Developing Multi-biofunctional Polymeric Materials
Achievements at ASAIO 2024 that we are proud of:
-ASAIO Top Bioengineering Abstract Award
-ASAIO Research Innovation & Entrepreneurship Award
-Membership on the ASAIO Board of Trustees
Most important of all, my trainees -Pooja Rongala , Amir Mokhammad , Oluwanifemi Olagunju and Frank west- gave excellent podium presentations that left me feeling proud.
Lab members win "Best Graduate Poster Presentation Award" at ACS New Haven Conference 2024. Thanks ACS!
Competing Schools: Yale, Quinnipiac University, Southern Connecticut State University, and University of New Haven.
Congrats Rikki and Romario for podium talk at ASAIO 2022!
Title: Liposome Construct as Antiplatelet Nanoparticle
American Society for Artificial Internal Organs. Chicago IL, 2022.
Congrats Romario for abstract acceptance!
Title: Evaluating the Antifouling Activity of Zwitterionic Coatings on Artificial Lung Materials Using Fluorescein-Conjugated Fibrinogen.
Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Columbia Univ., 2022.
Congrats Rikki for abstract acceptance!
Title: Two-Step Coating of the Artificial Lung Circuit with Anti-Fouling Zwitterionic Poly(Sulfobetaine Methacrylate)
Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Columbia Univ., 2022.
Congrats Rikki for abstract acceptance!
Title: Towards Specific Targeting of Deliverable Liposomes Utilizing Peptides as Anti-Platelet Biomolecules.
New England Science Symposium, Harvard, 2022.
Congrats Dhipika for abstract acceptance!
Title: Bacteriorhodopsin-Mediated On-demand and Tunable Drug Release .
New England Science Symposium, Harvard, 2022.
Dr. Amoako Receives Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor!
August 17, 2020
Tenured, Now What?
“Omnia Vincit Labor”, Latin for “Work Conquers All” was the motto of my high school St. Augustine’s College, and it still rings true today. I should add that the word “Hard” was always placed in front of the word “Work” by my administrators when the Latin language was translated into English perhaps to encourage discipline.
Here is to the past six years of a career in academia and to what the next six shall bring.
Some milestones worth highlighting include:
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“Omnia Vincit Laboring” these six years and being awarded tenure and promotion to Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. It has been a great learning and developmental phase of constantly refining how to better train the next generation of biomedical engineers, exploring pedagogies and persuasive writing techniques; increasing leadership roles within the biomedical engineering and the sciences; defining and redefining my research terra firma; and building the right relationships.
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An established and still growing Biomedical Engineering Program. We’ve gone from a zero alumni base to one who are placed in house-hold name biomedical engineering companies and doctoral degree programs, and to those that are addressing some challenging and unmet clinical needs through a well-funded startups. Five years into its development, major growth investments were made in new faculty hire and research footprint to bolster our medical devices, functional biomaterials, and tissue engineering research agenda.
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An established and vivacious biomedical research program. We’ve tied program growth to major investments which have led to a solid bottom line for sustaining further growth. Our mint condition biomedical research and teaching labs and the Bergami Center for Science, Technology and Innovation are new spaces for experiential student learning, faculty research, and community engagement. Here, #chargers will continue to innovate medical solutions for the next 100 years to come.
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Expanded professional network. This, by far, has been my most important milestone and I’m nowhere near my targets. Forming connections and maintaining relationships with professionals who have your best interest is critical for early career development. This is however not easily done as one learns to juggle all there are to the assistant professorship or career while squeezing in the time to nurture these relationships. Almost everything you take on would probably be new and would need more of your time. You mustn’t, however, squeeze in growing your professional network. As they say "not working" is one letter away from networking so find the time, place building these relationships not at the bottom of your development goals, build your network early, continue to work at it, and avoid putting off building your network until later.
The next six years brings a new and fresh clean slate to be filled. But with what? Not entirely sure but I do think of service to family, friends, and acquaintances; service to the profession at the institutional, local, national and international fronts; service to organizations that uplift our communities; new ventures and partnerships that create value; and for sure broadening my professional circles.
They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago and the second best time is now. As a piece of advice to myself and early career professionals, go gung-ho on building your network now for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.
3D printed Flow Connectors to MacGyver Mechanical Ventilators to Simultaneously Support Two COVID-19 Patients Instead of One.
March 25, 2020
Professor Amoako and students of the Biomedical Engineering Program at the University of New Haven have developed 3D printed flow connectors so that physicians can double up severe COVID-19 patients on one ventilator, and they developed the connectors over a couple of days while working remotely.
His group is willing to donate these flow connectors to critical care units that need them to augment their COVID-19 case surge critical care support strategies. “Based on the trajectory of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and fatality in the US, it is not unrealistic to think that we may face similar experiences of not having enough ventilators to provide respiratory support for the sick as is currently happening in Italy and Spain”…said Dr. Amoako.
