In recognition and appreciation of the marvelous support by the Whitaker Foundation to the development of bioengineering at UCSD, our membership voted unanimously to name our Institute the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering. This proposal was approved by the University, and the Governing Committee of the Whitaker Foundation accepted with enthusiasm the formal proposal by Chancellor Dynes. It gives me great pleasure to report to you that the name change became effective in July 1999. The abbreviation of our Institute is now WIBE instead of IBME, as indicated at the top of this Newsletter.

Since the establishment of the Department of Bioengineering in 1994, it has been indeed a great pleasure and privilege for me to serve as the Chair, in addition to being Director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. The maximum term of Department Chairs in the Jacobs School of Engineering is five years. I am extremely pleased to report to you that Professor David Gough was appointed Chair of the Department of Bioengineering effective July 1, 1999. Professor Gough has excellent administrative experience as the Vice Chair of the Department of AMES, when Bioengineering was a part of AMES. He has served as Acting Chair of the Department of Bioengineering. He was Chair of the Undergraduate Committee of the Department, and he served on many committees in the Department, the School of Medicine, and the University. He is a member of the Executive Committee of WIBE. Having been a UCSD faculty since 1976, Professor Gough has extensive knowledge of the University systems. It is my strong belief that he will be a superb Chair to lead our Department to new heights. Not being the Department Chair will allow me to devote more time and energy to my duties as Director of the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Principal Investigator of the Whitaker Foundation Development and Leadership Awards. In these capacities, I will work closely with Professor Gough to assure the continued advancement of bioengineering at UCSD, and I will continue to work with the Industrial Advisory Board for enhancing industrial-academia cooperation.

On August 12, 1999, we had several very important events. In the afternoon that day, bioengineering representatives from seven University of California campuses (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Francisco, and San Diego) met at UCSD to discuss collaboration in research and education in this rapidly developing field. The results were very fruitful (see p. 10).

Starting at 5 PM on August 12, 1999, there was a momentous event in the Faculty Club for the dedication of the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering, introduction of the Powell-Focht Building, and celebration of Dr. Y.C. Fung’s 80^th birthday. The reception and dinner were attended by approximately 150 people. A brief report on this successful and inspiring event is given on page 2.

The planning of the Powell-Focht building is progressing very well. The architectural firm Anshen and Allen of Los Angeles, and the laboratory consultant Research Facilitates Design have met frequently with Bioengineering faculty, student, staff, and other related individuals in making the initial design planning. It is expected that ground breaking will take place in August 2000 and that the building will be completed in fall 2001.

The Bioengineering Graduate Students Group is organizing the annual Breakfast with Industry to be held on Friday, October 29, 1999, beginning at 7:30 am. I hope many of our industrial colleagues will participate in this meaningful event that provides a precious opportunity for fruitful exchange with our graduate students.

At this time of the start of the new academic year, we welcome the new graduate and undergraduate students that have just begun their studies in the Department of Bioengineering at UCSD. On behalf of the Institute, I would like to express our warmest wishes for their successful and enjoyable learning experience throughout their periods of study.

With my best wishes,

- Shu Chien, Director WIBE

A momentous and wonderful banquet was held in the UCSD Faculty Club on August 12, 1999 for the joyous purposes of dedicating the Whitaker Institute for Biomedical Engineering, introducing the Powell-Whitaker Building, and celebrating Dr. Y.C. Fung’s 80^th Birthday.

The event was attended by members of the Governing Committee of the Whitaker Foundation, members of the Board of the Charles Lee Powell Foundation, Leaders of the University administration, faculty and members of the industrial liaison program of the Whitaker Institute, representatives of Bioengineering students and staff, and the architects from Anshen and Allen of Los Angeles. A reception began at 5 PM in the courtyard of the Faculty Club. During the reception, the participants had the opportunity of viewing the beautiful model and drawings for the Powell-Focht Building and the pleasure of meeting and talking with one another. Posters were exhibited for the milestones of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering from its inception in 1991 to its naming as the Whitaker Institute in 1999, and for presenting some of the photographed highlights of Dr. Fung’s illustrious career.

At 6 PM Chancellor Dynes started the program and welcomed everyone to this great evening of celebration for three marvelous events. He said that the Whitaker Foundation site visit in September 1998 to review UCSD’s vision for bioengineering in the 21^st century and its leadership role into the future was a high point for him as Chancellor. After a rigorous review, the Whitaker Foundation selected our bioengineering department to receive its newly created Leadership Award. And the Foundation provided UC San Diego with a grant of more than $18 million. This award, together with a most generous $8 million gift from the Charles Lee Powell Foundation, put the infrastructure in place to enable our department to fully achieve its education and research vision. Chancellor Dynes said that he had several occasions to thank the Powell Foundation Board, but tonight is his first opportunity to thank the Whitaker Foundation Board in person.

