Resume

• 2006

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

  Dissertation: The Effects of Rapid Stretch Injury on Rat Neocortical Cultures\n\nThe primary goal of this dissertation was to create a user-friendly device for rapid mechanical loading of neuronal tissue. This device would serve as the primary technology for this lab’s future research endeavors in the field of traumatic brain injury. I created initial prototypes in ProE and worked closely with machinists on aspects of design such as manufacturability

  performance

  optimization

  materials selection

  and cost. Additionally

  I was responsible for the development of test methods for validation of the device.

  Materials Science

  New Jersey Institute of Technology

• 2001

  English

  Bachelor of Science (BS)

  Thesis: “Mechanical and Biocompatibility Analysis of Borided Tantalum and Niobium for Orthopedic Implants\"\n\nThe primary goal of this thesis was to test the effects of boron coatings on the mechanical properties and biocompatibility of Tantalum and Niobium. I applied coatings via thermal treatment and varied parameters such as powder composition

  temperature

  and treatment times to evaluate coating efficiency. Coatings were characterized via SEM. Properties such as hardness

  biocompatibility

  corrosion resistance

  and bioerosion were tested.

  Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering

  New Jersey Institute of Technology

• Tissue Engineering

  SolidWorks

  Immunohistochemistry

  Characterization

  Cell Biology

  Finite Element Analysis

  Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing

  Tissue Culture

  Materials Science

  Electrophysiology

  Biomedical Engineering

  PTC Creo

  Data Analysis

  Science

  Engineering Design

  3D Printing

  Confocal Microscopy

  Biomaterials

  Neuroscience

  Cell Culture

  Engineering a high throughput axon injury system

  N Hususan

  L Chen

  M Choudhury

  Y Guo

  Several key biological mechanisms of traumatic injury to axons have been elucidated using in vitro stretch injury models. These models

  however

  are based on the experimentation of single cultures keeping productivity slow. Indeed

  low yield has hindered important and well-founded investigations requiring high throughput methods such as proteomic analyses. To meet this need

  we engineered a multi-well high throughput injury device to accelerate and accommodate the next generation of traumatic brain injury research. This modular system stretch injures neuronal cultures in either a 24-well culture plate format or 6 individual wells simultaneously. Custom software control allows the user to accurately program the pressure pulse parameters to achieve the desired substrate deformation and injury parameters. Analysis of the pressure waveforms showed that peak pressure was linearly related to input pressure and valve open times and that the 6- and 24-well modules displayed rise times

  peak pressures

  and decays with extremely small standard deviations. Data also confirmed that the pressure pulse was distributed evenly throughout the pressure chambers and therefore to each injury well. Importantly

  the relationship between substrate deformation and applied pressure was consistent among the multiple wells and displayed a predictable linear behavior in each module. These data confirm that this multi-well system performs as well as currently used stretch injury devices and can undertake high throughput studies that are needed across the field of neurotrauma research.

  Engineering a high throughput axon injury system

  Berlin JR

  The basis for acute seizures following traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains unclear. Animal models of TBI have revealed acute hyperexcitablility in cortical neurons that could underlie seizure activity

  but studying initiating events causing hyperexcitability is difficult in these models. In vitro models of stretch injury with cultured cortical neurons

  a surrogate for TBI

  allow facile investigation of cellular changes after injury but they have only demonstrated post-injury hypoexcitability. The goal of this study was to determine if neuronal hyperexcitability could be triggered by in vitro stretch injury. Controlled uniaxial stretch injury was delivered to a spatially delimited region of a spontaneously active network of cultured rat cortical neurons

  yielding a region of stretch-injured neurons and adjacent regions of non-stretched neurons that did not directly experience stretch injury. Spontaneous electrical activity was measured in non-stretched and stretch-injured neurons

  and in control neuronal networks not subjected to stretch injury. Non-stretched neurons in stretch-injured cultures displayed a three-fold increase in action potential firing rate and bursting activity 30-60 min post-injury. Stretch-injured neurons

  however

  displayed dramatically lower rates of action potential firing and bursting. These results demonstrate that acute hyperexcitability can be observed in non-stretched neurons located in regions adjacent to the site of stretch injury

  consistent with reports that seizure activity can arise from regions surrounding the site of localized brain injury. Thus

  this in vitro procedure for localized neuronal stretch injury may provide a model to study the earliest cellular changes in neuronal function associated with acute post-traumatic seizures.

