Health

Dr. Russell Witte, a native Tucsonan, received a BS degree with honors in physics from the University of Arizona in Tucson (1993). Following travel abroad in Europe and Brazil, he began graduate studies in bioengineering at Arizona State University. His doctoral thesis (PhD, 2002) used chronic microelectrode arrays to describe sensory coding and learning-induced plasticity in the mammalian brain. He then moved to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and, as a post doc in the Biomedical Ultrasonics Laboratory, developed novel hybrid imaging techniques that integrate ultrasound, light, and/or microwaves for medical applications. In 2007, Dr. Witte returned to Tucson and is now Associate Professor of Medical Imaging, Optical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona. Dr. Witte’s Experimental Ultrasound and Neural Imaging Laboratory (EUNIL) devises cutting-edge imaging technology, integrating light, ultrasound and microwaves to diagnose and treat diseases ranging from chronic tendon disorders (tendinopathies) and irregular cardiac rhythms (arrhythmias) to breast cancer. By integrating different forms of energy, special effects are created that enable ultrasound imaging of optical absorption deep in tissue (photoacoustic imaging), mapping current source densities in the beating heart (acoustoelectric imaging), and elasticity imaging of human muscle and tendon for quantifying tissue mechanical properties. Dr. Witte's research further extends into nanotechnology and smart contrast agents, which have applications to functional brain imaging, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Dr. Witte works closely with collaborators in the Colleges of Engineering, Optical Sciences and Medicine, as well as industry, to develop cutting-edge imaging technologies that potentially improve patient care. Dr. Witte is also a member of the Arizona Cancer Center, Sarver Heart Center and School of Mind, Brain, and Behavior, as well as the Neuroscience, Applied Mathematics, and Biomedical Engineering graduate interdisciplinary programs (GIDPs). Dr. Witte's vision is to develop a new generation of young investigators steeped in multiple disciplines branching from neuroscience, neural engineering, biochemistry, mathematics, biomedical imaging and, physics. He welcomes dreamers, brainstormers and problems solvers to join his team in search of the next great discovery in physics and medicine. Keywords: Biomedical Engineering/Medical Imaging

Dr. Viswanathan’s research efforts over the past 12 years have focused on the mechanisms of pathogenesis of the diarrheal disease pathogens enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EPEC and EHEC). His laboratory characterized EPEC and EHEC virulence factors (specifically those secreted into host cells) and evaluates their effect on host cell physiology including barrier function, cell death pathways, and effects on innate immune responses. His specialization is innate immune signaling by intestinal epithelial cells in vitro and in vivo, and includes the use of cutting-edge technologies such as in vivo phosphoproteomics, and single-cell manipulation during bacterial infection. He also offers a very popular upper-division course in pathogenic bacteriology, and actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows at the UA. Keywords: Pathogenic E. coli, Clostridium difficile, infection, host-pathogen interactions

Dr. Vedantam’s research interests are broadly focused on pathogenic mechanisms leading to antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and include host-pathogen studies of the diarrheagenic agent Clostridium difficile. C. difficile infection is currently a leading healthcare-acquired disease in the USA, incurring over $3 billion in treatment and containment costs. Dr. Vedantam’s laboratory uses multiple genomic and proteomic approaches to study C. difficile pathogenesis, including, but not limited to, automated iTRAQ-based comparative proteomics, and genomic analyses. Her laboratory also offers hospital surveillance and typing services, and a genetic manipulation program for clostridial pathogens. These efforts have identified attractive targets for interventions aimed at eliminating C. difficile from the gut, and are a focus of translational research goals. Dr. Vedantam is also involved in multiple teaching efforts, and offers a highly popular, upper-division, laboratory-based course on bacterial pathogens. The strengths she brings to any research endeavor are based on her expertise in genetic, mechanistic and animal model studies. Keywords: Infectious Disease, healthcare-associated infections, bacterial pathogenesis

Dr. Trouard is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Imaging and a member of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute. His research involves the development and application of novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to understand human health and effectively treat disease. Dr. Trouard’s multidisciplinary work spans a range from basic studies of cell culture systems, to studies of preclinical animal models of disease, to clinical imaging in humans. Many aspects of this work are directed towards understanding and treatment of neurological disorders including Alzheimer's Disease, Niemann Pick Type C disease, Stroke and Cancer.

Dr. Cynthia Thomson, PhD, RD, is a Professor and Director of the Canyon Ranch Center for Prevention and Health Promotion in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. Dr. Thomson holds joint appointments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Medicine. Her research emphasis includes dietary intervention in breast and ovarian cancer survivors, as well as behavioral interventions for weight control and metabolic regulation. Dr. Thomson received her Ph.D. from the Interdisciplinary Program in Nutritional Sciences, University of Arizona and completed NCI-sponsored post-doctoral training at the University of Arizona Cancer Center with a focus on diet and cancer prevention.

Dr. Jennifer Teske, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences. Her primary research interest is the study of the metabolic consequences of environmental noise stress as it relates to the whole-organism stress response and human health.