Chancellor Dynes said that our biomedical engineering program is ranked among the top two in the country, and one of the reasons is its collaboration with our School of Medicine, the San Diego biotechnology industry, and our neighboring institutes­the Salk, Scripps, and Burnham Institutes. These collaborations have been fostered by our Organized Research Unit established in 1991­called the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. In recognition of the great impact that the Whitaker Foundation has had on the growth of bioengineering in San Diego, and the influence it will have through the new Leadership Award, the naming of the Institute in the Foundation’s honor is a fitting tribute, and the University is delighted that the Whitaker Foundation has accepted this proposal. Chancellor Dynes said that it gives him great pleasure tonight to announce and dedicate the Whitaker Institute for Biomedical Engineering. Under the direction of Dr. Shu Chien, the Institute will partner with the Whitaker Foundation to realize our common goal of advancing biomedical engineering and improving people’s health.

Chancellor Dynes introduced Dr. Burtt Holmes, Chairman of the Whitaker Foundation Governing Committee and welcomed him to the podium. Dr. Holmes said it was a distinct pleasure and privilege to meet with everyone. The Foundation and UCSD have had a common path over the last few decades. It the late 1960s the late Mr. U.A. Whitaker became concerned about the scarcity of the involvement of engineering in medical research provided funding for the start of the Harvard-MIT Health Science Technology Program and health science funding to support collaborative research between engineering faculty and medical schools in the Boston area. It was at about the same time that UCSD stated its Bioengineering Program as a joint venture between the Department of AMES and the School of Medicine. It is remarkable that UCSD, which was founded in the 1960s, began its School of Medicine in 1964, and established the joint Bioengineering Program in 1966, when Dr. Fung came to San Diego from Cal Tech. At that time bioengineering was in its infancy. Ten years later, the Whitaker Foundation was established in 1976 and selected biomedical engineering as the area with the greatest need for foundation support. UCSD has been among the greatest recipient of support from the Whitaker Foundation, having received 19 biomedical research grants, 9 grants under the fellowship program, a Development Award, an Industrial Internship Award, and now one of the first two Leadership Awards granted by the Foundation. The total funding exceeds $27 million reflecting how Whitaker Foundation thinks highly of UCSD Bioengineering.

The UCSD Bioengineering Program under the leadership of Dr. Shu Chien has been looked upon extremely favorably throughout the nation. It has been ranked among the top in the country. With 75 universities with bioengineering programs, UCSD’s status among such stiff competition is truly outstanding. We are delighted with the success at UCSD and the development of Bioengineering Programs throughout the United States. We have witnessed a consistent growth in undergraduate enrollment in Bioengineering, which exceeds that in most other engineering disciplines in many leading universities, including UCSD.

Why was Mr. U.A. Whitaker concerned about bioengineering in the late 1960s? Why did UCSD start its Bioengineering Program in 1966? Why do best students choose to enter undergraduate and graduate programs in bioengineering? Why are Universities starting new Bioengineering Programs and enhancing their existing ones. Why is the NIH more cognizant of the importance of bioengineering? The answer is that engineering is a critical component of all facets of medicine, from basic to applied. Mr. Whitaker and UCSD understood this over 30 years ago. Others are gradually awakening. The Whitaker Foundation is proud to accept the offer by UCSD to name its Institute of Biomedical Engineering the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering. UCSD is an early participant in the field of bioengineering and its faculty and students are among the best. We are honored to have the Whitaker name associated with the Institute. We look forward to the construction of the new Powell-Focht Bioengineering Building, which will be among the first and the large buildings dedicated to Bioengineering.

In conclusion, I would like to recognize Dr. Fung for his enormous contributions to bioengineering. I particularly want to command him for his vision for bioengineering in the future and his contribution to the success of the Bioengineering Program at the University of California, San Diego.

After Dr. Holmes’ speech, Dean Robert Conn added his thanks to the Whitaker Foundation board and the Powell Foundation board for their contributions, which will leave a legacy of medical advances. Dean Conn said that the Department of Bioengineering and the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering at UCSD have a clear vision for the field in the next century. He echoed Chancellor Dynes’ statement that the Powell and Whitaker Foundations have provided us with critical resources for the infrastructure needed to achieve the department’s goals, including the construction of the uniquely designed Powell-Focht Bioengineering Building, as shown in the model during reception.

Dean Conn said that the foundations’ support has catalyzed a complete capital plan to accommodate the growth of the Jacobs School of Engineering to steady state. The Powell-Focht Building is the first of four buildings that will be constructed in our new engineering quad, which is being designed by the world-renown architectural group, the Pelli group. The Powell-Focht building, which is expected to be complete for occupancy by the end of 2002, will be the anchor that links the engineering quad with the Warren Mall and the rest of the engineering complex. We will then locate a new state-funded facility for computer science next to the Bioengineering Building by 2004. Adjacent to this will be a privately funded research center focused on high performance computing and the life sciences. This research center will also be complete by 2004. The close proximity of these facilities will allow even more collaboration across disciplines, especially in the new area of bioinformatics. Finally, by 2007, we will complete the new quad with a state-funded building that will allow additional growth in the five engineering departments.

