Your source of monthly updates from BMEGG and more!

Upcoming Events

Holiday Adopt a Family Event 

BESA is participating in STEAC's annual Adopt a Family event, where we buy food and gifts to support a local family during the holidays. We invite you to join and thank you for your generosity!

• If you would like to donate, please Venmo @CJ-Mileti with the comment that it's for BESA Outreach Holiday Fundraising no later than Dec. 8.
• If you would rather donate items directly, maybe if you happen to have extra unopened food, please contact Lauren Gloekler for information about where to drop them off.
• You can see the family’s grocery list and gift wish list here, and we’ll be tracking donations as they come in so we can see how close we are to our goal.

BESA Coffee Hour with Prof. Sivasankar

Please join us on Friday, Dec. 4 at 2 pm for a virtual coffee hour. Prof. Sanjeevi Sivasankar will be joining us! Be sure to put any questions you want to ask in this Google form.

To join, use this Zoom link (Meeting ID 915 2790 7507 | Passcode 652180). See you there!

December BESA Meeting

The next BESA meeting will take place on Dec. 7, at 1 pm. The Zoom link will be sent out closer to that date. In the meantime, we invite you to join the BESA Slack Group here to be in the loop about opportunities for you to get involved!

Third BESA Health Book Club Meeting

The third BESA Health & Wellness Book Club Meeting will be on Dec. 13, at 11 am. Contact Lauren Gloekler for more info.

BESA Student Seminar Series

The student seminar series is a great opportunity to practice your QE presentation in a low-key friendly environment. If you are interested in presenting your research to your peers (virtually), please email Abby Niesen.

Stay Up to Date with the BESA Events Google Calendar

Click here to add the BESA calendar to your other Google calendars and stay on top of all upcoming BESA events! 

SARS-CoV-2 Updates

Yolo County COVID-19 measures

In an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Yolo County, there is a continued requirement for face coverings in public and social distancing. This includes anywhere in the UC Davis campus. Visit the Yolo County COVID-19 website for more info.

UC Davis COVID-19 Graduate Student FAQ page

Check out this FAQ page for your questions about coursework, teaching, and more during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mandatory COVID-19 testing

To identify COVID-19 cases, UC Davis is establishing a rapid, comprehensive screening and testing program on campus. If you currently visit campus at least once per week, you will be required to get tested every seven days. If you visit campus less frequently, then please plan ahead and secure a testing appointment in advance, up to seven days before your visit.

To book an appointment, log into Health-e-messaging and screenshot your barcode. Then do your daily symptom survey on the day of your appointment, screenshot that so you can have both images handy, and head to the ARC. And remember: no eating or drinking for 30 min before you go!

A question about testing will be added to the daily symptom survey on Dec. 1. Read more here.

Announcements and Awards

Congratulations to Dr. Alyssa Panitch & Dr. Blaine Christiansen on receiving the CTSC award!

Dr. Alyssa Panitch and Dr. Blaine Christainsen were awarded the CTSC Pilot Translation and Clinical Studies Program's Highly Innovative Award entitled: “Disease-Modifying Treatment for Osteoarthritis”. The funding will be used to efficate their hollow nanoparticle system to treat osteoarthritis in vivo.

Congratulations to Tomas Gonzalez Fernandez on receiving the Orthoregeneration Network (ON) Education Grant!

Tomas Gonzalez Fernandez from the Leach and Simon Labs was awarded the Orthoregeneration Network (ON) Education Grant to attend the Orthopedic Research Society (ORS) 2021 Annual Meeting. The meeting will take place virtually February 12-16. Congratulations, Tomas!

Support BESA by ordering business cards or buying some BESA swag!

Business cards are available through Repro Graphics for interested students and post-docs. Standard cards are $28.55 for 500. Please contact our treasurer Caitlin for more info. Christal also has a variety of BESA items for purchase in her office, including some BESA pint glasses, the most recent BESA T-shirt, and a variety of older BESA T-shirts. You can find pictures of the shirts here!

