BME Magazine: Spring 2019

I

SPRING 2019 DukeBME PROFILE n
MAGAZINE

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

Path Spot Engineering
Solutions to
Foodborne
Illness

............................................................................................................................................................

inside: Personalizing the Master’s Degree 16 • Oh, the Places Grads Go 20 • Off the Beaten Path 26



Duke BME Magazine is Contents
published twice yearly by Duke
DUKEBME MAGAZINE | BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
Biomedical Engineering.
FEATURES
Mailing Address:
Room 1427 2 Letter from the Chair

Fitzpatrick Center (FCIEMAS) 3 Beyond Duke
101 Science Drive
4 COVER | A Glimpse at the Possibilities
Campus Box 90281
Durham, NC 27708-0281 From entrepreneurs tackling foodborne pathogens to a new faculty
member pioneering ultrasound research, Duke BME alumni are making
P: 919-660-5131 an impact in the professional world
bme.duke.edu
15 A New Class of Mentors
Editorial Director:
Ashutosh Chilkoti New faculty guide the next generation of biomedical engineers

Editor: 16 Personalizing the Master’s Degree
Michaela Kane,
Duke BME Communications Duke BME’s MS and MEng programs enable students to customize their
learning experience and chase down opportunities
Art Director:
Lacey Chylack, 19 The Evolving BME PhD
Phase 5 Creative, Inc.
A Q&A with associate dean for PhD education Jennifer West
Photo credits by page:
Duke Photography: 20 Oh, the Places Grads Go

Inside cover, back cover Whether their career ladders lead to industry, academia or
Jack Myhre: Table of Contents entrepreneurship, Duke BME gives PhD students a leg up on post-grad life

Megan Mendenhall: 2, 25 23 A Bridge Between Engineering and Medicine
Yunghi Kim: Cover, 5-7
How the Duke BME MD-PhD program prepares graduate students for a
Cydney Scott Photography: 9 career in medicine
Michaela Kane: 11,15,17, 22, 25
Justin Tsucalas/ Plaid Photo: 13 25 Tools of the Trade

Muyinatu Bell Lab: 14 How immersive design programs, a new class of faculty, and
Paul Fearis: 15 entrepreneurial know-how are preparing students to enter a modern
workforce
Sweetha Rathan: 15
Seth Kroll/ Wyss Institute at 26 Off the Beaten Path

Harvard University: 15 Conversations with Duke BME alumni who found career success outside
Align Technology: 18 the biomedical engineering field
Les Todd: 19

Courtesy Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center: 20

Kaitlin Jones: 21
Courtesy Erika Moore: 24
Courtesy Garheng Kong: 26
Courtesy Lauren Polstein Toth: 27
Courtesy Matthew Rinehart: 28

ON OUR COVER:
Photography by Yunghi Kim

LEFT: The
atrium inside the
Fitzpatrick Center
for Interdisciplinary
Engineering,
Medicine and Applied
Sciences.

: .. .. .. ····················

FROM THE CHAIR r----

Dear Colleagues and Friends, 1
I
Physicians. Entrepreneurs. Venture Capitalists. Researchers. Professors. I
In Duke BME, we prepare our students to succeed in a variety of different
career paths, both inside and outside the field of biomedical engineering. ·--------
With an immersive and hands-on curriculum, a plethora of practical
research opportunities and partnerships, and the aid of prestigious
faculty and other mentors, our students graduate from Duke BME
with an impressive array of skills that allow them to make meaningful
contributions in their ideal careers.

In this issue of Duke BME Magazine, we highlight the success of
just a few alumni in their first decade after graduating from Duke BME,
including those who have accepted faculty positions at prestigious
universities, alums who accepted job positions at both startups and
well-established biomedical companies, and new entrepreneurs who
used their BME training to address problems plaguing society.

As one of the top-ranked biomedical engineering programs in the
United States, we’re helping to create the next generation of engineers
who can tackle issues we face across the spectrum of medicine. We
hope you enjoy reading about the work of our impressive alumni as they
continue to blaze new trails in the field of biomedical engineering.

Ashutosh Chilkoti

Chair
Duke Biomedical Engineering

............................................... ... ... ... ... ... ... ................. ... ... ... ..................... ... ... ... ... ... ................. ... ... ... ...

2 | DUKEBME Magazine

Beyond Duke:

Undergrad statistics: r-----------

1

I

#3 highest median #4 biomedical engi- I
starting salary neering program I
($70,000)- via in the country-
Medical Product via U.S. News & -------,
Manufacturing I
World Report I

News I
I

I

I

Post-graduation paths (Class of 2018): I
I

Go on to positions Pursue opportunities Graduate / Medical / I

in industry after in entrepreneurship : Professional school: Other opportunities:

- , graduation
II
I

(__________) D DI
64.2% 1.5% (._2__9___.__9__%____J 4.4%

I

I

Master’s statistics:

>60% amajorityof 40% of Duke BME MS
Duke BME grads enter PhD
master’s grads programs
go on to careers
in the public or
private sector

r-• PhD statistics:
I Career Outcomes:
I

I

I

I 40% ofDukeBME 60% ofDukeBME
PhD grads go on grads go on to
I to positions in careers in the
I academia public or private
I sector
I
____ .JI __

Specific Breakdown: Medical/

Academic Academic Academic Residency/ Private

Tenure Non-Tenure Administration Postdoc Additional Profit Public K-12

Track Track or Staff positions Degree Enterprises Sector Education Other

D D D D D D D D D6% 2% 7% 24% 3% 52% 2% 1% 3%

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 3

n A GLIMPSE AT THE POSSIBILITIES: PATHSPOT

COVER STORY

Engineering Solutions to

Foodborne Illness

Christine Schindler and Dutch Waanders’s startup PathSpot aims to make
restaurant kitchens cleaner—and safer—for consumers

Romaine lettuce. Ground beef. like salmonella, E. coli or listeria in a real-world
Eggs. Chicken. Turkey. Te list setting.
of foodborne illness outbreaks
in 2018 was so long it mirrored “We looked to see if there was a company out
a grocery list and made eating there already working on this, but we couldn’t
some of your favorite meals seem fnd anyone doing instantaneous detection of
like a risky activity. Te Centers pathogens in food service or in the restaurant
space,” says Schindler.
for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that Using electronic components bought at a
more than 48 million people get sick, 128,000 RadioShack going-out-of-business sale, the
are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne duo created a hand-dryer-sized device that uses
diseases each year in the United States. Despite spectroscopy to scan people’s hands for food-
the prevalence of foodborne pathogens, there isn’t borne contaminants. As light from the device
bounces of hands and back
into the camera, a proprietary
“We went to restaurants door to door to ask them about the algorithm compares the wave-
lengths of the refected light to
issue and what they needed in their facilities. People said those of diferent indicators for

that they’ve waited for a device like this for ten years.” foodborne pathogens including
listeria, salmonella, hepatitis A
and norovirus. If no contami-
an easy way to make sure they don’t pass from nants are detected, the device fashes a green light
people to produce. and employees are cleared to handle food.
RIGHT: Christine After watching what felt like endless newscasts “We went to restaurants door to door to ask

