Bidirectional Real-time Control of An Upper-limb Prosthetic Hand

The human hand is a sensation-rich body part, and the loss of hand significantly influences the quality of life. Prosthetics are designed as artificial limbs to replace or substitute the missing part. For providing a natural and intuitive perception of grasp or pressure, a bidirectional prosthetic hand should be able to detect action intentions and […]

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Clinical Implementation of Contralateral Inhibition OAE Testing

The proposed research project seeks to develop protocols that will enable one to measure the functionality of the auditory brainstem in a way that is clinically viable and time efficient. This project aims to minimize the time necessary to conduct an inclusive otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test using contralateral acoustic stimulation. By setting threshold signal to […]

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3d density estimation using normalizing flows and its application to 3d reconstruction in cryo-EM

Generative models enable the researchers to address multiple problems spanning from noise removal to generating novel samples with properties of the domain. Generative models are commonly studied for images and in this project the idea will be expanded to 3D structures or volumes. Single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a technique to estimate accurate 3D structures […]

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Development of Input and Evaluation Criteria for a Video-Based Occupational Risk Assessment Tool

Workplace injury prevalence and cost have created an immediate need for ergonomics risk assessment tools that require minimal ergonomics training, rooted in a foundation of experimental research, and provide comprehensive outputs that give some indication of risk and required action. Observation-based tools have been widely implemented in practice due to their simplicity, accessibility, and cost- […]

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Exploring phosphonate biosynthetic capacity in anaerobic microorganisms

Molecules possessing a carbon-phosphorus bond (C-P) have traditionally been considered rare in Nature. For example, there are only ~50 phosphonate natural products known, although several have achieved commercial success (e.g. the antibiotic fosfomycin). In addition, several phosphonate cell surface modifications have been found over the last half century, but nothing is known regarding their biosynthesis […]

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Computational study of the effect of gene deletion (synthetic lethal) on cellular growth in pathogenic organisms

Infectious diseases kill millions of people each year. For example, according to World Health Organization’s estimate, 10 million people contracted tuberculosis in 2017 resulting in 1.6 million deaths, which is approximately one death every twenty seconds . Increasingly, the pathogenic organisms, responsible for these diseases, are evolving to be resistant to drugs already in use […]

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Probiotics for Animal Health – neonatal and pre-weaned calf

This project aims to develop a novel collection of probiotics for animal health, specifically newborn and pre-weaned calves. Probiotics are a safe and sustainable way of ensuring the health of animals in the agricultural industry. The probiotics will be designed to decrease the morbidity and mortality rates in pre-weaned calves, and to increase the long-term […]

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Design of an Anthropomorphic Lower-Limb Exoskeleton System

Human locomotion can be influenced by several factors such as neuromuscular and joint disorders that affect the functionality of joints and can cause partial or complete paralysis. Reduced mobility is estimated to affect over 1% of the population in the world. Many individuals require mobility assistive technologies to keep up with their daily life and […]

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Functional long non-coding RNAs in the 3D structure of the genome

Previous research has shown that most of the mammalian genome is transcribed, while most mammalian transcripts do not code for proteins and may instead be functional themselves. Non-coding RNAs play critical roles in some of the most fundamental processes in molecular biology. The vast majority of mammalian non-coding transcripts are constituted by long non-coding RNAs […]

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Selection and Characterization of DNA aptamers for macrolide ring closure reactions

A class of compounds the work will be done are tetrahydrofuran-incorporating polyketide macrolides. This class of compounds are natural products found in diverse marine and terrestrial environments, and it has been found to show potentially useful activity in a variety of biological assays. In order to explore and expand this family of macrolides, it is […]

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Imaging and spectral characterization of exosomes as carriers of Alzheimer’s Disease biomarkers in peripheral bodily fluids

We propose the development of tools that can help identify cognitively normal subjects at risk for developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The tests will use small volumes of peripheral fluids (blood, saliva, urine). Our goal is to evaluate the potential of exosomes to be used as “carriers of AD biomarkers”. These markers will be essential for […]

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Charaterizing Effects of Dye on Microbubble Shells

In photoacoustic (PA) imaging, pulsed light irradiates a sample. Light-absorbing molecules experience a pressure rise and generate an ultrasound wave, from which, an image of the sample is obtained. If the image contrast is insufficient, contrast enhancement is applied by locally introducing stronger light absorbers. In ultrasound imaging (US), shelled gas bubbles are used to […]

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