April 9, 2018

VCU professors join elite biomedical engineering group

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By Leila Ugincius

B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D., was selected to the AIMBE 2018 College of Fellows for his contributions to the development of new pharmaceutical processing capabilities that increase access to global health care. (Photo courtesy VCU Engineering)
B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D., was selected to the AIMBE 2018 College of Fellows for his contributions to the development of new pharmaceutical processing capabilities that increase access to global health care. (Photo courtesy VCU Engineering)

Three Virginia Commonwealth University professors have joined the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, an elite group that comprises the top 2 percent of medical and biological engineers nationally.

AIMBE inducted Gregory Buck, Ph.D., of the VCU School of Medicine, and B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D., and Lukasz Kurgan, Ph.D., both of the VCU School of Engineering, into its prestigious College of Fellows Class of 2018 on Monday at a formal induction ceremony during AIMBE’s 27th annual meeting.

These inductions bring the university’s total number of AIMBE Fellows to 12.

“VCU is committed to innovation in all aspects of health care, as evidenced by the fact that 10 percent of the School of Engineering faculty are AIMBE Fellows,” said Barbara D. Boyan, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering and Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Chair.

Members of the College of Fellows and peers selected Gregory Buck, Ph.D., for his outstanding contributions to the field of genomics, bioinformatics and microbial systems biology and microbiome science. (University Relations file photo)
Members of the College of Fellows and peers selected Gregory Buck, Ph.D., for his outstanding contributions to the field of genomics, bioinformatics and microbial systems biology and microbiome science. (University Relations file photo)

AIMBE Fellows are recognized for their contributions in teaching, research and innovation.

“Becoming an AIMBE Fellow is more than just another honorific designation,” said Milan P. Yager, AIMBE’s executive director. “AIMBE Fellows are expected to ‘give back’ by contributing to AIMBE’s critical mission of advancing excellence and advocating for the fields of medical and biological engineering. Never before has it been more critical for those in biomedical engineering to stand up for science and medical innovation.”

Members of the College of Fellows and peers selected Buck, professor in the VCU School of Medicine and director of the Nucleic Acids Research Facilities and founding director of the Center for the Study of Biological Complexity, for his outstanding contributions to the field of genomics, bioinformatics and microbial systems biology and microbiome science. Buck also holds an affiliate appointment in computer science.

The contributions of Lukasz Kurgan, Ph.D., to structural bioinformatics — focusing on protein-ligand and protein-nucleic acids interactions and computational characterization of intrinsic disorder — earned the Qimonda Endowed Professor and vice chair of Computer Science the AIMBE fellowship for 2018. (Photo courtesy VCU Engineering)
The contributions of Lukasz Kurgan, Ph.D., to structural bioinformatics — focusing on protein-ligand and protein-nucleic acids interactions and computational characterization of intrinsic disorder — earned the Qimonda Endowed Professor and vice chair of Computer Science the AIMBE fellowship for 2018. (Photo courtesy VCU Engineering)

Gupton, chair of the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering and Floyd D. Gottwald Jr. Chair and founder of the Medicines for All Institute, was selected for his outstanding contributions to the development of new pharmaceutical processing capabilities that increase access to global health care.

Kurgan, the Qimonda Endowed Professor and vice chair of the Department of Computer Science, was selected for his outstanding contributions to structural bioinformatics, focusing on protein-ligand and protein-nucleic acids interactions and computational characterization of intrinsic disorder.

 

Previous VCU inductees are:

  • Barbara D. Boyan, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering and Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Chair
  • Gerald Miller, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and director of the Center for Human Factors and Rehabilitation Engineering
  • Xuejun Wen, M.D., Ph.D., the William H. Goodwin Professor in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering
  • Jennifer S. Wayne, Ph.D., professor and associate chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Zvi Schwartz, D.M.D., Ph.D., associate dean for strategic operations and professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Henry J. Donahue, Ph.D., School of Engineering Foundation Chair, and professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • P. Worth Longest, Ph.D., Louis S. and Ruth S. Harris Exceptional Scholar Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
  • L. Franklin Bost, executive associate dean for innovation and outreach in the VCU School of Engineering, director of the VCU Institute for Engineering and Medicine and professor in the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
  • Krzysztof “Krys” Cios, Ph.D., professor and chair in the VCU School of Engineering Department of Computer Science