UWEB Talent

UWEB Researchers Lead the Nation

• Paul Bornstein (Solomon A. Berson Medical Alumni Achievement Award in Basic Science from New York University School of Medicine, 2004)
• Andy Branca (Coulter Project Manager of Coulter Foundation Translational Research Partnership at UW)
• University of Washington was selected as a Translational Partner by the Coulter Foundation, providing the UW with $580k/year for 5 years for translational research support. At the end of this period, the Foundation will make a substantial endowment to sustain the translation research program in Bioengineering. More information about this program can be found at http://www.whcf.org/WHCF_TranslationalPartnershipAward.htm. Four projects have been selected for Coulter grant funding for April 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007. Each project has both a bioengineer and a clinician PI: Dr. Patrick Stayton and Dr. Oliver Press (Medicine: Medical Oncology); Dr. Buddy Ratner and Dr. Tueng Shen (Ophthalmology); Dr. Xingde Li and Dr. Joo Ha Hwang (Medicine: Gastroenterology); and Dr. Xiaohu Gao and Dr. Lawrence True (Pathology).
• David Castner (2003 Excellence in Surface Science Award, Surfaces in Biomaterials, 2004 Clemson Award for Basic Research, Society for Biomaterials
  Fellow, Biomaterials Science and Engineering, Elected to the American Vacuum Society Board of Directors for a 3-year term beginning January 1, 2005)
• Winston Ciridon (Nominated for the 2004 Distinguished Staff Award)
• Cecilia Giachelli (Advances in Mineral Metabolism Investigator Award, 2003, Appointed a member of the NIH Vascular Cell and Molecular Biology Study Section for a 4-year term beginning July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2008)
• Allan Hoffman (Elected to the National Academy of Engineering, 2005)
• Allan Hoffman (2006 International Award from the
  Society of Polymer Science, Japan, 2006)
• Suzie Pun (Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2006)
• Buddy Ratner (C. William Hall Award, Society For Biomaterials, 2006)
• Patrick Stayton (Clemson Award for Basic Research, Society for Biomaterials, 2006)

Student Research Recognition Awards:

• Dan Allred. Second place in UW’s Center for Nanotechnology contest. Developed pedagogical modules for high school students enrolled in the NNIN/UWEB "Science For Success" (SFS) summer program, 2005.
• Abhi Banerjee. Dow Outstanding Junior Award (DOJA), 2004.
• Benjamin Beckstead . Travel Award for the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) Engineering the Cell Conference, 2005.
• Lan Cao. Society for Biomaterial Student Travel and Career Development Award, 2005;
  Graduate School Travel Award for Excellence and Innovation, University
  of Washington, 2004
• Xuanhong Chen. World Biomaterial Congress, 2004.
• Shrojal Desai. “‘Green’ Composites From Biofibers and Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate),” selected Best of ANTEC 2004 (Society of Plastics Engineers).
• Elizabeth Donaldson. American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship, 2004; GSFEI Travel Award, 2004.
• Mohamed El-Sayed. Received Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Cancer Center on application titled "Smart Polymeric Carriers for Enhanced Breast Cancer Therapy." May 2004 - April 2006.
• Stephen Gingrich. Mary Gates Research Scholar, 2004.
• Jennifer James. Rushmore Poster Competition, Undergraduate Division, 2005.
• Jeremy Joseph. NIH Minority Trainee Research Forum travel fellowship, 2005.  Ford Fellows, 2005.
• Floyd Karp. Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, 2005.
• Floyd Karp. Springer Award for Best Student Poster Presentation at the 19th European Conference on Biomaterials, Sorrento, Italy, September 11-15, 2005
• Brian Kidd. First place in UW’s Center for Nanotechnology contest. Developed pedagogical modules for high school students enrolled in the NNIN/UWEB "Science For Success" (SFS) summer program, 2005.
• Michael Linnes. Appointed a Bioengineering Cardiovascular Training Grant (BCTG) pre-doctoral trainee. The
  appointment is for 2 years, with encouragement to reapply for a third year.
• Andrew Marshall. Nominated to the Excellence in Graduate Research Symposium, ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry, 2004.
• Alexandra Michiardi. Graduate student from Universidad Politecnica de Cataluña completed Diploma Thesis project at UWEB won a student poster presentation prize at the 19th European Conference on Biomaterials, Sorrento, Italy, September 11-15, 2005.
• Andrea Munro. Third place in UW’s Center for Nanotechnology contest. Developed pedagogical modules for high school students enrolled in the NNIN/UWEB "Science For Success" (SFS) summer program, 2005.
• Leonard Teo, Mary Gates Research Scholar, 2004.
• Mandana Veiseh. Society of Women Engineers, 2004.
• Marie Vendettuoli. USIRP student. “Methods for Generating Protein Molecular Ions in ToF-SIMS," S.L. McArthur, M.C. Vendettuoli, B.D. Ratner and D.G. Castner. Langmuir 2004; 20: 3704-3709, 2004.