So How Does A Mechanical Ventilator Work?
Mechanical ventilators are often used to provide respiratory support for critically ill patients. These patients, for several reasons, can’t breathe on their own and so a tube is advanced down their trachea and held just before where the trachea bifurcates. The other end of this tube is connected to the mechanical ventilator which flows oxygen into and removes carbon dioxide out of the patient’s lungs.
How Will the Connectors Allow one Ventilator to Provide Respiratory Support for Two COVID-19 Patients?
Typically, breathing machines conduct oxygen through a single tube (inspiratory line) to the patient’s lungs. Another single tube (expiratory line) will then conduct expired gases away from the lungs. With the 3D printed connectors that Dr. Amoako and his students of the Biomaterials and Medical Device Innovation Laboratory at UNH has developed, the inspiratory and expiratory lines can be bifurcated so that two patients can be hooked up to a single breathing machine.
Has this been tried on humans before?
Patients who suffered wounds to the torso and neck from the Las Vegas mass shootings needed respiratory support to keep them alive for treatment. With limited mechanical ventilators, the attending physician and care team divided the ventilator inspiratory and expiratory lines and were able to support patients for hours before they received treatment. This method of dividing up tubing of the breathing machine was published in the Academy of Emergency Medicine journal in 2006.
Guidelines Suggested by a 2006 Critical Care Medicine Paper Authored by Dr. Gred Neyman and Dr. Charlene Babcock:
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The pair of patients must be of similar age so lung sizes are similar
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The inspiratory and expiratory lines should be of the same length for each patient
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Lung disease states of patients should be similar
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This will be off-label use of the ventilator
November 13, 2019
https://www.newhaven.edu/news/blog/2019/hardika-panchani-biomedical-engineering.php?utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=cocurricular&utm_term=research&fbclid=IwAR3HjNqMVGWzWYtTydc3d4jBuAnKS1SNuZ0MODCWGFyxQE_HViEh7yN-6Jk
August 16, 2019
Dr. Amoako gave a radio interview recently in Brasil at Radio Mega Brasil and was hosted by the very able Rosemary Campos and translation aided by his wife, Andrea Martins Campos. The interview covered various topics including current research at the Biomaterials and Medical Device Innovation Lab, prospects of Brazilian nationals pursuing Biomedical Engineering graduate degree at the University of New Haven, environmental impacts pharma and medical waste, how current funding programs can best foster new solution approaches to current medical challenges, etc. Stay tuned for a recording of the interview.
Dr Kagya Amoako showcases research work at a leading International Conference
June 16, 2019
Kagya Amoako, Asst. Prof of Biomedical Engineering at the University of New Haven deliver an invited short course anti-fouling surfaces at the 4th International Conference on Bioinspired and Zwitterionic Materials in Netherlands among short course presenters from University of Washington, University of Potsdam, Newcastle University, University of Twente, and Cornell University.
Ashley wins the College of Engineering's Exceptional Service in BME Award!
April 19, 2019
Congratulations to Ashley Widing for being recognized with a College of Engineering Student Achievement award this year. Ashley won the 2019 Exceptional Service in BME award.
Lab members win research presentation awards at Yale University
April 13, 2019
Congratulations to Brady Reynolds and Yaw Ansong for respectively winning second place in all oral presentations and poster presentations at the American Chemical Society New Haven Section's Fourth Annual Student Research Symposium hosted by Yale University. Competing schools included Yale, Quinnipiac University and Southern Connecticut University.
Brady's work addressed pain management in Herpes Zoster patients while Yaw's work addressed protein aided drug release.
Lab members present research at UNH's Graduate Showcase
April 05, 2019
Congratulations to Ashley Widing, Negin Farzad, and Heinrich Kufeldt for being accepted to present their thesis and independent research findings at the 2019 University of New Haven’s Graduate Research Showcase.
Their research address some of the most challenging problems in medicine including cancer, controlled drug release and implant-related infections and were titled:
Minimizing Infection and Revision Surgeries through Nitric Oxide Releasing Total Knee Replacement Prosthesis.
Nitric Oxide Releasing Biomaterials: Methods for Long-Term Storage through Oxygen Exclusion.
The Treatment of MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells with Biocompatible Manganese Iron Oxide Magnetic Nanoparticles as Drug Carriers.
"In vitro cytocompatibility of antibacterial levels of polymer nitric oxide release" paper in press!
September 12, 2018
Congratulations to Rana.
