University News

Inaugural grants, research could affect numerous industries

Thanks to research grants awarded to University of Memphis professors by the U of M's FedEx Institute of Technology, artificial intelligence and nanomaterials research is being conducted that could help render bioterrorists obsolete and change the way we do business. Also in development? Drug delivery systems that, internally, supply just the right dosage at precisely the right time and place to encourage more effective healing and fewer side-effects in bone disease treatments. And radio frequency technologies that could streamline hospital operations all over the world.

The Institute, which will award grants bi-annually to a limited number of the University's professors and researchers through its Research Investment and Innovation Fund grants, announced the inaugural recipients – Lee McCauley (artificial intelligence), Eugene Pinkhassik (nanomaterials), Warren Haggard and Joel Bumgardner (biomedical engineering), Brian Janz and Medhi Amini (radio frequency identification) and Andrew Fry (biochemistry, health and sport sciences).

The Research Investment Fund's purpose is to capitalize innovative projects in one of the Institute's three areas of focus: learning technologies, biomedical technologies or business network tools. The purpose of the Innovation Fund is to seed innovative ideas, programs or technologies across campus . To receive monies from either of the funds, projects must include a deliverable product, process, technique, tool or other tangible work outcome within the next six months.

Dr. Eugene Pinkhassik of the Institute for Nanomaterials is developing a new generation of advanced diagnostic sensors, for which there are numerous applications. In terms of healthcare, doctors could use them to perform lab tests that will cost less, require less blood than a normal test and yield quicker results. They could be also enormously valuable in emergency medical situations. On an unrelated, yet globally-significant front, the sensors could even be used to enhance security related to bioterrorism.

Dr. Warren Haggard and Dr. Joel Bumgardner, professors in the department of biomedical engineering, are developing an internal drug delivery system that will administer the precise dosage needed at the most effective time and in a specific location within the body, making for more effective treatment of bone diseases, the need for which is well-documented. Almost every household in the U.S. is or will be affected in some way by diseases of bones, joints and muscles, and the effectiveness of current treatments is limited. Many cases, in fact, require amputation. It has been learned, however, that therapeutic agents like growth factors are more effective at certain times during the tissue repair process and agents (like antibiotics) can greatly improve their biological effect when released at times that do not interfere or inhibit healing. Further, the delivery of agents only to the immediate site reduces the dosage needed to treat the infection or defect, increases their effectiveness and reduces risk of systemic side effects. All of which are addressed by the system.

Dr. Brian Janz and Dr. Medhi Amini with the FedEx Center for Supply Chain Management will continue to study Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to investigate how it could be used to streamline operations in hospitals around the world. Researchers will use RFID data to create animated computer models that replicate how patients move through the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center at the Shelby County Regional Medical Center . These simulations can then be used by doctors and nurses to identify where bottlenecks occur, where patients spend most of their time and where hospital resources can best be allocated.

Dr. Lee McCauley and a team of researchers in the Intelligent Environment Laboratory are working to develop an intelligent, interactive information kiosk – a “virtual information center” - that will introduce itself and offer assistance to visitors, who will be able to ask questions and get answers about everything from the history of an organization to directions within the building - the prototype of which will be housed in the institute's own lobby.

Dr. Andrew Fry in the Exercise Biochemistry Laboratory in the department of health and sport sciences is developing a non-invasive tool for assessing the quality of skeletal muscle. Many diseases and conditions cause changes in skeletal muscle. Muscular dystrophies, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, aging and adaptations to prosthetic devices are just a few examples. Currently, the most valid method for assessing these changes is through invasive muscle biopsy – which is painful and carries a high rate of post-operative infection. When muscle is activated, it exhibits vibrational properties that can be measured using mechanomyography ( MMG ). This project will determine if MMG might provide an alternative method for assessing muscle tissue. If MMG is a valid measure of muscle qualities, patients and the medical community could benefit from this simple standardized clinical MMG test rather than resorting to more invasive testing.

The University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology is a state-of-the-art research and innovation support facility. The Institute supports the development of new ideas, approaches, technologies and educational programs that address real world challenges.

Opened in November 2003, the 95,000 square foot building is home to research teams, research portals, classrooms and meeting spaces. Resident research teams are studying artificial intelligence and robotics, multimedia communications, business networks and supply chains and work space planning. Research portals inside the Institute showcase the University's research in the geological and biological sciences.

The University of Memphis is a metropolitan research university committed to scholarly accomplishments of its students and faculty and to the enhancement of its community. The University offers 15 bachelor's degrees in more than 50 majors and 70 concentrations, master's degrees in more than 45 subjects, and doctoral degrees in 21disciplines, in addition to the juris doctor (law) and specialist in education degrees.

The campus is located on 1,160 acres with nearly 200 buildings at more than four sites. The average age of full-time undergraduates is 23.

The University of Memphis is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, first professional, master's, educational specialist's, and doctoral degrees. Individual colleges, schools and departments are accredited by the appropriate agencies.

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