UWEB in the News

• Sariah Khormaee, an undergraduate doing research with Buddy Ratner (UWEB) and Tueng Shen (Ophthalmology), was awarded the prestigious Marshall Scholarship.  She plans to attend Cambridge University in England where she will earn her doctorate.
• Jeremy Joseph and Lina Nilsson, Bioengineering graduate students, were selected as Bonderman Fellows. The fellowship provides $20,000 for world travel during the 2006-07 academic year.
• Jennifer Patterson, Bioengineering graduate student, selected to attend an NSF workshop in March 2006 to encourage retention and advancement of minority, women, and disabled engineering educators. Only 20 Ph.D. candidates/post-docs were selected.
• Elizabeth Sharpe and Shari Ireton received a 2006 Merit Award in the technical publications category of the Society for Technical Communications' annual competition. Sharpe and Ireton write and produce the Insider, a newsletter for UWEB member companies. Entries were judged on writing, graphics, copyediting, and overall integration.

UWEB continues to produce the most talented and workforce-ready students available for employment in industry.

UWEB students who recently received their Ph.D. and Master’s degrees.:

• Xuanhong Cheng, PhD, December 2004. “Thermally Responsive Surfaces by RF-Plasma Deposition and the Applications for Protein and Cell Technology.”
• Andrew Marshall, PhD, December 2004.  “Porous Hydrogels with Well-Defined Pore Structure for Biomaterials Applications.”
• Ming Ni, PhD, November 2004. "The Mechanism of Osteoinduction by Nacre:
  Effects of Soluble Proteins and Insoluble Matrix."
• Marc Takeno, PhD, May 2005. “Antithrombotic Peptide Delivery from Glow-Discharge
  Plasma-Coated Controlled Release Matrices.”
• Katie Walline, Master’s, February 2004.  "Drug Delivery Coatings for Cardiovascular Stents: Silicone Elastomer and Thrombin Responsive Hydrogel Coatings."
• Yuguang Wu, PhD, October 2004.  "Protein and Platelet Interactions with Polyurethanes.”
• Vesna Zderic. PhD, March 2004. “Ultrasound-Enhanced Ocular Drug Delivery.”

UWEB Alumni

• Stephanie Bryant. UWEB post-doctoral student is a professor at the University of Colorado. She won the  Career Transition Award from NIH (K-22, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) for her project, entitled "Mechanical Stimulation of Cells in Photopolymerized Gels." The amount of the award is $500,000 over a 4-year period.

UWEB students employed in the medical device industry in the last five years:

• Maximiliane Boeckl (Asemblon, Inc.)
• Chad Brown (Samyang Research Corporation)
• Michael Garrison (BD)*
• Kathryn Kitching, (Medtronic Inc., Surface Technologies Group)*
• Connie Kwok (Guidant)*
• Stephanie Martin (Kimberly-Clarke)
• Rachit Ohri (Boston Scientific)*
• Sheng Pan (ISB)
• Jeffrey Schwartz  (W.L. Gore & Associates)*
• Niraj Shah (Guidant)*
• Mingchao Shen (Micronics, Boston Scientific)*
• Paige Stephans-Bota (Edwards Lifesciences Corporation)*

*UWEB consortium members