Schindler and Dutch announcing a new foodborne outbreak, Chris- them about the issue and what they needed in
Waanders (both BME tine Schindler and Dutch Waanders decided they their facilities,” says Waanders. “People said that
‘15) at the PathSpot wanted to do something to address the issue. they’ve waited for a device like this for ten years.
offices. Their Tere was a ton of enthusiasm, so Christine and
company’s goal is to Both 2015 graduates of Duke University’s De- I quit our jobs and started working full time on
stop the spread of partment of Biomedical Engineering, Schindler
and Waanders recognized that their combined PathSpot.”
foodborne illnesses experience in entrepreneurship, global health and In tests in restaurants in Durham, New York

in produce and fast

food. engineering gave them a unique perspective on City and Detroit, the researchers observed that
.... .......... ....... ....... ....... ....... the problem. Tey wanted to create an easy-to- each device was used an average of 170 times each
use device that could detect signs of pathogens week, and an average of 20 percent of scans detect-

4 | DUKEBME Magazine

PROFILE n

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 5

n A GLIMPSE AT THE POSSIBILITIES: PATHSPOT

ed some form of contamination in the frst week. Recently, they closed a seed round after raising
Although PathSpot is the team’s frst startup to two million dollars—funds they’ll use to build
their team and scale the product across restaurant
specifcally tackle a health-related issue, Schindler chain locations. Tey also have plans to expand
and Waanders gained valuable entrepreneurial ex- the potential applications of their device to scan
perience when launching their national non-proft, for fu in ofces, peanut oil in school cafeterias or
Girls Engineering Change. Founded by Schindler antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospitals.
in 2012 during her sophomore year at Duke, GEC
was created to help young girls realize
the diference engineering can make in
the world by giving them hands-on de-
sign experience.

“We looked to see if there
was a company out there

already working on this,
but we couldn’t find anyone

doing instantaneous
detection of pathogens.”

............ .. ...... ... ..... ......... ..... ........ “We bring girls to college campus- “Te education we received at Duke really pre-
es and teach them how to build and pared us to use our engineering skills to help peo-
RIGHT: A view assemble things that are then donated ple, and that’s why we’ve pursued the projects we
of the PathSpot throughout the world so they can see have,” says Schindler. “Our engineering skills can
scanner, which the real impact of engineering,” says be translated to so many diferent felds and in
can be mounted Schindler. “For example, we have them so many diferent ways, and I’m happy that we
on the walls in make solar-powered USB chargers that can serve both consumers and business owners
restaurants. The we’ll donate to disaster-relief settings. through PathSpot.” n
light will flash red if Tese are simple products, but they
an employee needs can make a big diference to people in
to re-wash their need.”
hands to remove
any pathogens. As the organization grew and chap-
ters were established across the nation, it was even
............... ....... ........... ..... .... recognized by President Bill Clinton. Although
Schindler and Waanders have handed over the
reins to a new team of leaders, they credit their
time with Girls Engineering Change for showing
them how they could use their engineering educa-
tion to address unmet needs.

Today, the pair is working to expand PathSpot.

6 | DUKEBME Magazine

PROFILE n

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 7

n A GLIMPSE AT THE POSSIBILITIES: HARVARD-MIT

The Relentless Pursuit of

Knowledge

Undergraduate alum Vincent Miao continues to expand his biomedical knowledge
through the Harvard-MIT Medical Engineering/Medical Physics PhD program

For most people, hearing about research other complex and useful materials, ultimately
associated with the term “Frankenstein” winning Duke’s Helmholtz Research Award in
may trigger some raised eyebrows. Tat’s recognition of his work.
not the case for Vincent Miao, who helped
After earning a bachelor’s degree in biomedical
create and study novel biomaterials that share the engineering from the Duke in the spring of 2018,
name of the famous character during his time as a Miao opted to continue his education, moving to
student at Duke University. Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend the Medical
As an undergraduate in Duke’s Department Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP) pro-
of Biomedical Engineering, Miao gram, a PhD program jointly
worked in BME Chair Ashutosh ofered through Harvard and
Chilkoti’s lab, where he focused the Massachusetts Institute of
on bio-inspired polymers that Technology.
demonstrated shape-shifting abil- “I think it was Each year, nearly 30 percent

ities in response to temperature really beneficial of Duke BME graduating se-
changes. Dubbed “Frankenstein niors opt to continue their edu-
Proteins,” these biomaterials for me to see cation and pursue advanced de-
could solidify into a scafold at
body temperature to promote tis- up-close how grees in prestigious universities
sue growth, making them useful graduate students around the country. For Miao,
for tissue engineering and wound the Harvard-MIT graduate pro-
and post-doctoral gram presented an opportunity

healing. students approach to hone the engineering skills he
“My research experience was had developed during his four
defnitely the highlight of my time problems.” years in Duke BME.

in the department, and really at “Te goal of this program is to
Duke as a whole,” says Miao. “I think it was re- create researchers that have a more comprehensive
ally benefcial for me to see up-close how gradu- understanding of clinical needs and opportunities
ate students and post-doctoral students approach for translational medicine,” says Miao. “We take
problems. Tat helped me formulate how I could pre-clinical classes with med students so we’ll
approach my own research.” understand how physicians approach treatment
In addition to his work in the Chilkoti lab, options, which helps inform what we’ll do in a
Miao was also able to participate in the Pratt Fel- lab and how we can design tech that can one day
lows Research Program, a competitive research make its way to the bedside. Tere’s so much hap-
experience that allows students to pursue research pening in biomedical engineering—everywhere
projects for course credit. As a Pratt Fellow, Miao you look you have a chance to make an impact on
explored more diverse polymer designs to create human health.”

8 | DUKEBME Magazine

PROFILE n

Now, Miao is expanding that knowledge base as he can get a frsthand look at issues and needs in Vincent Miao splits
he collaborates with new colleagues in the MEMP diferent specialties. his time between
program and rotates through research labs. In ad- the Harvard and MIT
dition to the medical courses through Harvard “Tere are an incredible number of biomedical campuses in the
Medical School, Miao is also taking a variety of challenges out there for us to solve in order to be- Medical Engineering
engineering courses at MIT, with focuses ranging come better as a society,” says Miao. “Duke BME and Medical Physics
from machine learning to drug delivery. As he pro- helped foster a sense of curiosity in me and other program.
gresses through the program, he’ll also spend 12 students, where we’re always looking to see what’s
weeks rotating through a Boston-based hospital–– on the horizon. I’ve tried to bring that approach
similar to third-year medical school students––so with me to grad school, where I’m excited to ex-
plore every opportunity that’s available to me.” n

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 9

n A GLIMPSE AT THE POSSIBILITIES: PFIZER

Bringing “My goal was
a Global to increase
Perspective access to
to the healthcare
Pharmaceutical globally, and
Industry I looked for
roles that
From undergraduate research to corporate career, Bianca fit into that
Bracht is on a mission to increase access to health care category.”