Dean Conn reported that the architectural firm of Anshen & Allen has already begun the design of the Powell-Focht building. Some of the unique features include five leading-edge core technology laboratories to be shared by all of the bioengineering faculty and others collaborating with the department. The building will also include teaching laboratories, to support the department’s goal of helping students learn though hands-on experience. One of the most exciting components of this building is the space for a Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership. The Center and its staff will help faculty throughout the Jacobs School of Engineering move through the important process of taking research findings to fruition as potential products that can benefit mankind. There will be laboratory space for start-up ventures to work in close proximity with faculty inventors. This new building will be a national model for collaborative, interdisciplinary and innovative research and education. For the Jacobs School, it will be the first of four new buildings to be constructed over the next seven years that will allow the School to sustain and enhance its presence as a premier engineering school. Dean Conn invites everyone to join in the groundbreaking of the Powell-Focht Bioengineering building next year at this time.

Dean Conn introduced Mr. Joel Holliday, President of the Charles Lee Powell Foundation. . Mr. Joel Holliday thanked Dean Conn and said that the Powell Foundation was immensely proud to participate in one of the country’s leading and rapidly growing schools of engineering through their funding of the Powell-Focht Bioengineering Building. With the support of the Chancellor and the commitment of the Dean and Faculty, a 1^st rate school of engineering is becoming even better while also growing substantially. This is augmented by the tremendous gift of the Jacobs. This is truly a community partnership that is making this happen. Professor Shu Chien, you and your colleagues have created an internationally respected department of Bioengineering and articulated a vision of multidisciplinary integrative Bioengineering that we are sure will develop into substantial improvements in health care treatments. You are to be thanked and congratulated on these achievements. It is particularly gratifying to be able to help provide the quality of facilities and infrastructure that is as consistent as the quality of the faculty and the students in the department of Bioengineering as well as the Computer Science Engineering department that will be housed there for a while as well as the entrepreneurship group. In closing, Mr. Holliday said that his regrets were that the Powell Foundation’s longtime leader, Herb Kunzel, is no longer with us to participate in this wonderful event. It was really Herb’s leadership and vision that has allowed the Powell Foundation to provide the level of funding that they have for this wonderful project.

At the end of the main course, Dr. Shu Chien, Director of the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering introduced Dr. Y.C. Fung, who was honored on the occasion of his 80^th birthday. As a member of UCSD Bioengineering, Dr. Chien expressed his sincere thanks to the Whitaker Foundation, the Powell Foundation for their generous support, and to Chancellor Dynes and Dean Conn for their strong encouragement. Dr. Chien gave a brief outline of Dr. Fung’s academic career, starting from his undergraduate and master studies at the Central University in China and his Ph.D. study at Cal Tech, in the area of aeronautical engineering. Dr. Fung had an illustrious career in aeronautical engineering as a faculty at Cal Tech, and it was most fortunate for UCSD and for the field of bioengineering that he came to San Diego in 1966 to establish the Bioengineering Program and to lead it to reach the top ranks.

Dr. Chien said that, by applying his profound knowledge in mechanics to study biological tissues, Dr. Fung created the important field of biomechanics, and he is widely recognized as the father of biomechanics. Dr. Fung also had the vision to initiate research activities in "tissue engineering", which is a term that he coined. Tissue engineering is now one of the most exciting frontiers in bioengineering. In addition to his superb research publications, Dr. Fung has written the most authoritative textbooks on biomechanics and related fields. He has trained many superb students who have become leaders in bioengineering. He loves teaching and he pays special attention to young investigators. He is their role model. Dr. Fung’s impacts are unparalleled; they are far-reaching and everlasting. It is my strong belief that Dr. Fung is the most eminent bioengineering scientist not only in this country, but also in the entire world. Not only today, but also in the entire history.

Dr. Fung has received every leading award and honor in the fields of bioengineering, biomechanics, and microcirculation. Last November the National Academy of Engineering bestowed upon him the Founders Award, which is the highest award given by this highest academic body in engineering. Dr. Fung is one of only a few scientists who have been elected to all three national academies in our country, i.e., The National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

Dr. Chien said that the way Dr. Fung looks, and especially the way he works and thinks, no one would have guessed that he is anywhere near 80. On the other hand, if we look at what he has accomplished, we will have to wonder how he could have done all these in the short time of 80 years. Therefore, Dr. Fung’s age according to his achievement is way beyond 80, but his biological age is way below 80. Tonight we are gathering here to honor a superb scientist, a wonderful teacher, a great leader, and a marvelous man who will reach his 80 years of chronological age next month. On behalf of everyone, Dr. Chien expressed the warmest congratulations and very best wishes to Dr. and Mrs. Fung and invited Dr. Fung to the podium

