Research abstracts from undergraduate students Braden Norris, John Lee, and Richard Wang were accepted by the Biomedical Engineering Society, or BMES, and invited them to attend the annual conference in Philadelphia in mid-October.

Norris, a junior majoring in chemical and material engineering, is working on a microfluidic device that separates circulating tumor cells from patient blood samples. Other projects in this area usually only focus on microfluidic devices, but Norris’ revolves around detecting bacteria via a color changing molecule called polydiacetylene or PDA. His goal is to conduct medical research involving biomaterials and the role they can play in assisting and improving tissue regeneration.

As a recipient of the Undergraduate Research Travel Award, he was able to use it to fund the travel to the conference in Philadelphia and present his research during a poster presentation session for undergraduates.

“I plan to participate in a Medical Scientist Training Program in which I will earn an M.D. and Ph.D, over the course of seven or eight years,” Norris said.  “Programs of this type were started by the National Institute of Health as the need for doctors and scientists to collaborate and have shared knowledge was realized.”

Wang is a junior majoring in computer science and engineering was the recipient of the Nevada Undergraduate Research Award in the spring, along with the NASA Undergraduate Scholarship, and Undergraduate Research Travel Award.

John Lee, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering, aims to attend graduate school and gain more experience in the biomedical field. He also hopes that after grad school, he’ll be able to continue his research in either an academic or industry setting.

“This is a great opportunity for me to get exposure in the field and I’m thankful to both undergraduate research and ASUN [Associated Students of the University of Nevada] for this opportunity,” Lee said.

“The research carried out by our undergrad students aims to develop diagnostic biomedical devices, which enable fast and early detection of diseases with low costs and will ultimately improve healthcare,” said Hyeun Joong Yoon, assistant professor of biomedical engineering. “The research experience will benefit the students to have practical examples of graduate school and industry careers in STEM to better prep them for future career choices.”