Most of the grocery stores in the In her role at Pfizer, and his team, the Pratt Pouch is a ketchup-like
United States have a designated Bianca Bract aims to packet containing antiretroviral drugs that can be
pharmacy, where relief from a per- help make affordable administered to newborns to prevent mother-to-
sistent cough or fever can easily be pharmaceuticals child transmission of HIV.
purchased along with a loaf of bread. Tis ease of that are broadly
access has made it easy to forget that nearly two accessible for people Te innovative packaging preserves pre-mea-
billion people across the globe don’t have consis- across the globe. sured doses of medicine for up to a year with-
tent access to medicine, whether it’s for the treat- out refrigeration, making it ideal for use in re-
ment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis or pills source-limited areas. Bracht worked on the Pratt
that can alleviate a painful earache. Pouch as a Grand Challenge Scholar at Duke,
testing the packaging and determining what oth-
With minors in global health, chemistry and er kinds of medications could be safely preserved
Chinese, Bianca Bracht used her global perspec- in the pouch.
tive to explore this problem during her time as an
undergraduate student in Duke University’s De- “My work on the Pratt Pouch inspired me to
partment of Biomedical Engineering. pursue work in the pharmaceutical industry,” says

“I knew I wanted a role that could bridge tech-
nology and health care to make a positive impact,”
says Bracht. “Initially I thought that meant that
I’d pursue a career in the medical device industry,
but my time in Duke BME also showed me that
there was a real need for engineers in pharmaceu-
ticals, especially in areas where there’s a lack of
access to care and afordable drugs.”

Tis came into focus during her junior year,
when she began to work on the Pratt Pouch. Cre-
ated by Professor of the Practice Robert Malkin

10 | DUKEBME Magazine

PROFILE n

Bracht. “Te Pratt Pouch obviously focuses on through production advancements and standard-
more low-resource settings, but there is a lot of ization. Now, Bracht is back in North Carolina,
opportunity within the industry to make small this time in Pfzer’s Biotechnology business focus-
changes, like new ways to store medicine, that ing on their ongoing investment to build a gene
have a large impact on patients worldwide. My therapy manufacturing site.
goal was to increase access to healthcare globally,
and I looked for roles that ft into that category.” “It’s exciting because this is the type of work
that will help people access treatments that may
After graduating from Duke in 2015, Bracht not previously been available outside of a lab—
accepted a job at Pfzer, working at their Rocky it’s a diferent way of looking at my goal of ‘in-
Mount plant in North Carolina for nine months creasing access’,” she says. “I’m lucky because I’ve
before moving to India to help start up opera- had a wide variety of career experiences in a short
tions at a new site. Tese roles were in the generic amount of time. At the end of the day we make
Sterile Injectable drug business, and involved ex- medicine to help people, and I’m very passionate
ploring ways to improve manufacturing practices about what I do.” n

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 11

Making the
Next Wave of
Imaging Tools
for Cancer

Diagnosis

Motivated by her mother’s death from breast
cancer, Muyinatu Bell (Duke BME PhD’12) is now
advancing medical imaging as a faculty member

at Johns Hopkins

12 | DUKEBME Magazine

n A GLIMPSE AT THE POSSIBILITIES: JOHNS HOPKINS

With a joint appointment in the de- my lab is the frst to apply this new technique to
partments of biomedical engineer- breast images.”
ing and electrical and computer
If a lump is discovered during a breast exam,
engineering, Muyinatu A. Lediju physicians need to conduct more tests to make an
Bell uses her position as an assistant professor at accurate diagnosis. Typically, this involves using
Johns Hopkins University to push the boundaries ultrasound to image the lump and determine if it’s
of medical imaging. Bell’s research is centered on benign or cancerous. Benign cysts are flled with
ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging, building fuid, so they should appear very dark in compar-
of the work she completed ison to surrounding tissue.
as a PhD student at Duke But breast tissue is highly
University’s Department of variable, so artifacts can ap-
Biomedical Engineering. pear where there should be
As a graduate student in no signal at all. Tis signal
Gregg Trahey’s lab, she stud- “When I started to reduces the radiologist’s con-

ied acoustic clutter––a type consider graduate fdence about making a con-
of noise artifact in ultra- clusive diagnosis, so they’ll
sound images that can make school, I went to often need to perform a bi-

it difcult to distinguish Google and typed opsy to ensure that the tissue
diferent features in the im- isn’t cancerous.
ages. One of Bell’s primary in keywords like “With my method, we’d be
projects involved developing able to improve the detection
a method to reduce acoustic imaging, cancer, of cysts in the breast by cut-

clutter using spatial coher- ultrasound, and ting out that noise,” says Bell.
ence information, which “Our goal is to ultimately
measures the similarity of ul- mechanics, and decrease the number of false
trasound echoes from tissue positives, which would re-
when recorded from slightly Gregg Trahey’s lab duce the need for invasive

diferent locations. Tis new was the top hit.” biopsies and some of the pa-
process allowed researchers tient anxiety that accompa-
After graduating from to better distinguish borders nies inconclusive diagnoses
Gregg Trahey’s lab in between blood and tissue, with ultrasound alone.”
2012, Bell accepted a especially in organs like the heart, which was the For Bell, the push to improve the diagnostic
tenure-track positon topic of Bell’s PhD dissertation. tools for breast cancer was a personal one.
at Johns Hopkins “Tis was the frst time that someone had direct- “I lost my mother to breast cancer when I

University, where

she continues to ly displayed the spatial coherence of ultrasound was an undergraduate student, which fueled my

pioneer ultrasound waves to reduce noise, and it was especially prom- long-standing interest in and motivation to study

techniques to ising because it led to several patents, the frst of cancer. I also knew that I wanted to pursue research

improve breast which I’m credited on as a co-inventor,” says Bell. that used my mechanical engineering background

cancer diagnosis. “At Johns Hopkins, I’m building on that previous to impact ultrasound imaging technology,” says

work to aid in the diagnosis of breast cancer, as Bell. “When I started to consider graduate school,

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 13

n A GLIMPSE AT THE POSSIBILITIES: JOHNS HOPKINS

B-node

0

0 10 20 0 10 20 41':.: L...1 1.......§11'~
Lateral (mm), Lateral {mm) ~

P HOTOACQWITIC Sr ULTAA:80' lC:

S'YSTIEMS E NGINIEEJU G LAB

Example images from Muyinatu Bell’s PULSE Lab, demonstrating the ability of Robust Short-Lag Spatial Coherence (R-SLSC) beamforming, a
technique developed in the PULSE Lab, to differentiate between fluid-filled and solid breast masses. The top row shows a fluid-filled cyst from
one patient treated at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, while the bottom row shows a solid cancerous tumor from another patient. The standard
B-mode ultrasound imaging method used in breast clinics today (left) shows the two masses as similarly darker than the surrounding tissue.
However, the R-SLSC images (right) show improved contrast in the benign fluid-filled cyst and solid content in the malignant mass.