Career Development

Seminar series, journal clubs, workshops, conferences, and jobs

BME Seminar Series: Every Thursday 9 - 10 am

Upcoming speakers:

• Dec. 3, Sheng Xu, Ph.D.
  Title: "Adding a New Sensing Dimension to Soft Electronics: From the Skin to Below the Skin." 
  Sheng Xu is currently an assistant professor at UC San Diego. He received his B.S. in Chemistry and Molecular Engineering from Peking University and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. He did his postdoctoral studies in stretchable electronics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His group is interested in developing soft wearable electronics for health monitoring and human-machine interfaces. In this presentation, Xu will demonstrate a wearable multichannel patch that can sense a collection of signals from the human skin in a wireless mode. Zoom link and more details here.
   
• Dec. 10, Palema Silver, Ph.D.
  More details here.

Virtual Myokardia Tour

Myokardia is giving a virtual tour to students and postdocs who are interested in learning more about the company or who are looking for internships and/or full time jobs! Tentative tour date is Jan. 22, 2021. Please use this link to register. Resume required. Registration closes Dec. 3 at 5 pm.

Neuroengineering & Medicine Seminar

Dr. Jochen Ditterich will discuss “Closed-Loop Phase-Locked Stimulation: The Neuroscience, A New Algorithm, and Its Real-Time Implementation" on Dec. 2 at 4:10 pm. Register here.

December Quantum/Optics Journal Club meeting

The December Quantum/Optics Journal Club meeting will be held on Dec. 2, 2:30 - 4 pm. Use this link to join! Speakers: Dr. Ognjen Markovic from Stanford University and Dr. Fabio Anza from UC Davis.

Graduate Writer’s Retreat

The will be a graduate writer's retreat on Dec. 8, 2 - 5 pm. Register here and show up for accountability and a quiet writing space! A Graduate Writing Fellow (Caitlin Banks) will be available for short consultations during the session.

Faculty Opening: Center for Synthetic Biology and Department of Cell & Developmental Biology at Northwestern University

The Center for Synthetic Biology and Department of Cell & Developmental Biology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine invites applications for a full-time tenure track Investigator at the rank of Assistant Professor. Responsibilities include establish an extramurally funded basic or translational research program that applies synthetic biological approaches. Ideal candidates should also demonstrate strong communication and leadership skills, and actively contribute to the rapidly growing Center for Synthetic Biology. Formally launched in 2016, the Center for Synthetic Biology represents a university-wide initiative to formalize and grow synthetic biology as a research theme. For more information and to apply visit the Center of Synthetic Biology website.

Funding Opportunities

Maury Hull Endowed Fellowship for Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Research

The Maury L. Hull Endowed Fellowship was established in 2012 by Scott Maxwell ’84, MS ‘86 to support a graduate student engaged in research with an emphasis in the area of musculoskeletal biomechanics. The fellowship award amount this year is $4,500. Application due on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020. Read more here.

NIH Individual Fellowships F31 and F32

The deadline for the current cycle of NIH individual fellowships (F31 and F32) is Dec. 8, 2020! More information can be found here.

Annual Internal Fellowship Competition for Continuing Graduate Students

UC Davis Internal Fellowship Application for continuing academic graduate students is open! This application is used to award fellowship funding for the upcoming academic year.

• Learn more about the eligibility requirements and application process by visiting the Fellowship Program website.
• Fellowships will be open from Sep. 23, 2020 to Jan. 15, 2021.

Know of more funding opportunities and want them featured in the next newsletter? Email them to Alex or Jun before the first of each month. 

Publications

Check out these new publications from BMEGG students and faculty!

• Dehghani, T. and Thai, P. N., Sodhi, H., Ren, L., Sirish, P., Nader, C. E., Timofeyev V., Overton J. L., Li X., Lam K. S., Chiamvimonvat N., Panitch A. (2020). Selectin-Targeting Glycosaminoglycan-Peptide Conjugate Limits Neutrophil Mediated Cardiac Reperfusion Injury. Cardiovascular research.
• Niesen, A. E., Garverick, A. L., Howell, S. M., & Hull, M. L. (2020). Reorienting the Tibial Baseplate Improves the Registration Accuracy of Model-Based Radiostereometric Analysis. Journal of Biomechanics.

Stay in the loop...

Have feedback, questions, or something you'd like added to the next newsletter? Email Jun Zhu and Alex Vargas.