Georgia Tech/Emory Collaborations Featured in Conference Highlights
(Atlanta, GA) Nearly 4,000 biomedical engineers, faculty and students from around the world will gather in Atlanta on October 24-27 for the Biomedical Engineering Society’s Annual Conference. This is the largest BMES meeting in history with a record number of abstracts submitted, 919 oral presentations and 1550 poster presentations, representing the broadest range of research tracks to date.
More than 200 (122 oral and 85 poster presentations) research presentations at the conference will come from the growing partnership between the Emory University School of Medicine and The Georgia Institute of Technology College of Engineering. Together, the two schools formed the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering in 1997. Fifteen years later, the Coulter Department is ranked 2nd in the nation in biomedical engineering for both its undergraduate and graduate programs, according to the most recent rankings from U.S. News & World Report.
Conference Highlights include:
- Inauguration of the Society’s first female African American President, Gilda Barabino, Professor and Vice Chair for Graduate Studies in the Coulter Department. Dr. Barabino is a leading advocate for eliminating health disparities and broadening participation of underrepresented minorities in the discipline. This year she co-organized and will be a speaker in a special session addressing health care disparities facing African Americans, with presentations from Fred Gray, prominent civil rights attorney widely known for his litigation in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study; and Dr. Raphael Lee, President of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. October 26, 2:45 – 3:45 pm, GWCC A313.
- Presentation of the Pritzker Distinguished Lectureship Award to Ajit Yoganathan, Regent’s Professor and Vice Chair for Research for the Coulter Department. One of the highest honors in the field of biomedical engineering, the Pritzker Award recognizes an individual's outstanding achievements and leadership in the science and practice of biomedical engineering. Dr. Yoganathan is being honored for his pioneering achievements in cardiovascular fluid mechanics and translational medicine. October 25, 10:30 am to noon, GWCC Sydney Marcus Auditorium.
- Special symposium to honor the contributions and career of Larry V. McIntire, Chair of the Coulter Department. The program recognizes Dr. McIntire’s over 40 years of outstanding contributions to biomedical engineering, research and service. Thursday, October 25, 1:30 - 3:00PM and 4:00 - 5:30PM, GWCC, RM A313
- This year, up to 100 high school students will be recognized as the best and brightest of the next generation of biomedical engineers at the BMES 2012 High School Scholars Lunch. These scholars were nominated by their respective schools, which included Coretta Scott King Young Women's Leadership Academy and B.E.S.T. Academy, among others. BMES Scholars program is a joint initiative between the BMES Diversity Committee and the NSF-funded Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems (EBICS) Science and Technology Center that is joint between Georgia Tech, MIT, and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and was organized by Dr. Manu Platt, EBICS Director of Diversity and Assistant Professor in the Coulter Department. The students will be honored at a luncheon, participate in hands-on research demonstrations covering many areas of biomedical engineering, and then given access to the conference. Saturday, October 27, 10AM – 1PM, GWCC, RM A409