I went to Google and typed in keywords like imag- ules that her students consistently rate as one of
ing, cancer, ultrasound and mechanics, and Gregg the best aspects of her course.
Trahey’s lab was the top hit. He was developing
new ultrasound technology to image the mechan- “I’m grateful that I was able to connect with
ical properties of tissue. I instantly knew that his a program and research lab at Duke that aligned
lab was the right choice for me.” well with my passions,” says Bell. “Gregg’s lab is
widely recognized and respected, and I’m proud
At Duke, Bell was a fellow in the NIH-funded to have him as part of my academic family tree.
Duke Medical Imaging Training Program, which
gave her wide-ranging exposure and experience “During my time at Duke I learned a lot about
across the feld. With this training, she is well the experimental design process, how to ask the
equipped to teach the gateway Medical Imaging right questions and how to go after those ques-
Systems course at Johns Hopkins University, where tions,” she adds. “It was a great place to learn the
she has introduced new hands-on imaging mod- critical skills I need to be a successful researcher
and efective educator today.” n

14 | DUKEBME Magazine

A Jessilyn Dunn
NEW
CLASS OF Jessilyn Dunn’s research is centered on
using large-scale biomedical data sets
M for early detection, intervention, and
E prevention of disease. In her new role at
N Duke, Dunn aims to draw novel health
T insights and actionable conclusions
O by by developing models that integrate
R across data from wearable devices,
S electronic health records and multi-
omics to generate predictive models
With backgrounds spanning industry, for diseases.
global health, biomedical data
Samira Musah
sciences and stem cell research,
Duke BME’s newest faculty members Samira Musah is a stem cell biologist
and a bioengineer. Her research focuses
offer a plethora of expertise and on uncovering the mechanisms of organ
research guidance for undergraduate development and function, and how
these processes can be therapeutically
and graduate students. harnessed to treat human disease.
Given the escalating medical crisis
in nephrology as growing number of
patients suffer from kidney diseases,
Musah aims to engineer patient-derived
stem cells into functional preclinical
models with the goal of developing
novel biomarkers and therapeutic
modalities for human kidney disease.

Paul Fearis

With nearly 30 years of leadership as
a medical device design consultant,
Paul Fearis brings his signature design
approach to Duke BME students
in his new role as senior lecturing
fellow. Fearis will play a pivotal
role in the department’s expanded
design curriculum, where he’ll mentor
students interested in careers in
industry and entrepreneurship.

Richardson and Fearis will
work together to lead the new
Duke Design Health Fellows
Program, a competitive nine-month
fellowship program which brings
together teams of students from
engineering, medicine and business
to identify and design marketable
solutions to unmet clinical needs.

Eric Richardson

An associate professor of the practice
in Duke BME, Eric Richardson is leverag-
ing his background in design, industry
and global health to craft innovative and
immersive design programs for BME
students and trainees across Duke.

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 15

Personalizing the
Master’s Degree

Duke BME’s MS and MEng programs enable students to customize their
learning experience and chase down opportunities

16 | DUKEBME Magazine

n EDUCATION: CUSTOMIZING THE MASTER’S DEGREE

Leah Machlin didn’t expect to be work- University of California, Berkeley.
ing in an old tobacco factory in down- Although both programs prepare students for
town Durham after graduating with a
degree in biomedical engineering. With success in industry, Duke’s Master of Engineer-
its façade still painted with advertise- ing program is expressly geared toward students,
like Machlin, who want to develop business lead-
ments for Liggett & Myers cigarettes, the Ches- ership and management expertise in addition to
terfeld building doesn’t appear to have changed technical skills. To graduate, MEng students are
much since its construction in 1948. But inside required to complete core business courses as
it’s a diferent world––one with ren-
ovated lab spaces where biomedical
engineers, like Machlin, can tackle
cutting-edge issues in modern med- To graduate, MEng students are required to complete
icine. core business courses as well as an industry

Machlin is a research associate internship, while students in the Master of Science
with Element Genomics, a biotech
startup founded by Duke University program complete a research or thesis project.

faculty members Charles Gersbach,
Greg Crawford, Tim Reddy and Kris
Wood. Gersbach, the Rooney Family Associate well as an industry intern-
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and his ship, while students in the
collaborators founded the company in 2015 after Master of Science program
developing novel technology to characterize the complete a research or thesis
non-coding genome, opening up new classes of project.
drug targets for common and rare diseases. But MEng students can
“I initially started working at Element Genom- still gain research experience
ics as an intern in the summer of 2017,” says through their independent
Machlin (MEng ’17), now a full-time employee study courses. Machlin, for
at the company. “We are applying CRISPR tech- example, says she essentially
nology to look for an epigenomic, genomic, or created a hybrid MEng pro-
drug-based fx for rare diseases. It was a really ex- gram for herself by adding
citing opportunity that engaged both my research a large research project. “I
background and the skills I gained through my presented a project propos-
master’s education.” al when I was in Ashutosh
With both Master of Engineering (MEng) and Chilkoti’s Introduction to
Master of Science (MS) options, the master’s pro- Biomolecular Engineering
gram in Duke BME ofers paths tailored to stu- course, and both the TA and Dr. Chilkoti en- .. ... .... .. .... ....... ....... ..... ~

dents’ professional goals and interests, whether in couraged me to consider it as a research opportu- ABOVE: Leah
industry or academia. Most graduates go on to nity,” says Machlin, who joined the Chilkoti lab Machlin, MEng'17,
careers in the public or private sector, working at to work with elastin-like polypeptides to study a
startups, like Element Genomics, or larger com- protein associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. is a research as-

sociate at Element

panies like Amgen, Boston Scientifc and Stryker. “Dr. Chilkoti connected me with Charlie Gers- Genomics

About 25 percent opt to continue their education bach, and that helped me land the internship and . . . . . ..~ . . . . .. . ... .. . .. . . ..... . ...
in PhD programs, both at Duke or at schools like job at Element Genomics,” she says. “I liked the
Columbia University, the University of Pennsyl- combination of exposure to business and manage-
vania School of Medicine, Yale University and the ment without sacrifcing the science. I wouldn’t

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 17

n EDUCATION: CUSTOMIZING THE MASTER’S DEGREE

have had the opportunity to work at a company ly benefcial for students like Jordan Ekaidat
like Element without that.” (MEng’16), who joined a biomechanical research
Duke BME master’s students can also enhance project with faculty in Duke’s mechanical engi-
their degrees with additional training in in-de- neering and materials science department, where
mand specialties through a growing array of cer- he worked on a sensor that could analyze human
tifcate programs. running form. Tis research experience, coupled
“Students interested in optical imaging tech- with his business classes, was instrumental to
nologies have been able to earn a certifcate in landing his internship and subsequent job at Woo
photonics, and we also just opened a certifcate Sports, an action sports startup in Boston.
in biotechnology, which teaches students cut- “I used every skill I learned in the business and
ting-edge techniques for modeling, analyzing leadership classes, which really helped me navi-
gate the professional world and life
at a startup,” says Ekaidat. “Very few
schools have the kind of collaborative
environment that would have allowed
“The exercise of me to go outside the department to

constantly asking gain that biomechanical experience,
myself these tough but Duke BME really encouraged it.”

