Bringing Research to Clinical Practice Panel Speakers

JULIAN SOLWAY, MD

Dr. Julian Solway is the Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago.  He is Associate Dean for Translational Medicine in the Biological Sciences Division, and directs the Institute for Translational Medicine.  Dr. Solway also serves as Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine, and is founding Chair of the Committee on Molecular Medicine.

Dr. Solway is an international authority on asthma pathogenesis, with particular focus on the muscle that invests airway walls and whose contraction causes acute asthma attacks.  He has made important contributions concerning the accumulation of contractile proteins with airway muscle at the levels of gene transcription and protein translation, concerning the maintenance of contraction, and concerning the genetic variations that predispose to asthma.  In recognition of his research, Dr. Solway received the 2001 American College of Physicians - American Society of Internal Medicine Award for Outstanding Work in Science as Related to Medicine.  He directed an NHLBI-sponsored Specialized Center of Research in Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Asthma for 10 years and an NIAID-sponsored Asthma and Allergic Diseases Research Center for 5 years.  Dr. Solway also directs a long-standing NHLBI-funded Research Training Program in Respiratory Biology and a new NHLBI-sponosored Training Program in Asthma Genetics and Genomics, and leads the University’s NIH Roadmap Clinical and Translational Science Award.

Vladimir Turzhitsky, Ph.D. Candidate, Northwestern University

Vladimir Turzhitsky is a graduate student at Northwestern University working in Vadim Backman’s Biophotonics laboratory. His master’s work involved the development and characterization of Low-coherence Enhanced Backscattering Spectroscopy (LEBS) markers for the detection of colon and pancreatic cancer. He is currently continuing as a Ph.D. student with the development of an LEBS probe for colon cancer screening, investigation and modeling of early increased blood supply (EIBS) in the colon, and validating LEBS markers in larger human studies.

Philip Troyk, Associate Professor, BME, IIT

Philip Troyk is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology and is the founder and president of Sigenics, Inc, an integrated-circuit design company with expertise in the design of customized integrated circuits for neural prostheses. He is an internationally-recognized expert in implantable electronic device design for neural prostheses, as well as in technology used in RF-telemetry and transcutaneous-coupled links for implantable microelectronics. His primary research focuses on a team-based of development of a visual prosthesis for restoration of sight for those with blindness. Sigenics has designed, and is pursuing transition to market, of integrated circuit chips for neural recording instrumentation, neural prostheses, and upper limb replacement prostheses.

Lyle Mockros, Professor Emeritus, Northwestern University

Dr. Mockros, currently Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University, has been involved in biomedical engineering research since the mid 1960's. He is a charter member of the Biomedical Engineering Society and a Founding Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. As a specialist in fluid mechanics, his major focus has been on developing engineering strategies for the development of devices for organ function replacement. His research interests have included transport mechanisms in artificial lungs, blood trauma in artificial organs, blood clot structure and rheology, hemodynamics, and synovial joint mechanics.