Dr. Fung thanked everyone for their kindness and said he appreciated the great honor that was given to him on celebrating his 80^th birthday: My dear and most respected Chancellor Dynes, Dean Conn, Dr. and Mrs. Jacobs, Dr. and Mrs. Holmes, Dr. and Mrs. Gibbons, Dr. and Mrs. Holliday, Dr. and Mrs. Agnew, Mrs. Kunzel, and Dr. and Mrs. Katona, Drs. Linehan, Chien, Gough, Ho, Johnson, Lai, Mow, Nerem, Ratcliffe, Shen, Tong, Wu, and colleagues and friends from UCSD and sister institutions near and afar:

Your kindness touches me deeply. I appreciate the great honor you are giving me on celebrating my 80^th birthday. I am overwhelmed by the fuss you made. Thank you! When I grew up, my grandparents always celebrated my birthday on July 22 of the lunar calendar. The trouble with the July date was that I was born not in real July, but in Leap July, and leap July in lunar calendar comes around once in a long while. So my parents celebrated my birthday on September 15^th of the solar calendar, which comes around every year. Hence I benefited by having two birthday celebrations every year in my childhood.

This year’s celebration is particularly memorable to me because it is also the golden anniversary of my wedding to Luna. Luna, I give you my love and thanks!

Dr. Chien: thank you very much for your extremely kind introduction.

I would like to say a few words about myself, how I got here, and my perspectives today.

I spent the first twenty-four years of my working life first in China, then in the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. My early research was on the dynamics of the airplane in turbulent weather. Combining solid mechanics with fluid mechanics, we call that kind of study the theory of aeroelasticity. Later, I focused on the aeroelasticity of aircraft and spaceship safety and design. In 1958, however, I took a sabbatical leave from Caltech with a Guggenheim Fellowship and went to Germany. There I had time to think about problems other than aeronautics. I became interested in the mechanics of the eye because my mother was suffering from glaucoma. I studied the medical literature, but found it avoids mechanics. Gradually, I was convinced that the understanding of the function of our bodies could be improved if the roles played by force and motion and stress and strain were analyzed as thoroughly as we do for airplanes.

Upon returning to Caltech, I began to work on blood cells, blood vessels, and microcirculation. At that time, there was a mystery in physiology. Our smallest blood vessels, with walls of thickness about one tenth of our hair, was found to be the most rigid of all blood vessels. I, together with Zweifach and Intaglietta, solved the mystery by pointing out that the surrounding tissues support these vessels, From this came our tunnel theory of the smallest blood vessels. In the meantime, I predicted that the smallest blood vessels in the lung are the softest of all blood vessels because they have no neighboring tissue to support them. Sid Sobin and I proved the truth of that prediction later. Then I got a theory to explain why our red blood cells are so strong. Billions of these little cells circulate through our smallest blood vessels whose diameters are about the same as that of the cell. Imagine yourself swimming in a tunnel so tight that both of your shoulders touch the wall, and swimming at a speed of many body lengths per second unceasingly for 120 days! These little red blood cells survive such gruesome condition! What is the secret? My answer is that the biconcave shape of the normal red blood cells, which are shaped like a donut without a hole, is the secret. This shape guarantees that the stress in the cell wall is zero at static condition and small in motion. So the red cells have a geometrical design which guarantees a stress free life. This reminds me of Taoism in China: That the soft wins over the hard, that feminism wins over machismo!

In 1965, I realized that if we knew the structure and mechanical properties of the materials of a living organ, then by the principles of physics we should be able to predict the functions of that organ. This was a vision I was willing to work for. I decided to give up my first love of aeronautics and resigned my professorship at the California Institute of Technology. This decision was very difficult for me because I loved that institution. But I had fallen in love with biomechanics. In 1966, I left Caltech and moved to the University of California, San Diego to initiate a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. program on Bioengineering. On research, I decided to clarify the blood circulation in the lung. Together with Sidney Sobin , I formulated a sheet-flow theory. To fill in all the details, I worked with my friends Sid Sobin and Mike Yen and many students on the pulmonary anatomy, histology, microscopy, design and construction of new instruments, testing, theorizing, and computing. We finished the first round of the lung work in 12 years. It was a fun-filled period. We found new things right and left. Altogether we published about 100 papers on the blood vessels and blood flow of the lung, each clarifying a piece of the puzzle. Toward the end, most ad hoc hypotheses were removed, our sheet-flow theory was reasonably established, and the agreement between theory and experiment was gratifying.

Besides the lung work, we looked into the heart, the intestines, the ureter, the problem of high blood pressure, etc. The field is so rich that in every direction we looked there were interesting fruits to be picked. I had the good luck to have the cooperation of many colleagues and students. Friends and students fill my life with pleasure. Now the field of biomechanics is in full bloom. What was vision to me earlier is now a common sense. My colleagues are now developing frontiers of molecular approach, and bringing biomechanics to the gene level. Like mathematics, biomechanics is becoming queen and servant at once.

