Fall 2008 WISE Events at Boston University

Focus on Research -- What WISE Faculty Do
Friday, September 26, 2008, noon-1 pm
64 Cummington Street, Room 150

Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, Human Development Program

Deborah Belle began her career studying stress and depression among low-income mothers and the protective power of social networks. She has studied gender differences in social behavior and the stresses that arise at the intersection of paid employment and family life. She is currently interested in understanding the importance of networks for women faculty in STEM fields.

Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science

Margrit Betke conducts research in computer vision, in particular, developing advanced methods for detection, segmentation, registration, and tracking of objects in visible-light, infrared, and x-ray image data. She has worked on gesture, vehicle, animal, cell, and tumor tracking. The video-based human-computer interfaces her group has developed are used by people with severe disabilities in many countries all over the world.

Welcome Reception for New Faculty Members
Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Howard Thurman Center, George Sherman Union

Dr. Franco Cerrina (Electrical and Computer Engineering):
nanofabrication of semiconductor, photonics and genomic devices
Dr. Lorena Barba (Mechanical Engineering):
computational fluid mechanics, meshfree and adaptive methods
Dr. Michael Smith (Biomedical Engineering):
mechanotransduction, fibronectin, and engineered cell culture platforms
Dr. Samuel Isaacson (Mathematics and Statistics):
numerical analysis, mathematical biology, and mathematical physics
Dr. Tulika Bose (Physics):
experimental particle physics.

Welcome Reception for New Faculty Members
Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Trustees Ballroom

Dr. Colleen Dalton (Earth Sciences):
Earth's interior structure
Dr. Adrian Whitty (Chemistry):
Mechanisms of receptor activation and characterization of small molecule inhibitors.
Dr. Robinson Fulweiler (Earth Sciences):
Energy flow and biogeochemical cycling of nutrients
Dr. Karen Allen (Chemistry):
Protein structure, function, and design.
Dr. Angela Ho (Biology):
Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of synaptic function, plasticity and neurodegeneration

Focus on Research -- What WISE Faculty Do
Speakers: Joyce Wong and Elise Morgan
Thursday, November 13, 2008, noon-1 pm
Room 401 in ERB (44 Cummington)
Please rsvp: wisersvp@bu.edu

Clare Booth Luce Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Wong's research is focused on the development of biomaterials to probe how structure, material properties and composition of the cell-biomaterial interface affect fundamental cellular processes. Specifically, we are interested in developing substrata with features that mimic physiological and pathophysiological environments to study fundamental cellular processes at the biointerface. Current research projects include tissue engineering of small diameter blood vessels for bypass and intravascular pharmacology (e.g. stents); development of targeted nano- and micro-particle contrast agents for multi-modal (magnetic resonance, ultrasound, and optical) detection of atherosclerotic and vulnerable plaque; and engineering biomimetic systems to study restenosis and breast cancer.

Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Elise Morgan conducts research on relationships between structure and mechanical function of musculoskeletal tissues at multiple length scales. She uses both experimental and computational methods to explore how the deformation and failure behaviors of tissues, primarily bone and cartilage, depend on the tissue microstructure; and conversely, how the differentiation and adaptation of tissues and cells are modulated by their local mechanical environment. She is also interested in the mechanics of general multi-scale media and damage mechanics.

GWISE Organizational Meeting
Monday, November 24th
Register at http://www.bu.edu/lernet/gwise_reg.html,12:00-2:00 pm, PHOTONICS Colloquium Room --9th Floor.

Fall 2008 Events