Te variety of programs and op-
questions was a big portunities make Duke’s master’s
programs fairly self-directed, which
growth experience many students identifed as a beneft

for me, but it also they hadn’t considered before attend-
ing Duke.
prepared me to be “Te BME master’s students were
more self-motivated
only required to take a life science
course and a math course, but other
in my career.” than that you have lots of fexibility

in taking biomedical engineering classes and other
technical electives to fll the credit requirement, so
LEFT: Stacey Kuo, you can really decide your own path,” says Stacey

MS’15 is an SQA Kuo (MS’15). “I could ask myself which courses
Engineer at Align were going to beneft my development towards
Technology the career I wanted.”

Tis mindset was also honed through Kuo’s
research project in Jennifer West’s lab, where she
and designing molecular and cellular systems,” studied tissue engineering.
says Professor Fan Yuan, the director of master’s “Dr. West was a great person to have as my PI
studies in Duke BME. “We’re proud to ofer a because she really pushed me to make sure I was
collaborative and interdisciplinary curriculum getting the most out of my research experience,”
with courses covering business and management, says Kuo, now an SQA Engineer at Align Tech-
product development, and two-semester design nology in RTP. “Te exercise of constantly asking
that includes partnerships with the Duke Univer- myself these tough questions was a big growth
sity Medical Center.” experience for me, but it also prepared me to be
Te collaborative curriculum was especial- more self-motivated in my career.” n

18 | DUKEBME Magazine

Q&A

Jennifer West on
the Evolving BME PhD

As the Fitzpatrick Family University Professor of Engineering at Duke,
Jennifer West leads a vibrant lab focused on biomaterials and tis-
sue engineering. Beyond mentoring her own doctoral students, West
serves as associate dean for PhD Education for the Pratt School of
Engineering, where she helps PhD students across the school develop
the necessary skills for success both inside and outside the lab.

Are you seeing a shift in the kinds of Duke BME also :"············"
careers Duke BME graduate students are does a lot of work with
pursuing? the Duke Innovation •Jennifer West works
We have noticed an interesting trend at Duke. & Entrepreneurship
Previously, about 52 percent of students Initiative, which is with graduate student
would go on to careers in industry and nearly another resource that Jeffrey Ashton in
40 percent would go on to academia, whether helps bring innovations from the lab to the her lab
that was a faculty position or a post-doctoral bedside.
fellow position. Now, we’re seeing more and ... ........................ ... .:
more students want to become entrepreneurs. What sets Duke BME apart from other
It’s interesting to see how that translates to biomedical engineering PhD programs?
their research projects. In addition to impres- Students usually don’t begin their thesis
sive research publications, students are now research until they’ve completed the frst year
pursuing projects that they can use as the basis of their PhD program. But at Duke, our
for a startup, and they’re trying to collect data students can begin their PhD thesis research
that they could present to a venture capitalist. right away, and that makes our program fairly
unique. We let students dive into their work
How does the department support this right away, and we ofer them a fexible curric-
growing entrepreneurial interest? ulum that they can tailor to their intended
Last year Duke BME launched BRiDGE [the
Bioengineering Research Initiative to Develop •career path. If they’re interested in medicine
Global Entrepreneurs] to provide resources to
lower the activation barrier to get a company they are encouraged to work with colleagues
of the ground. Tis incubator allows students in the medical school; if they’re interested in
and faculty more breathing room to develop entrepreneurship they can use the various re-
their idea rather than spend all of their time sources across Duke to get a startup running.
raising the capital themselves, which is helpful And our Engineering PhD Plus program
for new entrepreneurs. Recent graduates, like connects them to a really impressive array of
Kelli Luginbuhl, PhD’17, have moved into professional development tools that can help
the space to launch their own companies and them prepare for whatever path they want.
learn from faculty entrepreneurs.
It’s a truly collaborative environment, both
within the Pratt School of Engineering and
across Duke as a whole. n

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 19

A Bridge Between
Engineering and Medicine

How the Duke BME MD-PhD program prepares graduate students for a career in medicine

:· · · · ········ · · · · · ······· · · · · ··········: Duke University Medical Center is a quick Courtesy Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centertwo years of coursework followed by two years of
hop, skip and jump away from Duke’s clinical rotations; the Duke curriculum concen-
.: .: Department of Biomedical Engineer- trates all coursework in the frst year followed by
RIGHT: Dr. Veronica ing––but most people prefer to walk. a year in the clinic and a third year devoted to
Rotemberg Te proximity fosters a plethora of collaborative independent research. For MSTP students, that
research and programs between
Duke’s medical school and Duke year extends to several as they earn
BME, including the Duke Med- a PhD. After completing their doc-
ical Scientist Training Program torate, medical students spend a
(MSTP). fnal year in the clinic before they
graduate.
Founded in 1966, Duke’s
MSTP was among the very frst For students who opt to pursue
MD-PhD programs in the coun- their PhD in biomedical engineer-
try established by the National ing—such as recent MD-PhD grad-
Institutes of Health to train phy- uates Drs. Veronica Rotemberg and
sician-scientists. In similar pro- Christina Behrend—the program
grams, medical students complete creates opportunities to pursue
research that they can eventually

20 | DUKEBME Magazine

n EDUCATION: ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE

move out of the lab and into the clinic. me, and I’ve benefted so much from that over the
Rotemberg (PhD’14), a dermatologist at the years,” says Rotemberg. “Now that I’m in the po-
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), sition of mentoring others I’m realizing just how
completed her PhD in BME Professor Kathy impactful her guidance was for me as a scientist,
Nightingale’s lab, where she used ultrasound im- as a professional, and as someone committed to
aging to study how changing pressure afects the mentoring students––especially women––in bio-
stifness of liver tissue. Today, patients medical engineering.”
with advanced liver disease often need Behrend (PhD’17) is currently a
a liver biopsy so physicians can better frst-year resident in neurology at
understand their degree of liver cirrho- the Hospital of the University of
sis. By correlating liver stifness esti- Pennsylvania. As a student in BME
mates with portal venous pressure, Ro- professor Warren Grill’s lab, Beh-
temberg explored whether ultrasound rend carried out research on the
imaging-based methods may be used basic physiology of Parkinson’s Dis-
in the future to determine pressure gra- ease, a neurodegenerative disorder
dient noninvasively. that afects movement and causes LEFT: Dr. Christina

Behrend

“When I was looking for a lab I tremors, to guide the design of deep ·.·······································.
knew I wanted to work with someone
who was doing translational research
that had the potential to really impact “The opportunity to participate in research that
patients that still had a quantitative and
technical focus,” says Rotemberg. “I directly involved patients helped me to continue to
met with Kathy Nightingale and Mark develop as a physician and scientist at the same time.”