Our effort at UCSD was helped greatly by the Whitaker Foundation. As a world citizen, I would like to thank the Whitaker Foundation for your leadership to develop the field of bioengineering. You are the conductor of an orchestra of national scale. You set the tone and the whole nation resonated enthusiastically! Your idea is absolutely original. Your style is poetic, and glorious.

I thank the Powell Foundation, the Whitaker Foundation, and the University of California for giving us a building that we can really love and call home.

Talking about home, I have treated UCSD as my home for a long time. I realized it one day when I was listening to a seminar. I reached into my pocket to get a piece of paper, but pulled out a pocketful of trash that I picked up that morning when I walked to school. I blamed myself for forgetting to put the trash into the can on the way. But it caused me to ask myself, "Why did I pick up the trash on my way to my office?" Suddenly I have to admit that I love the campus, and that I have been treating the campus as my home! So I thank you, UCSD!

Since my arrival in 1966, my greatest contribution to UCSD was the successful persuasion of Drs. Chien and Skalak to come to join us in La Jolla. Dr. Chien is a natural leader. Trained as an M.D., he picked up engineering by himself. His prominence in both fields has been made evident by the fact that he was elected to be a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science of the USA in 1994, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering of the USA in 1997. He is a leader in every organization to which he chooses to belong. He was the president of the American Physiological Society. He was the president of the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology. To attract him to UCSD was hard. How to keep him here was my worry. Not long after he came to UCSD, the President of Academia Sinica retired, and in selecting the next President, the members of the Academy voted Dr. Chien as one of the three finalists. Considering the tremendous prestige the Academy enjoys in Taiwan, I really did not know how to persuade Dr. Chien one way or the other. Fortunately, Dr. Chien chose us; he took himself out of the race. He’d rather stay here to lead an effort to establish the Institute for Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Bioengineering at UCSD. His success is appreciated by us all.

In accordance with the rule that the length of a departmental chairship be a maximum of five years, Dr. Chien retired from the chair last month. He continues as the Director of the Whitaker Institute for Biomedical Engineering.

The new chair of Bioengineering is no stranger. He is Professor David Gough, who came to UCSD in 1968. His brightness was recognized early when the journal Science published his Ph.D. thesis as a long lead article. He has devoted his research to diabetes. He invented and designed an implantable glucose sensor that is the world’s best. We are particularly happy because the reason for his invention being the best was his emphasis on scientific understanding of every key step of the workings of the instrument. So we can look forward to a continued emphasis on fundamental research for practical bioengineering.

Looking back on my 80 years, I must say that I have been extremely lucky. Modest was my portion, and modest were my accomplishments. Yet I was given some recognition beyond my merit. I know, they are the benefits of old age. So my advice to younger persons is to be patient and live long! Recognition will come your way when you are not looking. To my older friends, I would like to bring you a gift of a piece of old Chinese philosophy about how to live long. This piece came from the great philosopher Zhuong Zhou (c. 369 to 286 B.C.). Zhuong Zhou was a contemporary of Aristotle (384 to 322 B.C.). Zhuong was 15 years younger than Aristotle. Here is how he began his chapter on the "Principle of Nurturing Long Life" (my translation somewhat abbreviated):

King Liang watched a butcher killing a cow, i.e. executing it very quickly. The butcher used his hands, feet, shoulders, and knees like a choreographed dance to music. The King exclaimed, "How extraordinary!" The butcher put down his knife and said, "What I did was follow the laws of nature. When I first learned the trade I saw whole cows in front of me. Now I see only its bones, joints, and crevices. In dispatching, I use my mind rather than my eyes and ears. My mind guides my knife to the strategic crevices where the force of nature would allow the infinitely thin knife’s edge to disassemble the skeleton as dynamics permit. An ordinary butcher changes his knife once a month. A good butcher changes his knife once a year, but I have used this knife for nineteen years. How could I protect my knife for so long? The answer is to use its sharp edge only through the crevices! There are always crevices wider than my knife’s edge. At the very edge there is always plenty of space to maneuver! That is how my knife is like new after nineteen years. However, when I face a complex joint, I know the difficulty. I warn myself to be extremely careful. I focus my mind’s eye. I move slowly. The animal collapsed to the ground upon a tiny movement of my knife. It collapsed without knowing that it has had it. At this time, I stood with my knife in hand, looked around toward the horizon, and was filled with satisfaction and pride. Then I wiped my knife clean and put it away carefully."

Then said the King, "I now know the principle of nurturing a long life."

The Book of Zhuongtse contains other similar passages. One about a swimmer. One about a cicada catcher. The secret for long life is to reward yourself with pride and satisfaction in doing what you can do best. The books of Laotse and Zhuongtse will please you. Hope you enjoyed this passage. I am nurturing the thought the next topic of bioengineering should be "How to live a long life happily."

