The Future of Biohybrid Devices

When it comes to medical devices, engineers have already developed technology that can transmit, receive, and process complex digital data into information everyday wearers can understand, nearly instantaneously. From the first pacemaker to today’s smart watches, medical devices and wearables have come a long way thanks to advances in this kind of technology. As for the human body itself? Each and every one of us benefits from countless cell-based “micro-processors” that prompt immune responses, send important signals to the brain, or accelerate wound healing.

In both the electronic and biological worlds, decades of research and innovations enable scientists to understand a lot about how and why these systems work the way they do. But, the biotech world hasn’t yet bridged the gap between the two realms.

But, Fischell Institute researchers hope they might bridge that gap.

Fischell Institute Director William E. Bentley, Fischell Institute Fellow Greg Payne (IBBR), and their team have been working to develop a technique to translate biological information into electronic information, and vice versa. To do this, they’re hitching a ride with a small class of molecules known as “redox” molecules, which are capable of shuttling electrons to any location in the body. This process requires redox molecules to undergo a series of chemical reactions – oxidation or reduction actions – that enable them to transport electrons to the intended target in the body.

The group's long-term vision – backed by a newly awarded three-year, $1.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant – centers on a future in which redox-based bioelectronics open entirely new lines of communication between the electronic and biological worlds. 
 

M-CERSI Now Accepting 2023 Regulatory Science Talent Competition Applications

Students at the Baltimore and College Park campuses of the University of Maryland are invited to participate in the Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation's (M-CERSI) "America's Got Regulatory Science Talent" Competition.

The competition will be held on the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus at a date and time to be announced in early 2023.  

The competition aims to promote student interest in regulatory science – the science of developing new tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of FDA-regulated products.
 

Fischell Foundry Spotlight: Quinn Burke

Fischell Institute engineer Quinn Burke (B.S.'20, M. Eng.‘22 bioengineering) first got involved with the institute as an undergraduate working with Fischell Foundry member Lex Schultheis on a dental device project for which Burke conducted DART mass spectrometry analysis on 3D-printed dental devices that were printed using a dental resin and stereolithography (SLA).  After printing, the devices were subject to different curing and biocompatibility procedures. The main objective of this work was to explore whether DART mass spectrometry could serve as a useful tool in determining the biocompatibility of these devices. 

Burke earned his bachelor's degree in bioengineering and minor in technology entrepreneurship in 2020. After graduation, he decided to further his education with a focus on medical device development so he applied for the Fischell Institute’s MPowering the State Student Entrepreneurship Fellowship, coinciding with the University of Maryland’s M.Eng. in Bioengineering program.
 

Cancer in the Crosshairs

For more than a century, the medical community has tapped vaccines to treat a wide variety of diseases, from smallpox and the flu, to HIV, and, most recently, COVID-19. But, recent findings – as well as advanced understanding of how the human immune system functions – have enabled bioengineers to zero in on a high-priority target: cancer.

Fischell Institute Fellow Christopher M. Jewell (BIOE) and members of his Immune Engineering Lab are taking cancer vaccine development to the next level by designing new techniques to tailor the body’s immune response to cancer. The group is working to engineer vaccines that carry new therapy combinations in order to coax the immune system to recognize, attack, and prevent recurrence of cancer – all without harming nearby healthy cells. The group’s most recent findings were published this week in Advanced Science.