Palmeri, who was an MD-PhD student
in her lab. Tey were working with real
patients and the work required a lot of technical brain stimulation devices that can alleviate disease
development and a thorough understanding of symptoms.
the mechanics of human tissue. It was a perfect “By understanding more precisely which
combination for me.” pathological neural signatures are important to
Now director of the Imaging Informatics Pro- target with electrical stimulation, we can design
gram at MSK, Rotemberg has focused her im- efcient stimulation therapies that deliver less
aging research on skin disease. Building on her energy to the brain tissue overall,” says Behrend.
PhD research, she’s developing high-resolution “Tat maximizes the battery life of the implanted
approaches to measure skin elasticity to aid in the devices, which means patients need fewer replace-
diagnosis and tracking of skin lesions. She’s also ment surgeries. It’s a great example of how basic
working on tools for automated diagnosis that research can have a clear clinical impact.”
might allow physicians to determine whether a le- As she progresses through her residency pro-
sion is benign or malignant from a clinical photo. gram, Behrend hopes to get involved in clinical
“One of the main reasons I went to Duke for research to study disease processes and examine
graduate school was the BME program, and there how new and improved technologies can help
were structural aspects of the BME department treat neurological disorders like Parkinson’s.
that are uniquely suited to an MD-PhD student,” “Duke BME was a highly collaborative environ-
says Rotemberg. “One of my roles was to go to ment and it has incredibly strong ties to the med-
the clinic and actually image patients in the hepa- ical school, which is evident through the MSTP,”
tology clinic. As compared to other research proj- she says. “Half of my MD-PhD class did their
ects for MSTP students, the opportunity to par- PhDs in engineering, and they all had opportuni-
ticipate in research that directly involved patients ties to interact with physicians and patients. Tis
helped me to continue to develop as a physician collaboration was not only easy but welcomed,
and scientist at the same time.” especially because Duke BME students bring so
“Kathy was also a really wonderful mentor for many skills to the table.” n

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 21

22 | DUKEBME Magazine

n EDUCATION: PHD STUDENTS

Oh, the
Places Grads Go

Whether their career ladders lead to industry, academia or entrepreneurship,

Duke BME gives PhD students a leg up on post-grad life

Like many PhD students in Duke Universi- didn’t, and what advice they had for imminent
ty’s Department of Biomedical Engineer- graduates. Tese conversations, she said, pointed
ing, Erika Moore wasn’t entirely settled on her in a surprising direction––back into academia.
what career to pursue after graduation. As
Since graduating from Duke BME in the spring
she worked in Jennifer West’s lab, Moore had ex- of 2018, Moore has accepted a position as the Ris-
plored research in tissue engineering and bioma- ing Star Larry Hench Assistant Professor of Ma-
terials. Her main research project involved using terials Science and Engineering at the University
immune cells to encourage blood vessel develop- of Florida. During the frst two years of her ap-
ment within engineered tissue scafolds. pointment, Moore will conduct research as a visit-
Initially, she thought this work would lead her ing professor at Johns Hopkins University, where
towards a career in the biomedical industry. But she’ll create her own biomaterials-focused lab.
after completing an internship at a large company “Tere’s a very robust amount of professional
the summer before her ffth year in the program, development resources available to Duke BME
she didn’t feel as enamored with that option. PhD students, and I think those resources allowed
“I knew I wanted a career I would never get me to move on to the next professional level more
tired of, and a job where I could interact with comfortably than other people do,” says Moore.
“I was also able to
I“Duke was a great place for me to see that when you identify the meet with my com-
right team, you can really make a lot of progress on a problem.” mittee members fairly
frequently, and they
were very open and
encouraging not only
diferent researchers,” says Moore. “Although for my PhD, but also for career advice, which was
working in industry was a benefcial experience, helpful as I was planning to move into my new
it triggered a period of refection for me. During role. I was able to make this large network of sup-
that time I leaned heavily on resources for Duke port in the department.”
PhD students to explore a wider range of career Each year, more than half of Duke BME PhD
options than I’d previously considered.” graduates go on to careers in industry or entre-
LEFT: Robert Kirkton In addition to speaking with West and other preneurship, and more than a third continue in
works in his lab at BME faculty, Moore attended seminars ofered academia through post-doctoral fellow or facul-

Humacyte, where he

develops off-the-shelf through Duke’s PhD Plus Professional Develop- ty positions. To support students as they pursue
human blood vessels ment Program, which prepares engineering stu- an array of diferent career options, Duke BME
that can be implanted dents for success in their post-graduate careers. encourages PhD students to participate in de-
in patients during Te sessions gave her an opportunity to speak velopment programs, like PhD Plus, or attend

surgery. with a variety of professionals about diferent as- events aimed at improving presentation and

pects of their jobs: what they liked, what they writing skills. Students can also participate in in-

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 23

n EDUCATION: PHD STUDENTS

“Although working
in industry was a

beneficial experience,
it triggered a period
of reflection for me.
During that time I
leaned heavily on
resources for Duke
PhD students to

explore a wider range
of career options

than I’d previously
considered.”

ABOVE: Erika Moore terdisciplinary research programs like MEDx, a that had expertise in molecular and cellular biol-
relied on resources collaborative program between the Pratt School ogy, computational and mechanical engineering,
through the PhD of Engineering and the Duke University School materials science, or clinical practice, for example.
Plus program during of Medicine, and the Duke-Coulter Translation- It was a great place for me to see that when you
her time as a PhD al Research Partnership to broaden their research identify the right team, you can really make a lot
student in Duke BME, collaborations both inside and outside of the de- of progress on a problem.”
which helped her partment.
pursue a career as Kirkton is now the associate director of new
a professor at the “When our students are in the program they product development at Humacyte, a biotech-
University of Florida are exposed to a diverse range of research oppor- nology and regenerative medicine company in
tunities, and this diversity is then mirrored in the Durham that develops tissue engineering prod-
range of career opportunities available to them af- ucts based of research conducted at Yale, MIT,
ter graduation,” says Joel Collier, the director of and Duke University. Although he no longer
graduate studies in Duke BME. “Tere’s a true works with cardiac cells, Kirkton draws on his lab
spirit of collaboration in this department, so there experience from Duke BME to aid in his current
are few barriers to the range of avenues students work, which involves developing of-the-shelf
are interested in.” bioengineered human blood vessels that can be
implanted in patients sufering from vascular dis-
Tis in-depth and collaborative research experi- eases or in need of vascular repair or replacement.
ence is an asset to graduates like Robert Kirkton
(PhD’12), who completed his doctoral research in “My time at Duke really prepared me for my
Nenad Bursac’s lab. His work in helping to create current role, whether it’s through my experience
electrically active replacement tissue to “patch” with scientifc techniques, experimental design, or
damaged tissue after a heart attack—drew on ex- my ability to reach out to new contacts and start
pertise both inside and outside the lab. collaborative projects,” says Kirkton. “Duke BME
taught me that a synergistic efort is required when
“When I got to Duke I found myself surround- tackling complex biomedical issues, and maintain-
ed by highly motivated and intelligent people ing that collaborative mindset has been vital to the
from diverse technical backgrounds,” says Kirk- success of my work at Humacyte.” n
ton. “You could easily collaborate with people

24 | DUKEBME Magazine

Tools of the Trade

With expanded course offerings intended to provide students with practical design
experience, new research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and
innovative entrepreneurial programs, Duke BME has recently launched a spate of initiatives
to prepare the next generation of biomedical engineers for success.