With best wishes to you all! Thank you!

After Dr. Fung’s inspiring speech and a standing ovation from the audience, Chancellor Dynes thanked Dr. Fung for his many years of dedicated service and leadership to the University, and presented with a gift to express the University’s appreciation. A birthday cake was brought in and Dean Conn led all participants to sing Happy Birthday together.

Chancellor Dynes closed this memorable evening of celebration by stating that tonight marks a milestone in the development of biomedical engineering here at UC San Diego and thanking everyone for making it a marvelous evening that launches an even greater future.

Adolfo Chavez Negrete, from the Instituto Mexicano del seguro Social, Mexico D.F., Mexico, Lucia Ballerinin, from the University of Florence, Florence, Italy, and Silvia Bertuglia, from the University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy are working with Dr. Marcos Intaglietta in the Department of Bioengineering.

The University of California, San Diego ranked as the seventh best public university in the nation in the annual America’s Best Colleges survey by U.S. News and World Report. The guide rated 1,400 schools, designating the nation’s top 50 national universities, and 50 best public national universities. Of the top 50 public universities, at seventh place UCSD outranked much older institutions such as the University of Washington, University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), Purdue and Georgia Tech. Among the nation’s top national universities, both public and private, UCSD ranked 32^nd.

This past summer four new UCSD faculty members joined the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Sanjay Nigam, Professor of Nephrology joined in May; Sangeeta Bhatia, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, Gary Huber, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, and Shankar Subramaniam, Professor of Bioengineering and Chemistry and Biochemistry all joined in July.

Sonya R. Summerour, graduate student in Bioengineering, won the American Physiological Society's Liaison with Industry Committee Award for "Best graduate student abstract describing a novel disease model" Ms. Summerour was also awarded a Travel Fellowship from the American Physiological Society to attend the APS/Experimental Biology meeting, which was held in Washington, D.C. in April 1999. Ms. Summerour also was awarded honorable mention by the Minority Affairs Committee of the American Society of Cell Biology for Best Graduate Student Poster at their Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Jeff Bishop, graduate student in Bioengineering, was awarded a Travel Award for the Joint Meeting of the International Society of Biorheology and International Society for Clinical Hemorheology, held in Pecs, Hungary on July 18-22, 1999.

Shankar Subramaniam is currently a Professor of Bioengineering and Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California at San Diego. He also holds a joint appointment at the San Diego Supercomputing Center. Before joining UCSD in July of 1999, he was the Director of the Computational Biology group at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and a Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Chemical Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His present research focuses several important aspects of computational biology. These include web-based approaches to bioinformatics, going from protein sequence to structure and function and studying protein recognition and function.

Bioinformatics is an area of growing interest in modern biology, which deals with processing of the myriad information associated with genomics and sequencing. The large volume of data necessitates involvement of high performance computing as well as data manipulation and analysis. The Biology Workbench, a seamless biology analysis environment on the world wide web, (http://biology.ncsa.uiuc.edu), was designed by Subramaniam and developed in his laboratory. This web-based problem-solving environment for the biologist involves innovative design of both database federation and wrapping of a large number of sequence and structure tools into a web-environment. The biology workbench has been released to the national biology research community, in 1996 and is used by thousands of users each day. NCSA and SDSC provide the compute server and storage facilities for the community to use. The biology workbench is also now being mirrored in numerous national laboratories, international centers and major pharmaceutical companies. Further extensions of this problem-solving environment include extensions to genomics and automated macromolecular structure refinement and modeling. A scientific grand challenge which has emerged from the potential of the biology workbench is the new science called phylogenomics - the study of comparative genetic organization, function and evolution of genomes for extant life forms. In collaboration with leading genome scientists at Illinois, Subramaniam is working on developing and implementing the necessary bioinformatics tools to perform large-scale phylogenomic analysis, and annotating genomes and delineating gene participation in biochemical pathways.

For the past several years, Dr. Subramaniam’s group has been working on novel methods for protein homology modeling and structure refinement. A significant problem in modern protein science is the apparent structural and functional similarity between proteins despite apparent lack of sequence homology. It is apparent that there is a hidden level of homology that conserves structure and function and Dr. Subramaniam’s group has been exploring possible solutions to the "hidden homology" problem. Using a structural fragment-based approach, they have shown the limitations of standard secondary structure approaches to homology as well as the limitations of using well-defined structural motifs. Given that the details of atomic interactions play a dominant role in shaping the three dimensional structure of proteins, he and his group have derived from high resolution protein structures, pair-wise atomic distance probability density functions, which in turn can be used to assess and refine protein structures. Using this method, low- resolution protein structures are seen to converge to high-resolution structures. This method is being coupled now to protein crystallography and NMR methods for rapidly obtaining high-resolution structures.

