Author: kbilliar

It is an honor to have been elected as the Secretary of BMES and member of the Board. The Society and its members have provided me with a strong scientific and educational community and wonderful mentorship for my professional growth and leadership skills. I believe the role of a professional society is to provide overall leadership to the field, serve as a unifying voice, and facilitate “grass roots” programs in industry, academia, and local chapters to advance the field. Read more

The U-RISE@Wπ at WPI started in April 2024 and is supported by a $1,636,820 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will provide tuition and stipend funding, research opportunities, and academic and personal support to 15 students from populations underrepresented in biomedical research over five years to prepare the students for advanced studies and careers in research. The program is expected to improve the retention and graduation rates of WPI undergraduates from under-represented or disadvantaged backgrounds.  Read More

In their paper in Cells (open access), Coutts et al. show that in a valvular interstitial cell spheroid model of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), antioxidants reduce calcification. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is especially potent, possibly because it also induces ECM production within the spheoids.

In recognition of Prof. Billiar’s outstanding contributions in research, teaching and service, he was appointed by President Grace Wang and Dean John McNeill the John Milton Higgins Professor, effective January 1, 2023.

Congrats. Prof. B!

Congrats to Ying on publishing her paper in Biofabridation entitled “Reducing retraction in engineered tissues through design of sequential growth factor treatment.” She and colleagues designed TGF-β1 and FGF-2 based growth factor treatments and successfully reduced tissue retraction by 85% and increased the ECM elastic modulus by 260% compared to non-growth factor treated controls without significantly increasing the contractile force. She also mathematically modeled the behavior!  https://doi.org/10.1088/1758-5090/accd24 

The Billiar lab works to understand how mechanical forces affect the cells living in the body’s soft tissues. Soft tissues of the body experience forces during exercise (muscles contract and pull on tendons and ligaments) and at rest (blood vessels stretch with each heartbeat, digestive organs stretch and contract during eating). A better understanding of how a cells “feel” forces, interpret these stimuli, and alter their behavior will aid in creating treatments, and even curing, of a number of diseases from heart valve disease to cancer.

National and international media outlets reported on our research who hopes to close an important gap in the understanding of physical factors that help regulate the life and death of cells in our bodies, and the important roles they play in the development of a wide range of disorders.  Read more

Marketplace-By the Numbers (public radio), Le Lezard (France),

BioPortfolio, Arizona Republic, Renewable Energy World North America, Houston Chronicle, BioMedicine, Seattlepi, Times-Union (Albany), The Advocate (Stamford, CT) and San Antonio Express were among the more than 100 media outlets reporting the work, which is funded by a National Science Foundation grant and includes co-principle investigators Nima Rahbar, associate professor of civil & environmental engineering, and Qi Wen, associate professor of physics.

Zach has been selected as one of 36 finalists to give an oral presentation at the Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference (June 25 – 28, 2019, Seven Springs, Pennsylvania)