DESIGN RESEARCH ENTREPRENEURSHIP

BME Design Fellows Master’s Certificate BRiDGE
Spanning three semesters, this in Biotechnology
is an intensive design program The Bioengineering Research
for BME juniors interested in The new master’s certificate in initiative to Develop Global Entre-
pursuing internships that will pro- biotechnology provides students preneurs expands the resources
vide them with hands-on design with in-depth knowledge of cut- available to bioengineering
experience. ting-edge techniques for mod- startup companies founded by
eling, analyzing and designing Duke BME faculty, PhD students,
Medical Device Design molecular and cellular systems. alumni and affiliates. With 2,000
Centered on collaboration with Working with faculty who are square feet of lab and office
Duke Medicine clinicians, this leaders in the field, students space in downtown Durham,
re-imagined design course chal- will gain hands-on experience the initiative provides additional
lenges students to create solu- in molecular biology, protein support for young startup com-
tions to real patients’ problems. expression and purification and panies to attract private or public
gene editing. investment. n
First-Year Design Course
First-Year engineering students Biomedical and
hit the ground running by proto- Health Data Sciences
typing, designing and ultimately
creating projects for the Duke Through new collaborations
and Durham community. with the Duke University Medical
Center, researchers in Duke BME
are developing innovative data
science, machine learning, and
digital health modeling approach-
es to transform multi-scale
biomedical data into actionable
health insights.

Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 25

=~II I ~ II

"/1/ 11I
I11111111 \ \\\\\ \\\\ \ \\ \\ \\ IIIIIIIII ~
----- -Alternatives: ---
--Off the Beaten Path =I 111 iii111111
~Garheng Kong, MD, PhD, MBA

~Founder and Managing Partner of HealthQuest Capital

in San Francisco Bay Area, CA | Advisor: Mark Dewhirst

"//lzI /Garheng Kong earned his PhD, MD and MBA from Duke University, where his research centered on

liposomal drug delivery for cancer treatment. Combining his extensive background in engineering, medicine
and business, Kong founded venture-capital frm HealthQuest Capital in 2012 with the aim of working
with innovative entrepreneurs to transform healthcare.

Garheng Kong, How did you make the transition from Duke tive new investments, engaging in diligence on
MD’01, PhD’00, BME to your current role at HealthQuest these opportunities, attending board meetings
MBA’03 Capital? What inspired this transition? of current portfolio companies, and internal
My professional motivation has always been to frm management. I’m usually traveling two to
reach people positively through healthcare at three days per week. One of the nice aspects of
scale. Many of my family members are physi- our industry is that you can work from almost
cians, and I originally went to medical school to anywhere as long as you have a connected phone
care for people. I realized that to have impact and computer. You still have to meet in-person,
on more people, I wanted to pursue translational but the efciency of our business is very high.
science and Duke BME was a fantastic oppor-
tunity to learn the skills where I might one day How did your time in Duke BME prepare you
advance medicine and reach many more people. to succeed?
I was fortunate that my PhD research had near- Duke BME was a valuable experience for me
term clinical application, however, I also learned during a formative time in my development. In
that medical innovations need to be commercial- addition to critical thinking, I learned how to
ized to actually ever reach a patient. Tat’s when conduct scientifc research and was given oppor-
I spent time in pharma (GlaxoSmithKline), tunities to explore multiple professional avenues.
strategy consulting (McKinsey), and eventually Dr. Dewhirst was a wonderful advisor who was
healthcare startup companies (Cellective Ter- really focused on my personal development and
apeutics and Viamet Pharmaceuticals). After was a fantastic mentor to me. After graduating
working in small startups, I understood that I Duke BME, the benefts of being an alumnus
could have even more scale if I helped fnance a were also tangible—both due to the institution’s
portfolio of these companies that were develop- reputation but also due to the deep network of
ing innovations to improve patient outcomes alumni who preceded and supported me.
and healthcare economics. It was this progres-
sion of realizations that ultimately led me into Is there an experience that defined your
the investing world and to eventually founding time in Duke BME?
HealthQuest Capital. Te area of research that I was focused on was
drug delivery—principally for the treatment of
What does your role as a managing partner cancer. One particularly memorable moment
at HealthQuest Capital typically involve? for me was seeing the treatment of a patient in
We have a great group of investment and back a clinical trial that incorporated some aspects
ofce professionals that work together as a team. of our work. One can cure all the mice in the
My role is to ensure that we partner with the world of cancer, but it’s not comparable to
best companies driving healthcare innovation seeing a single patient potentially beneft. It
and support these companies as they grow. A really brought home to me the signifcance and
typical day might include meeting with prospec- opportunity of advancing medicine.

26 | DUKEBME Magazine

--- i--iLauren Polstein Toth, PhD

11111111rr Sr. Principal Engineer, Northrop Grumman
.ll I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I LL

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Advisor: Charles Gersbach

Lauren Toth studied genetic engineering as a PhD student in Duke University’s Department of Biomed-
ical Engineering. As a senior principal engineer at Northrop Grumman, she’s applying her experience in
arenas from health to security.

