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Gastrointestinal SQUID |
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William O Richards MD, FACS |
Dr. William O. Richards is Ingram Professor of Surgical Sciences at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Director of Laparoendoscopic General Surgery and Medical Director of the Center for Surgical Weight Loss at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He obtained his BS degree in biology in 1975 from Dickinson College and his MD degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1979. From 1983 to 1984 he was chief resident in general surgery at the University of Maryland Hospital, whereafter he became a fellow in portal hypertension and endoscopy at the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Richards joined the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1987 as assistant professor of surgery, where he is now a tenured professor. He has served as chairman and secretary for the Southern Medical Association and he is a member of more than 20 national and international scientific societies. Dr. Richards is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and an acknowledged expert in the field of gastric bypass surgery and has given numerous invited lectures on laparoendoscopic surgery around the world. For over 10 years, he has pursued an active interest in the development of noninvasive tools for the diagnosis of GI diseases; he has been awarded more than $3M between 1994 and 2006 by the National Institute of Health for this purpose. In 2006, thanks to a private endowment, Dr. Richards was named Ingram Professor of Surgical Sciences at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
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L Alan Bradshaw PhD |
Dr. L. Alan Bradshaw is research assistant professor of physics and biomedical engineering (Vanderbilt University), surgery (Vanderbilt University School of Medicine) and he is an associate professor of physics and engineering science (Lipscomb University). After obtaining his BS degree summa cum laude in 1990 from Abilene Christian University as a University Scholar, he was awarded a Ph.D. degree in physics by Vanderbilt University in 1995, where he was the recipient of a university dissertation enhancement grant. In 1996 he was awarded a Young Investigator Award by the American Motility Society for his pioneering research in the field of noninvasive biomagnetic characterization of GI diseases. He is a co-recipient of the 2006 Nightingale Prize of the Institute for Physics and Engineering in Medicine for his vector projection analysis method for biomagnetic fields. |
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John P Wikswo Jr PhD |
Dr. John P. Wikswo Jr. is Gordon A. Cain University Professor, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics and Physics at Vanderbilt University. He is also the director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education. He and his group are at present working in three areas: the study of the linear and non-linear electrical properties of cardiac tissue during stimulation, propagation, and recovery for threshold- and defibrillation-strength shocks; the magnetic measurement of cellular action currents in cardiac, gastric and intestinal tissue, as can be observed using SQUID magnetometry; and the development and application of micro- and nano-scale devices for instrumenting and controlling the single biological cell and small populations of cells. His long-term program to understand the effects of defibrillation-strength shocks on cardiac tissue now includes studies of charge and electroporation and molecular diffusion. The magnetic studies of action currents range from determining the information content of the magnetocardiogram in isolated rabbit hearts to the non-invasive diagnosis of intestinal ischemia in humans. The project to instrument and control single cells is addressing issues as varied as the use of cells to identify and discriminate chemical and biological warfare agents by metabolic phenotype; the development and application of BioMEMS (Bio - Micro - Electro - Mechanical Systems) devices to understand the molecular signaling associated with chemotaxis, cellular motility, angiogenesis, and metastasis; and the nature of the signaling and metabolic activity associated with the immune response. |
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Andrew J Pullan PhD |
Dr. Pullan is associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Auckland. His principal reasearch interest is mathematical modelling of biomedical structures. In particular he focuses on the electrical function of the heart, skeletal and smooth mucsle and the noninvasive assessment of their functioning. The aim of his research is to use a combination of mathematical techniques and experimental measurements to reveal the electrical performance of the heart and the interplay of this with other aspects of the heart's pumping function. A significant effort has been expended to develop a software environment capable of handling the specific modelling issues associated with the heart, gastrointestinal system and torso and the interplay between modelling, experimental and clinical data. |
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Jon Erickson PhD |
Dr. Erickson is a postdoctoral fellow in the departments of physics and surgery. After receiving
his BS in physics from Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, CA), Jon obtained his PhD in bioengineering from the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA).
His current research interest lies in developing novel biomedical signal processing techniques. |
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Chibuike Obioha MD |
Dr. Obioha is a visiting scholar in the department of surgery at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Obi is studying soft-tissue surgical techniques as well as conducting research
to help develop a non-invasive biomagnetic technique for early identification and diagnosis of GI ailments.
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