Congratulations to Rana for co-authoring a book chapter in the book below
December 03, 2017
Hemocompatibility of Biomaterials for Clinical Applications: Blood Biomaterials Interactions
Congratulations to Rana and Anna for publishing in Advanced Materials Interfaces
December 04, 2017
Review paper on "Achieving Totally Local Anticoagulation on Blood Contacting Devices"
October 10, 2017
BMDiLab students and faculty highlighted in UNH graduate experience clip.
Congratulations to Igor for winning scholarship
October 01, 2017
Congratulations to Igor for winning the kazimierz Goszcz endowed scholarship!
Meet the recent grads from the Biomaterials aand Medical Device Laboratory.
August 03, 2017
Congratulations to the recent graduates from the Biomaterials and Medical Device Innov. Lab. Good job on your thesis defense on bactericidal polymers, Rana and great work on catheter fabrication platform, Manfang.
U of New Haven BME students present at Harvard Medical School
March 25, 2017
Biomedical engineering students at University of New Haven presented their work addressing large losses in stored NO in biomaterials that limits their self-sterilizing and anti-clotting activity.
BMDiLab research proposal wins NASA Undergraduate Research Fellowship Grant!
November 22, 2019
BMDiLab research assistant, Anna Mercaldi, wins NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Research Fellowship Grant for anti-bacterial surfaces research!
Congratulations Anna!
Best Poster Presentation awarded to BMDiLab member.
BMDiLab Research Assistant wins best posters' award at the University of New Haven's Graduate Student Showcase!
Congratulations Rana Gbyli.
Anti-clotting & anti-bacterial polymers!
September 22, 2016
BMDiLab member discusses biomedical engineering research at UNH's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship seminar.
Dr. Yusuf Khan discusses regenerative medicine research at the UNH Biomedical Engineering Seminar
September 23, 2016
Regenerative research for bone repair and regeneration. More details here.
BMDiLab presents research at New American Colleges and Universities Conference
June 22, 2016
Designing low cost prosthetic arm
BMDiLab presents research at New American Colleges and Universities Conference
June 22, 2016
Anticlotting and Antibacterial Polymers
Biomedical engineering lab member and UNH mechanical engineering student, Andrew Belanger, to present SURF funded Research at a national conference in San Francisco, CA!
April 09, 2016
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The biomaterials and medical device innovation lab receives its first NASA grant!
March 16, 2016
Work to begin towards keeping astronauts on long missions safe.
Dr. Amoako speaks at University of New Haven's Friends of the Library Seminar
October 16, 2015
Dr. Amoako spoke about current challenges in blood-contacting devices and his research on "anti-thrombotic" and "anti-septic" biomaterials.
A platform for evaluating anti-fouling coatings under physiological shear stresses
September 04, 2015
We now have a system to test whether an anti-fouling coating will remain on blood-contacting medical devices experiencing blood flow. See video here
Surface Anticoagulation Via Biomimicry
August 09, 2015
Dr. Amoako speaks at the 2nd International Conference on Bioinspired and Zwitterionic Materials. He will be discussing synergy effects of NO relaease and carboxybetaine coating on anticoagulation on August 14 2015. [Slides]
Light show to conclude SURF 2015
August 05, 2015
My students illuminate acrylic block with LEDs to mark the conclusion of their hard work during the 2015 summer undergraduate fellowship at UNH!
Are your medical coatings stable?
July 22, 2015
Through UNH SURF, Dr. Amoako's team of engineering students has developed a flow cell system to screen medical coatings that are used on blood-contacting devices like the artificial lung. The device will help to determine the stability of anti-fouling medical coatings and will impact the medical coating optimizaion process. It will ultimately help provide better indications of coatings for over 200 million blood-contacting devices used annually in the U.S. alone.
UNH biomedical engineering faculty discusses what's next after publishing first ever nitric oxide (anti-platelet, anti-septic) generating artificial lung!
July 23, 2015
Dr. Amoako (Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering) is an Assistant Prof. and the graduate biomedical engineering program coordinator at the Tagliatela College of Engineering, University of New Haven. In his ground-breaking research, he and his University of Michigan team (Dr. Keith Cook) fabricated the first ever nitric oxide generating artificial lungs and tested their thrombogenicity in-vivo. Read more here.
"There is hope for patients with severe lung diseases"...Dr. Amoako
February 19, 2015
Dr. Amoako discusses the history of the artifical lung, it's current state and use and what are the requirements for next gneration artificial lungs.
Developing stealth medical device surfaces.
April 28, 2014
Dr. Amoako dicussses the many impacts of copying what nature does onto artificial surfaces. His work incorporates the anti-clotting properties of the endothelium onto the many artificial materials that go into our bodies. He is mimicking the surface of blood-vessels on devices that go into our bodies! He calls it "endothelium masking". Imagine a device that cannot be detected by our bodies? What we can do with that is endless!