BIO ASSOCIATION ATTENDS THE SECOND  ANNUAL  JOINT  UND-NDSU 
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING  SYMPOSIUM AT UND’S MEMORIAL UNION ON OCTOBER 22, 2018
On Monday, October 22, 2018, there was held the Second Annual Joint UND-NDSU Biomedical Engineering Symposium in the Memorial Union on the Campus of the University of North Dakota. The Symposium provided  new  opportunities  to  broaden relationships  leading  to  the  development  of  BME  collaborative/competitive  research projects  and  proposals  that  require  interdisciplinary  participation,  specially  from  industry.
Pictured is Dr. Kouhyar Tavakolian, the director for Biomedical Engineering Research Complex (BERC) at UND and one of the sponsors for this Symposium. Kouhyar’s particular interest are in biological signal processing, biomedical instrumentation and noninvasive cardiology technologies he has published more than a hundred journal, conference proceedings, patents and book chapters in these fields. It was his idea to bring the two Universities together in this Symposium to explore synergies they may have in the Engineering Biomedical area.
Dr.’s Benjamin and Amanda Brooks also attended the seminar. The Dr.’s Brooks' current research interests lie in developing: 1) antimicrobial biomaterial surfaces via a variety of molecular and chemical techniques as well as development of novel controlled antibiotic release strategies to combat the emerging problem of antibiotic drug resistance, 2) combination hemocompatible, antimicrobial biomaterial surface coating, and 3) novel combination polymers for advanced drug delivery.
A highlight of the conference was a panel discussion, featuring Chuck  Kummeth,  Bio-TechneCorp.; Nathan  Grenz,  Medtronic; Andy  R.  Thoreson,  MayoClinic;  Jim  Albrecht,  ComDel  Innovation; and Mark Basson, Associate Dean for Research and Development at the UND Medical School. These gentlemen discussed how the two Universities could work together and also with the industry and how this could provide new opportunities for both Universities to broaden relationships leading to the development of  BME  collaborative/competitive  research projects  that  require  interdisciplinary  participation,  specially  from  industry.
As pictured at left the meeting was well attended by students and staff of both Universities. And the Bioscience Association was present to encourage these co-operations and to help these innovators and entrepreneurs achieve their goals. This is what industry and biotechnology need to do. Come together, work together to create a new Industry in North Dakota that will provide opportunities for our students and faculty.

The 2018 North Dakota INBRE Annual Symposium was held on Saturday and Sunday, October 13 & 14, 2018, at the University Of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences located at 1301 N. Columbia Road, Grand Forks, North Dakota.

​​Richard Glynn, Executive Director of the Bioscience Association of North Dakota, shown at left, was in attendance at this event. The goal of North Dakota INBRE is to build biomedical research capacity by serving research universities, baccalaureate institutions, and tribal colleges within the state. The specific aims are to: (1) Initiate competitive, sustainable research programs at four predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs); (2) Increase the number of students from PUIs who choose to pursue advanced training in the biomedical sciences; (3) Increase the number of students from tribal colleges who matriculate into baccalaureate degree programs in the sciences; (4) Enhance the state's access to computational and electronic resources supporting biomedical research; and (5) Enhance existing core facilities. 

Pictured here is Dr. Donald Sens, Professor, Department of Pathology, ND INBRE Principal Investigator, from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences. Dr. Sens is the Principal Investigator for the North Dakota INBRE organization and as such is the principal organizer of this conference. With the help from Associate Professor Van A. Doze, Ph.D. from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, UND; Associate Professor Scott Garrett, Ph.D., Department of Pathology, UND, Chris Keller, Ph.D. Professor of Biology, Minot State University; Seema Somji, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, UND; Grant McGimpsey, Ph.D, Vice President of Research and Economic Development, UND; and Brent Voels, Ph.D, Science Instructor Cankdeska Cikakana Community College, INBRE Advisory Committee this conference has become an annual event.

One Hundred and fifty-seven Faculty, Parents and Students from 9 predominately undergraduate institutions participated in lectures, workshops and a poster session where students displayed the work they had performed over the last year on various projects.

Among those participating in the poster session was Ms. Isabelle Chambers, the sixteen year old daughter of Michael and Victoria Chambers. Her poster described her work in proving that Plasmid DNA can be produced in Gas Permeable Low Density Polethylene Bags which sounds very complicated but the basic premise is that this material can be produced in plastic bags and then stored or shipped that way. A significant cost savings! Also participating in the poster session was various faculty from the participating institutions...

Pictured is Dr. David T. Pierce of who is a member of the Chemistry Department at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at UND. Dr. Pierce displayed a poster showing his work on metals and petroleum in our ground water. The poster is entitled “Metal Analysis Core Facility”. The conference is designed to build and strengthen the lead and partner institutions' biomedical research expertise and infrastructure and increase the research base and capacity by providing research support to faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students at the participating institutions.
These are the innovators and entrepreneurs of the future who are going to bring the Biotech Industry to North Dakota. And the Bioscience Association of North Dakota is going to be there to help turn their ideas into businesses and industries located in North Dakota!

On Monday, October 22, 2018, there was held the Second Annual Joint UND-NDSU Biomedical Engineering Symposium in the Memorial Union on the Campus of the University of North Dakota. The Symposium provided  new  opportunities  to  broaden relationships  leading  to  the  development  of  BME  collaborative/competitive  research projects  and  proposals  that  require  interdisciplinary  participation,  specially  from  industry.
Pictured is Dr. Kouhyar Tavakolian, the director for Biomedical Engineering Research Complex (BERC) at UND and one of the sponsors for this Symposium. Kouhyar’s particular interest are in biological signal processing, biomedical instrumentation and noninvasive cardiology technologies he has published more than a hundred journal, conference proceedings, patents and book chapters in these fields. It was his idea to bring the two Universities together in this Symposium to explore synergies they may have in the Engineering Biomedical area.
Dr.’s Benjamin and Amanda Brooks also attended the seminar. The Dr.’s Brooks' current research interests lie in developing: 1) antimicrobial biomaterial surfaces via a variety of molecular and chemical techniques as well as development of novel controlled antibiotic release strategies to combat the emerging problem of antibiotic drug resistance, 2) combination hemocompatible, antimicrobial biomaterial surface coating, and 3) novel combination polymers for advanced drug delivery.
A highlight of the conference was a panel discussion, featuring Chuck  Kummeth,  Bio-TechneCorp.; Nathan  Grenz,  Medtronic; Andy  R.  Thoreson,  MayoClinic;  Jim  Albrecht,  ComDel  Innovation; and Mark Basson, Associate Dean for Research and Development at the UND Medical School. These gentlemen discussed how the two Universities could work together and also with the industry and how this could provide new opportunities for both Universities to broaden relationships leading to the development of  BME  collaborative/competitive  research projects  that  require  interdisciplinary  participation,  specially  from  industry.
As pictured at left the meeting was well attended by students and staff of both Universities. And the Bioscience Association was present to encourage these co-operations and to help these innovators and entrepreneurs achieve their goals. This is what industry and biotechnology need to do. Come together, work together to create a new Industry in North Dakota that will provide opportunities for our students and faculty.