Four current and former faculty members elected to AIMBE College of Fellows

In March 2017, three University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering faculty members were inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows at a Washington, D.C., ceremony held by the National Academy of Sciences. This honor is bestowed upon the top two percent of medical and biological engineers in the United States for their significant contributions to the field.

Joining more than 1,500 researchers in the AIMBE College of Fellows, the 2017 UW-Madison honorees include:

Shaoqin ‘Sarah’ Gong, the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of biomedical engineering, and material sciences and engineering. She was honored for innovations in the design, synthesis and medical application of nanometer scale biomaterials, with 100,000 nanometers being the thickness of a sheet of paper. Her recent contributions range from nanoparticle delivery systems for silencing genes that contribute to a variety of cancer and eye diseases to renewable and biodegradable material for portable consumer electronics, such as cell phones and tablets.

Thomas Grist, the John H. Juhl Professor of radiology, medical physics and biomedical engineering and chair of the Department of Radiology. He has made significant contributions to the development of advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and angiography (MRA) techniques. His interdisciplinary work has led to the design of innovative, noninvasive methods for diagnosing cardiovascular, pulmonary and renal diseases. He was instrumental in establishing the Imaging Sciences Center at the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research.

Scott Reeder, a professor of radiology, medical physics and biomedical engineering and H. I. Romnes Faculty Fellow. He was honored for outstanding contributions to the development of MRI techniques and quantitative MRI biomarkers. His research efforts have helped characterize a variety of liver diseases and tumors with novel measures of liver and abdominal fat, iron overload and disease-related changes in blood vessels. He has also designed chemical agents that enhance the visibility of internal body structures, improving MRI interpretation.

Brenda Ogle, who was on the UW-Madison biomedical engineering faculty from 2006 to 2013 and is now an associate professor at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, also joined the AIMBE College of Fellows. She was honored for innovation in harnessing stem cell potency for cardiovascular repair.