  Effect of acute stretch injury on action potential and network activity of rat neocortical neurons in culture

  George

  Magou

  Stryker

  New Jersey Institute of Technology

  Rutgers University

  New Jersey Institute of Technology

  Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

  New Brunswick

  NJ

  Course: Mechanical Fundamentals of Biomedical Engineering\n\nOutlined course materials and taught an introductory course in biomechanics. Developed course materials that emphasized mechanical principals and their relationship with anatomy

  analysis of forces acting on human joints

  failure analysis

  and soft tissue biomechanics.\n\n\nCourse: Material Fundamentals of Biomedical Engineering\n\nOutlined course materials and taught an introductory course in biomaterials. Developed course materials that focused on the general properties of ceramics

  polymers

  and metals as well as the requirements necessary for these materials to be considered during biomedical device design.

  Adjunct Professor

  Rutgers University

  Newark

  NJ

  Project: Identifying mechanically sensitive mechanisms that play a role in neuroinflammation. Our primary goal was to identify potential therapeutic targets to treat neuroinflammation.\n\nProject highlights:\n\n-Mechanical testing of tissues to evaluate the role of perturbation on neuroinflammation. \n-Developed and executed novel research experiments to identify inflammatory biomarkersand potential therapeutic agents.\n-Identified potential trends in inflammatory biomarker activity by analyzing time-lapse data.\n\nDuties:\n\n- Independently authored grants based on original research\n- Trained in various techniques such as Cytokine assay

  LDH assay

  PCR

  and RNA primer design\n- Analyzed data for use in grant proposals

  professional meetings

  and annual reports\n- Managed culturing of various tissue samples (BV-2 and macrophage cell lines

  xenopus oocytes)

  Postdoctoral Fellow

  Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

  Mahwah

  NJ

  Senior Process Development Engineer

  Stryker

  Newark

  NJ

  Project: The Effects of Rapid Stretch Injury on Rat Neocortical Cultures. Our primary goal was to develop and carry out experiments to measure changes in neuronal activity following traumatic brain injury simulations.\n\nProject highlights:\n\n-Lead engineer for the design and development of specialty instrumentation for mechanical testing of biological tissue.\n-Modified existing design of lab instrumentation which resulted in an increase in mechanical output by 15% percent.\n-Created designs using ProE and developed prototypes using 3D-printing.\n-Designed and executed novel research experiments focused on exploring biological mechanisms responsible for neuronal dysfunction following brain trauma.\n\nDuties:\n\n-Independently authored peer reviewed articles based on original research\n-Developed and carried out experiments based on literature review\n-Analyzed data for use in grant proposals

  professional meetings

  and annual reports\n-Discovered changes in functionality of neuronal cultures subjected to traumatic brain injury simulations\n-Regularly managed prototyping and modifications of custom lab instrumentation\n-Trained and mentored junior lab members in specialized lab techniques including\n-Managed tissue harvesting and culturing of primary neurons

  Postdoctoral Fellow

  New Jersey Institute of Technology

  Newark

  NJ

  Course: Mechanical Fundamentals of Biomedical Engineering\n\nOutlined course materials and taught an introductory course in biomechanics. Developed course materials that emphasized mechanical principals and their relationship with anatomy

  analysis of forces acting on human joints

  failure analysis

  and soft tissue biomechanics.\n\n\nCourse: Material Fundamentals of Biomedical Engineering\n\nOutlined course materials and taught an introductory course in biomaterials. Developed course materials that focused on the general properties of ceramics

  polymers

  and metals as well as the requirements necessary for these materials to be considered during biomedical device design.

  Adjunct Professor

  New Jersey Institute of Technology