MRS Bulletin names Raman as Postdoctoral Publication Prize recipient
- PDF / 637,597 Bytes
- 1 Pages / 585 x 783 pts Page_size
- 69 Downloads / 179 Views
MRS Bulletin names Raman as Postdoctoral Publication Prize recipient mrs.org/bulletin-prize
T
he Materials Research Society (MRS) Bulletin has named Ritu Raman as the 2020 MRS Bulletin Postdoctoral Publication Prize recipient. This award recognizes postdoctoral researchers for their intellectual merit, the impact of their research and scholarship, and their interest in science writing and communications. Raman was selected from a group of 94 highly qualified applicants and nominations “for her diverse research experience, outstanding academic achievements, high quality of scientific publications, extensive outreach efforts, and dedication to mentorship and professional service.” Raman currently is a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the research group of Robert Langer. She is a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow (2019–2020) and a Koch Institute Postdoctoral Fellow (2019–2020). She was also the AAAS L’Oréal USA for Women in Science Fellow (2018–2019). Raman earned her PhD degree in mechanical engineering in 2016 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her BS degree in mechanical engineering in 2012 from Cornell University. “As a biohybrid engineer, my scientific goal is to understand how we can build with living and nonliving materials in synchrony and to build adaptive medical implants that dynamically sense and respond to the human body,” said Raman. “I envision a world where biological building blocks, like living cells, are part of the toolbox of every materials scientist, but this requires engaging and accessible science communication.” Biological materials can dynamically sense and adapt to their surroundings. Biohybrid design, the science of integrating biological and bioinspired materials with engineered systems, could thus yield machines capable of complex behaviors, such as self-assembly and self-healing.
These behaviors are especially desirable in devices that interface with the human body. “There is a compelling case for using biohybrid and biomimetic machines in the human body, because it is a highly variable and dynamic environment,” said Raman. As a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, Raman designed synthetic materials that mimic the adaptive behaviors of biological materials, implemented them in implantable devices, and validated their function in a range of in vivo models. She developed a light-triggerable tough hydrogel that dynamically actuates and degrades implantable devices without the need for invasive interventions, and demonstrated functionality in the gastrointestinal tract of a porcine model. She also developed a bidirectional nanofluidic pump, actuated by a heat-triggerable material, which performs label-free liquid biopsies of neural interstitial fluid and demonstrated functionality in the brain of a rodent model. In addition to publishing many research and review papers, Raman is currently completing her first book, titled Biofabrication (MIT Press, expected publication in fall
Data Loading...