Jil C. Tardiff, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and is a member of the Clinical and Translational Institute at the BIO5 Institute. She attended the University of California at Berkeley where she completed her B.A. in Genetics in 1984. She subsequently completed her M.D. and a Ph.D. (in Cell Biology) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City in 1992. Dr. Tardiff pursued her housestaff training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. As one of the first participants in the ABIM Clinician-Scientist pathway as a Markey Fellow, she completed an internal medicine residency coupled to a combined clinical-research fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Columbia. In 2001 she joined the faculty at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Physiology and Biophysics. She remained on faculty at Einstein, achieving the rank of Associate Professor. In 2012, Dr. Tardiff joined the faculty at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, where she currently holds the Steven M. Gootter Endowed Chair for the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Tardiff’s work focuses on the molecular mechanisms that underlie the development of the most common form of genetic cardiomyopathy, those caused by mutations in proteins of the cardiac sarcomere, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). These complex disorders affect one in 500 individuals of all ages and represent the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young people in the field. Her studies detailing the mechanisms of disease pathogenesis at the level of individual cells using transgenic mouse models has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2002 and her findings regarding disruptions in myocellular Ca2+ handling and energetics work has been cited in support of new clinical trials to evaluate novel treatment modalities for this challenging cardiomyopathy. She is a founding member of the International Thin Filament Consortium, a group of physician-scientists from many of the major academic centers in the world that focuses on bench-to-bedside studies using large, genotyped HCM cohorts. More recently, in collaboration with Professor Steven Schwartz in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Arizona, her lab has developed computational approaches to modeling and eventually predicting disease severity based on protein structure. To fully translate these basic research findings to the clinical realm, Dr. Tardiff has established a referral center for HCM (and other genetic cardiomyopathies) at the University of Arizona where patients from all over the southwest can obtain lifelong cutting edge medical care for this complex and often devastating disorder.

John A Szivek, PhD, is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine and the Director of the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory in the Arizona Arthritis Center. He holds the William and Sylvia Rubin, Chair of Orthopaedic Research and serves as the Chair of the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Interdisciplinary Program. Dr. Szivek is a member of the Physiological Sciences Graduate interdisciplinary Program as well as an adjunct faculty member of Materials Science and Engineering and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. He is internationally recognized for his research on the development of implantable measurements systems to characterize the effect of implants on tissue and on activity induced musculoskeletal tissue regeneration (specifically bone and cartilage). Recently he has utilized adult stem cells on 3D printed scaffolds to regenerate joint cartilage in efforts to develop techniques to help athletes and osteoarthritis patients. He has published over 180 research articles, several in collaboration with investigators from around the world, and authored 2 book chapters. As part of the sensor and transmitter systems developed in his lab, computer software programs for hand held devices (including tablets, hand held computers and smart phones) have been written to allow portable monitoring of tissue while it heals. He is a frequent presenter at national and international meetings, and has been an invited speaker at the Arizona Rheumatology Society; the Musculoskeletal Transplant Society Board meetings and the research forums at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital in the University of Toronto. He has won more than 165 grants, specifically to provide support to undergraduate minority students, allowing them to do hands on research on a range of activity induced tissue engineering topics. He has trained graduate students with federal grant support and has had support through a number of regional and national foundations to train top tier undergraduates and medical students. Dr. Szivek believes it is essential to effectively train the next generation of bioengineering researchers, clinicians and clinician scientists, in cutting edge topics so that the progress that his lab has made in developing tissue regeneration approaches and sensor/transmitter systems used to design patient specific therapies will become widely utilized.

Vignesh Subbian is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Systems and Industrial Engineering, member of the BIO5 Institute, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Center for University Education Scholarship (CUES) at the University of Arizona (UA). His professional areas of interest include medical informatics, healthcare systems engineering, and broadening participation in engineering and computing. Dr. Subbian leads the Computational Medicine and INformatics (COM-IN) Collaboratory at the UA, with a focus on transforming human health and healthcare and health through engineering-driven and integrative research as well as training next-generation scientists, engineers, clinicians, and leaders through personalized mentorship and true multidisciplinary immersion. Funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), research efforts in the COM-IN Collaboratory leverage systems engineering and computational methods including machine learning for clinical and healthcare applications. Current patient populations of interest include cardiovascular diseases, traumatic brain injury, and mental health disorders. Dr. Subbian is the principal investigator on an NSF Smart and Connected Health award to develop advanced computational models and tools for critical care medicine, particularly traumatic brain injury prognosis. Dr. Subbian’s educational research is focused on ethical decision-making and formation of identities in engineering. His work in ethics education has been featured in the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Exemplars in Engineering Ethics Education, an effort aimed to improve students’ understanding of ethical practice and research in engineering. He served as the co-chair of the NSF-funded Southwest STEM in Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSI) Conference (2017), and currently co-leads the STEM in HSI working group at the UA. He also leads the Collaborative for Engineering Education Research and Outreach (CEERO), a cross-college, interdisciplinary network of faculty, staff, and students to promote engineering education at all levels.

Esther Sternberg, MD, is internationally recognized for her discoveries of the science of the mind-body interaction in illness and healing. She is also a major force in mind-body-stress-wellness and environment inter-relationships. Dr. Sternberg is recognized by the National Library of Medicine as one of 300 women physicians who changed the face of medicine, and by the National Institutes of Health as Anita B. Roberts "Distinguished Women Scientists at NIH" lecturer. In 2011 Trinity College, Dublin awarded her a Doctorate Honoris Causa (Honorary Doctorate) in Medicine for her contributions to medicine, on the occasion of the 300th Anniversary of the founding of Trinity College School of Medicine. Currently Research Director for the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, Dr. Sternberg was previously Section Chief of Neuroendocrine Immunology and Behavior at the National Institute of Mental Health; Director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program, NIMH/NIH; and Co-Chair of the NIH Intramural Program on Research on Women's Health.