Professor Helen Lu Receives Presidential Honor
09/23/2009
Biomedical Engineering's Helen H. Lu has received the nation's highest honor for young scientists.
Associate Professor Helen H. Lu of the Department of Biomedical Engineering has been selected to receive the nation's highest honor for scientists at the outset of their professional careers. She is one of 12 National Institutes of Health-nominated winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
In announcing the awards, President Barack Obama said, "These extraordinarily gifted young scientists and engineers represent the best in our country. With their talent, creativity, and dedication, I am confident that they will lead their fields in new breakthroughs and discoveries and help us use science and technology to lift up our nation and our world."
"In a departure from the traditional single-tissue approach," says Lu, "we aim to regenerate the native tissue-tissue interface on biological and synthetic grafts, with the extended goal of simultaneously engineering multiple tissues or functional organ systems pre-designed to integrate with the host environment. The successes of our research program have the potential to engineer a paradigm shift from the traditional mechanical fixation methods in orthopedic surgery to biological fixation and integrative soft tissue repair."
Each year, hundreds of thousands of new injuries to soft tissue occur, such as to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee or the rotator cuff in the shoulder, both common sports injuries. Lu's research mimics the body's original soft tissue-to-bone interface by promoting cellular interactions using a novel stratified scaffold system. These engineered ligament-to-bone and tendon-to-bone grafts grown on the scaffold system can lead to the formation of complex tissue systems through graft integration with each other as well as with the host environment, Lu says, so that significantly improved reconstructive surgery might be achieved.
Her work on the use of biomimetic scaffolds to promote chondrocyte-mediated regeneration of the interface between soft tissue and bone is currently supported by a grant from the National Institute on Arthritis Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and is in collaboration with Drs. Stephen Doty and Scott Rodeo from the Hospital for Special Surgery.
The PECASE was established by President Clinton in February 1996. Nine Federal departments and agencies join together annually to nominate the most meritorious young scientists and engineers. Awardees are selected on the basis of two criteria: Pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and a commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach. Winning scientists and engineers receive up to a five-year research grant to further their study in support of critical government missions.