance innovations towards commercialization. Drawing from her experiences as an engineer, Dr. Kotche will highlight how she creates hands-on learning environments that challenge students to solve real-world problems and develop core competencies as they transition into their professional careers.

Bio:

Miiri Kotche is the Richard and Loan Hill Clinical Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her work focuses on the scholarship of engineering education, with an emphasis on providing students with real-world experiences through hands-on projects, interdisciplinary programming, and immersive learning opportunities. Drawing from her industry background in product development, manufacturing, and operations, she brings practical insights to her roles as both educator and administrator. Miiri also serves as Director of the Innovation Medicine program, a co-curricular program that supports medical students interested in the intersection of healthcare delivery, innovation, and technology development. As Associate Dean, she oversees academic and student affairs for more than 5,000 undergraduates in 13 degrees programs across 6 departments in UIC’s College of Engineering. Dr. Kotche is the 2024 recipient of the American Society for Engineering Education Theo C. Pilkington Award for outstanding education, leadership and research in biomedical engineering and a 2021 recipient of the UIC Award for Excellence in Teaching. She has been recognized as a Fellow of BMES and AIMBE, a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, a “Notable Woman in STEM” by Crain's Chicago Business, a UIC Master Teaching Scholar, and College of Medicine Rising Star.

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Please join us for the annual Michael Jaharis lecture with speaker Luis Diaz, MD, from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College.

Talk title: "Clinical applications of cancer genomics"

Bio:

Dr. Diaz is the Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Grayer Family Endowed Chair. Prior to this appointment, he was a faculty member and physician at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

He is recognized for his pioneering efforts to provide the first definitive examples of using circulating tumor DNA as cancer biomarker for screening, monitoring, and detection of occult disease and for the discovery of the therapeutic link between immunotherapy and cancer genetics in patients with mismatch repair deficient tumors. His work led to the landmark proof-of-concept study using PD-1 blockade in patients with mismatch repair deficient tumors, which led to the historic first pan-tumor FDA approval for any solid tumors with this genetic lesion.

He currently sits on the board of director of Quest Diagnostics. He was previously a board member of Jounce Therapeutics and Personal Genome Diagnostics.

He is a founder serval biotechnology companies including Pagerbox, Pagene/Thrive Diagnostics, Personal Genome Diagnostics, Inostics and Epitope.

He is a member of the AACR Fellows Academy and was awarded the Waun Ki Hong Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research in 2020. He is also the leader of the SU2C Colon Cancer Dream Team, Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Discovery and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and American Academy of Physicians (AAP). Dr. Diaz was appointed by President Joseph Biden to the National Cancer Advisory Board to the White House and is on the Board of Directors of Quest Diagnostics.

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Kristy Stengel, PhD - Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Abstract

Sequence-specific transcription factors are critical mediators of cellular response to both extracellular and intracellular cues. Rapidly changing transcriptional programs facilitate everything from cell fate decisions to stress responses, and the disruption of transcription factor function and/or expression is associated with disease states including cancer. While it is clear that the appropriate regulation of gene expression is critical for normal cellular function, historically, our ability to understand how sequence-specific transcription factors rapidly and specifically alter transcriptional programs has been limited by a toolbox of very slow genetic and knockdown strategies that take days to weeks before transcription factor activity can be assayed. Therefore, while direct transcriptional effects occur within minutes to hours, these models take days to establish, resulting in the detection of secondary and/or compensatory transcriptional changes that often mask the direct/immediate effects of transcription factor disruption. In order to overcome these technical limitations, we use CRISPR-mediated genome editing to introduce degron tags into endogenous transcription factor loci. This chemical-genetic approach results in rapid transcription factor degradation (minutes to hours) following PROTAC treatment, and effectively collapses the timeframe for assaying transcriptional changes, chromatin states, and genome-wide transcription factor occupancy from days to hours. Using this approach, we defined the mechanism of action of the RUNX1 transcription factor on gene regulation and enhancer function. We explore how this critical transcription factor sets the stage for appropriate myeloid development, and how disruption of RUNX1 function contributes to pathologic gene expression programs in myeloid leukemia.

About Kristy Stengel

Kristy Stengel completed her Ph.D. studies in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center. After obtaining her Ph.D., Kristy pursued postdoctoral studies with Scott Hiebert at Vanderbilt University, where she was promoted to research assistant professor in 2017. In 2021, Kristy joined the faculty in the Department of Cell Biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine as an assistant professor, where she continues her work using cutting edge technologies to define the mechanism of action of oncogenic transcription factors.

Register at: https://tinyurl.com/2m9jayet

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Register Now

2024-2025 Commencement Ceremony

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McCormick School of Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Degree Recognition Ceremony. The most up to date information can be found on our graduation webpage.

McCormick School of Engineering Undergraduate Convocation. The most up to date information can be found on our graduation webpage.

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