For many years, Dr. Subramaniam has been associated with developing novel methods to study molecular recognition. His group developed what is arguably the fastest method for computing accurately electrostatic potentials in proteins. This has been applied to numerous systems both in his laboratory and those of other colleagues. In a study of the antibody proteins, key molecules of the immune system, he has computed quantitatively accurate association rate constants for antibody-protein complexes. More recently, his laboratory has been one of a few laboratories to study pH dependent properties of proteins and protein complexes. This has large implications for protein folding and association.

REFERENCES

On May 27, 1999 the Bioengineering Industrial Internship Program hosted the 2^nd annual Industrial Internship Meeting. The meeting brought together bioengineering students and local biotechnology industry representatives for a question and answer session. Three bioengineering interns, Leon Lum, Michele Temple and Rick Calou, each gave brief reviews of their internship experience, including descriptions of their positions, the benefits of an internship, and why they feel the internship has helped them make decisions about their future career paths. Also attending the meeting were industrial mentors from Genentronics’ Estella Siau, Advanced Tissue Sciences’ Suzie Riley, and Ericomp, Inc.’s, Lonnie Adelman. Each mentor gave a brief description of their company, the kinds of internships they offer, and what they look for in an intern.

A casual reception followed the question and answer session, where the students and industry representatives were able to talk one-on-one in more detail about their companies and future internship positions.

This year’s annual Industrial Internship Meeting proved to be a great success. If you are interested in attending next year’s meeting, please contact the Industrial Internship Coordinator at (858) 822-1010, or by email at iship@bioeng.ucsd.edu.

On August 12, 1999, bioengineering representatives from seven University of California campuses (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Francisco, and San Diego. UC Santa Barbara was contacted to attend the meeting, but he was not able to join. They expressed interest in such inter-campus cooperation and would like to participate in future meetings.) met at UCSD to discuss collaboration in research and education in this rapidly developing field. The results of the meeting were very fruitful This meeting was informal with the purpose of beginning a dialogue for cooperation among bioengineering programs in the various UC campuses. These intercampus meetings will address issues of common interests such as, undergraduate curriculum, joint efforts in recruiting, problem of split FTE, space problems, application of consortium grants, generation of matching funds, establishment of database on program information, research activities and resources, distant learning and ethics education.

Presentations on the current status and future plans for each UC program were first given. Dr. Thomas Budinger described the Bioengineering Program at UC Berkeley and UCSF. There is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program, which began in UCB, and its curriculum is undergoing revision with 8 areas of specialization. UCB and UCSF are in the process of forming a joint Department of Bioengineering. Recently, the joint program has received a major Award from the Whitaker Foundation to enhance the permanent infrastructure for the department, including faculty recruitment and building construction. The main areas of research emphasis include Tissue Biomechanics; Radiation Bioengineering; Biomedical imaging; Bioinformatics and Genomics; Microfabrication; MEMS and Robotics; Systems Bioengineering, and Computational Engineering.

Following Dr. Budinger's presentation, Dr. Muary Hull described the Bioengineering Program at UC Davis. UCD has a Graduate Group in biomedical Engineering, which was founded in 1970, with 55 students. The current research emphases are Orthopedic and Movement Biomechanics; Biomedical imaging; Cellular Engineering; Biosensors and Bioinstrumentation, and Biofluids and Transport. The Program received a Whitaker Foundation Special Opportunity Award to form a new Division and hire 3 new faculty, create new research direction, enhance new laboratories, expand graduate curriculum, increase graduate enrollment, and create undergraduate programs. The academic plan is to create a Biomedical Engineering Department with 10 FTE and identify 25,000 ASF of new space.

Dr. Steven George described the Bioengineering Program at UC Irvine. Dr. George joined UCI in 1995. In 1997, UCI School of Engineering appointed a new Dean, who assigned 5 FTE to Bioengineering, and the central administration will provide 5 more. In February 1999, UCI received a Development Award from the Whitaker Foundation. A Center of Biomedical Engineering was established in 1998, and a new Department will begin in 2001. The undergraduate minor in Biomedical Engineering began in fall 1999. An undergraduate major is planned for fall 2001. The areas of research emphasis at UCI include Biophotonics; Laser; Computation, and BioMEMS.

Dr. Douglas Mackinzie described the Bioengineering Program at UCLA. In December 1996, the Dean of School of Engineering was asked by the Chancellor to organize a Department of Biomedical Engineering. Sixty faculty members in UCLA have been identified as having interest in biomedical engineering. Dr. Mackenzie has been appointed as the interim chair. After extensive search, Dr. Warren Grundfest of Cedar Sinai Hospital, has been appointed as the Chair and will start in September 1999. Biomedical Engineering at UCLA started as an Interdepartmental Graduate Program, which was officially approved in January 1998. The Dean has obtained external funding for the construction of a new building, which is being planned. The areas of emphasis include Biomedical Signal And Image Processing; Bioacoustics, Speech and Hearing; Biomedical Instrumentation; Biomechanics, Biomaterials, and Tissue Engineering; biochemical Engineering; Biocybernetics, and Neuroengineering.

