Biomedical Engineering professor, Manu Platt, can now add magazine cover to his list of accomplishments. In the January 1, 2015 issue of Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Platt, an assistant professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory, was featured on the magazine cover as one of the 2015 Emerging Scholars of the Year. He is among a diverse group individuals, all of them under 40, who were recognized for the uniqueness of their fields of study and a commitment to service and teaching.

In the article, Platt’s groundbreaking research as a biomedical engineer is heralded. But the writer, Ronald Roach, also mentions that Platt is, “excelling as an educator and humanitarian,” and, “he has been active in efforts to increase the success of biomedical engineering students and post docs from underrepresented minority groups.”

Joining BME in January of 2009, Platt is currently focused on cardiovascular tissue remodeling in sickle cell disease and in patients with HIV and developing regenerative medicine approaches using bone marrow derived stem cells for tissue repair.

Platt received his B.S. in Biology at Morehouse College in 2001. As a senior undergraduate, he was invited to participate in research at the Georgia Tech & Emory Center for the Engineering of Living Tissue (GTEC) working with Robert Nerem, Ph.D. This propelled Platt to pursue a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech, which he received in 2006. Under the advisement of Hanjoong Jo, Ph.D., professor of biomedical engineering and cardiology, Platt’s thesis investigated the role of blood flow mechanics in differential regulation of cathepsin enzymes and their inhibitor cystatin C in the endothelial cells that line the arterial walls; this work has important implications on plaque development in arteries that leads to cardiovascular disease.