Tell us about your research at Duke BME. I ended up working with research I was more
I was a PhD student in Charlie Gersbach’s lab, familiar with. My next rotation involved devising
where I engineered light-inducible systems that a secure mobile data solution, which was outside
can activate genes in any specific location or anything I’d ever done. For my final rotation, I
helped manage the Technology Services Sector’s
pattern in a lab dish by turning on innovation program while taking on the new
blue light. This technology could role of business development and capture for the
potentially allow a scientist to pick New York City Wireless Network program. Now
any gene on a chromosome and I’m a senior principal engineer with Northrop
turn it on or off with light, which Grumman in NYC.
could allow us to better study
genes’ functions and create com- How did your time at Duke BME prepare you
plex systems for growing tissue. My for your role at Northrop Grumman?
goal was to induce muscular tissue Even when I wasn’t working directly with my
and vascular formation in response biomedical engineering background, a lot of
to blue light. the things I did for my PhD really helped with
the role. I did a lot of technical writing, and the
--.......... .. ..... ... .... ... ....... .... ... ... How did you get the position at presentation skills from lab meetings and con-
Northrop Grumman? ferences helped me get comfortable speaking to
: Lauren Polstein Toth, : When I was in graduate school I people in a formal setting.
went to a Northrop Grumman information ses-
PhD’15 sion, and the speaker suggested that I apply to the Was there an experience that particularly
Future Technical Leaders Program. The program sticks out to you during your time in Duke
--: :.················iiiiiiiii·············.· allows employees to rotate through different BME?
specialties within the company to get a wide The first thing that comes to mind is the first
-----------------~ variety of experiences. It was targeted towards time I got a “good” result in lab. For months
~~ recent graduates with master’s or PhD degrees, during my first year, I had been tweaking con-
and I ended up applying and getting an offer. I ditions to get my light-inducible cells to work,
took a leap of faith in taking the job, which was and I saw one experiment fail after another. I
intimidating since it involved experiences outside definitely started losing my confidence. I was
biomedical engineering and I was worried I’d be a in lab one night running an assay, and as I saw
fish out of water. the values pop up on the screen while the test
was running, I couldn’t believe my eyes because
What did your different roles in the program something finally worked! Everything clicked
involve? into place after that, and I had enough data to
When you start, you do three one-year rotations publish my first paper within a few months. Grad
through different groups within the company. school definitely teaches you how to persevere
You can occupy positions in research, project and remain optimistic despite repeated failures,
management, strategy, program execution, and and I’ve carried that lesson with me into my
other roles. In my first placement I served as the career today.
genomics and molecular/synthetic biology expert
within the Personalized Healthcare Group, so Spring 2019, Issue 2 | 27

:-------:I I II--------------i n ALTERNATIVES: OFF THE BEATEN PATH

Matthew Rinehart, BSE, PhD

Senior Optical Engineer, Waymo, Mountain View, CA
Advisor: Adam Wax

Matt Rinehart got the most out of his decade at Duke, first earning his bachelor’s degrees in biomedical
engineering and electrical engineering before pursuing a PhD in biomedical engineering. Leveraging his
background in optical sciences, Rinehart worked at Skybox, where he built camera and telescope systems for
space satellites, before transitioning to Waymo, where he works on sensing technology for self-driving cars.

What was the focus of your research during How do these skills translate to your job at
Waymo? What drew you to this non-BME
your time in Duke BME? career path?
I focused on advanced microscopy and its Although my current projects don’t have bio-
potential biomedical applications. I specifically
developed instrumentation and processing meth- medical motivations, my technical background
ods for holographic microscopy. The instruments in instrumentation, sensor systems and data
enabled single-shot capture of dynamic events, analysis has translated really well. I transitioned
like cells moving through microstructures. I also to Waymo for a few reasons. It was a great chance
=,.. . .. . ... ... .~···:- i MatthewRineh-art, studied the biophysical properties of red blood to be part of a good team of strong engineers that
cells and the dynamic properties of microbicide work really well together, and I wanted to work
BSE’08, MS’14, polymers as they swelled and dissolved, which on higher volume products that would be used
was important for the study of targeted drug by a lot of people. I also realized that while I had
------ ........-.....-..-.....-...-.PhD’14 delivery. a great background in design engineering and
prototyping, I still knew very little about product
How did your time in Duke BME prepare you life cycle and scaling a device to mass production
for your current career path? manufacturing. At Waymo, I have the opportu-
I spent a decade at Duke in biomedical and nity to contribute to the full product life cycle
electrical engineering—four years as an under- from concept all the way through mass produc-
grad followed by six years in the PhD program.  tion. It’s really satisfying to see sensor systems
During this time, I learned really solid engi- that I have worked end up on cars that drive on
neering fundamentals in signal processing and public roads every day.
=¥1ii1---------!~--,---~!1------------f: instrument design. More importantly, I was given
the latitude to perform independent research and Is there an experience that made your time
pursue concepts that seemed interesting to me. 
This led me to develop skills spanning problem in the department unique?
definition, experimental design & planning, I spent many Friday afternoons hanging out with
hands-on system development, image processing a core group of other BME students outside of
and data analysis (coding), and synthesis/inter- Twinnies. We had a “classy beer club” tradition,
pretation of results. and it was a great time to get out of the lab,
Dr. Wax’s mentorship style pushed me to really meet other folks around CIEMAS, chat about
clarify goals for myself and then continue proj- research, and develop friendships. Even though
ects until we had meaningful results. Now in my all of us from that group are scattered around the
career, I find that my ability to dig into thorny country, those are the friends from school that
technical problems and rigorously troubleshoot I keep in touch with. Several of those engineers
is invaluable.  I also developed a deep knowledge have gone on to faculty positions at other univer-
of photonics and imaging principles that I use sities so it’s nice to still hear updates from within
the academic research community. n

quite frequently in my work in industry.

11111111111~ ~,,,,,1111111 11111111111111,,,,,,,1~:
28 | DUKEBME Magazine

Duke University, Nature Biomedical Engineering and Nature Medicine are pleased to present:

Engineering Biology for Medicine

May 19-22, 2019 | Fitzpatrick Center, Durham, NC, USA

This conference will ofer a broad perspective of state-of-the-art approaches leveraging molecular engineering,
cellular engineering and materials engineering for the manipulation of the human genome and epigenome, the
immune system and diseased tissue, in the contexts of therapy, diagnostics, disease modelling and drug discovery,
and across a broad range of disease types. The focus will be on engaging discussions about how to best harness
human biology to devise strategies for probing, diagnosing and combating human disease.

SPEAKERS:

Aravind Asokan (Duke University, USA)
Jason Burdick (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
Nenad Bursac (Duke University, USA)
James Collins (MIT, USA)
Jennifer Elisseef (Johns Hopkins University, USA)
Adam Engler (University of California San Diego, USA)
Zev Gartner (University of California San Francisco, USA)
Jef Hasty (University of California San Diego, USA)
Barton Haynes (Duke University, USA)
Jefrey Hubbell (University of Chicago, USA)
Donald Ingber (Harvard University, USA)
Darrell Irvine (MIT, USA)
Farren Isaacs (Yale University, USA)
Jay Keasling (University of California Berkeley, USA)
David Liu (Harvard University, USA)
David Mooney (Harvard University, USA)
Niren Murthy (University of California Berkeley, USA)
David Schafer (University of California Berkeley, USA)
Tatiana Segura (Duke University, USA)
Michael Shuler (Cornell University, USA)
Pamela Silver (Harvard University, USA)
Viola Vogel (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic (Columbia University, USA)
Cheng Zhu (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)

ABSTRACT DEADLINE: March 1, 2019 | REGISTRATION DEADLINE: May 19, 2019
VISIT: nature.com/natureconferences/EBM19

BIOMEDICAL nature meaicine
ENGINEERING
biomedical engineering

A68597

Duke I

BIOMEDICAL Non-Profit Org.
ENGINEERING U.S. Postage Paid
Durham, N.C.
Duke University Permit No. 60
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Room 1427, Fitzpatrick Center (FCIEMAS)
101 Science Drive
Campus Box 90281
Durham, NC 27708-0281

XX