Dr. Ashok Mulchandani described the Bioengineering Program at UC Riverside. At UCR, the Chancellor and the new Dean of School of Engineering have just started discussing the formation of a biomedical engineering program. One of the driving forces is student enrollment. There is no medical school at Riverside, but there is a Biomedical Sciences Division, of which Dr. Michael Stemerman is the Dean. He has been discussing with the School of Engineering on how this joint program can be evolved. The first goal is to hire a senior faculty to define what will be Biomedical Engineering at UCR. The Biomedical Sciences Division has a joint program with UCLA School of Medicine. There is also some discussion with the medical school of Loma Linda on cooperation with UCR.

Dr. David Gough described the Bioengineering Program at UC San Diego. The UCSD Bioengineering Program was founded in 1966 as a joint effort between Engineering Sciences and School of Medicine, with graduate and undergraduate programs. An NIH training program began in 1975. In 1991, the Institute for Biomedical Engineering was established to foster interdisciplinary research. In 1993, the Institute won a Whitaker Foundation Development Award. In 1994, the Department of Bioengineering was established. The Department received a Whitaker Foundation Internship Award in 1996 and a Whitaker Foundation Leadership Awards in 1998. The Leadership Award, together with a Powell Foundation gift and University funding, allows the construction of a new building with 63,000 ASF (to be completed in 2002) and the recruitment of 8 more new faculty (two were recruited in 1999). The areas of research emphasis are Genetic Circuits; Molecular Biomechanics; Cell-Matrix Engineering, and Systems Bioengineering. These research areas are linked with 5 core technologies (Biofabrication, Biotechnology; Information Technology; In Vivo Technology; and Instrumentation and Microscopy) and education laboratories, under the overarching theme of Integrating Bioengineering.

Following presentations of the UC system Bioengineering Programs, discussions of how UC Bioengineering can work together in research and education began. Based on the presentations by the various campuses, it was noted that there is a tremendous surge in bioengineering-related activities in UC campuses. Each campus will recruit 1 to 4 faculty members in the coming year, with a total of about 15. In the next 3-4 years, each campus will recruit an additional 3 to 7 faculty members, with a total of about 30. If the faculty to be recruited by UC Santa Barbara is taken into account, the UC system will probably recruit more than 50 new faculty members in about 4 years. The UC system had no Department of Bioengineering until 5 years ago, when the department was established at UCSD. Now there are at least 5 other campuses that will establish a new Department very soon. New bioengineering buildings will be constructed on at least 4 campuses. Almost all campuses are having new educational initiatives. Five campuses have received Special Opportunity Award, Development Award, and/or Leadership Award from the Whitaker Foundation for the enhancement of bioengineering infrastructure. There are many common interests in research areas. Three or more campuses are interested in areas such as Bioinformatics and Computation; Biomechanics; BioMEMS and Instrumentation; Imaging, and Cell and Tissue Engineering. The timing is perfect for the initiation of intercampus interaction and collaboration for the common goal of developing biomedical engineering.

Dr. Maury Hull of UC Davis proposed to host the "First University of California System-Wide Biomedical Engineering Symposium." in April 2000 in Davis. In the beginning, such symposia will be limited to bioengineering groups in the UC system. The next UC system Bioengineering meeting will be held in February 2000 in Berkeley.

Sangeeta Bhatia, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, has won the Packard Award. The Packard Foundation recommends 24 Fellows to receive individual grants of $125,000 annually for five consecutive years.

Kenneth Chien, Professor of Medicine, won two 1999 distinguished visiting professorships: the Calabresi Lecture, a Distinguished Visiting Professorship of the Yale University School of Medicine, and the Bloomfield-Arnold Lecture, a Visiting Professorship of the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Chien has also been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of Pictet et Cie, Banquiers in Geneva, the largest private bank in Switzerland. He will sit as a consultant on scientific investments.

Murray Goodman, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been elected a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in recognition of his "scientific merits." He becomes one of only a limited number of foreign members in this prestigious society.

Richard Lieber, Professor of Bioengineering and Orthopaedics, received a 5 year, $707, 000 grant from the NIH to develop a surgical device to measure muscle properties during surgery on children with Cerebral Palsy.

Michael Rosenfeld, Professor of Medicine and Ronald Even, Adjunct Professor of Biology, have been awarded the Fred Conrad Koch Award by the Endocrine Society ­ the society’s highest honor, awared for exceptional contributions to the field.

Ajit Varki, Professor of Medicine, has been appointed founding Director of the newly established Glycobiology Research and Training Center at UCSD. Dr. Varki also presided over the 91^st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Dr. Varki is the first faculty member from UCSD School of Medicine to serve as President of the ASCI.

University of California, San Diego

Institute for Biomedical Engineering

9500 Gilman Drive

La Jolla, CA 92093-0427

(619) 822-2290