Pitt Research

New research from the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering is shedding light on why some individuals with Down syndrome develop Alzheimer’s disease while others don’t. A study of a cognitively stable woman with Down syndrome revealed hidden Alzheimer’s pathology in the brain, offering insight into potential genetic and lifestyle factors that preserve cognitive function. These findings could influence future diagnostic tools and therapeutic drug trials, benefiting both the Down syndrome community and broader Alzheimer's research. “We are interested in trying to link neuroimaging with neuropathology, because we want to use information from neuropathology datasets to inform diagnostic and therapeutic criteria for individuals with Down syndrome before they pass away,” says Jr-Jiun Jean Liou, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Bioengineering. https://lnkd.in/gB4MJbGA

Pittsburgh continues to lead in robotics and AI innovation with Team Chiron, a collaboration between researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. The team is competing in DARPA’s Triage Challenge, a three-year, $7 million competition focused on enhancing emergency response technology. Robots assessed victims' vital signs with cutting-edge sensors and transmitted real-time data to AI systems for analysis. “We need to find the fastest way to serve life-threatening injuries, and these robots can get there the quickest," says Leonard Weiss. This research has the potential to revolutionize emergency medical response, improving speed and accuracy in critical situations. Pittsburgh’s contributions to robotics and AI continue to push the boundaries of what technology can achieve in life-saving scenarios. https://lnkd.in/ejzxsZVg

💡New Program for Pitt Innovators! Have a breakthrough idea in human health & disease? Need funding to test your hypothesis or build a prototype? PittINC can help! 🚀 This new program from Pitt OIE & the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences provides up to $50K in funding, plus a streamlined path to commercialization for faculty, postdocs, students & staff in Pitt's Schools of the Health Sciences! 📢 Learn more about PittINC here: https://pittinc.pitt.edu/ 📢 Discover even more at our upcoming Info Session 📅 April 25, 2025. Register here: https://lnkd.in/ecfENfJR Schools include: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh - School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health

More than 100 miles north of Pittsburgh in Crawford County, the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville offers education and training for students living within an often-struggling economy. Some of that training is also part of a research and workforce development project using a model first developed by the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering known as the Manufacturing Assistance Center (MAC) Initiative. The model is based using experiential and intensive training in skills that meet the needs of local economies, in part to battle the phenomenon of economic depression and depopulation in agricultural and old industrial areas. In Titusville, that skill is machining—a fundamental industrial process for shaping metal. Bopaya Bidanda is the original principal investigator on the project and Stephanie Fiely, EdD, is the executive director of the Education and Training Center at Pitt-Titusville. “The mission of the MAC and other programs at the Education and Training Center at Pitt-Titusville is to meet the workforce needs of Northwestern Pennsylvania,” Fiely explains. “All our programs are based on job opportunities that already exist here in our region. Students can get valuable training and education and not be forced to leave the area to find a job.”

Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomic and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) was created by Graham Hatfull as part of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) program to encourage college professors to bring innovative science to the classroom. Undergraduate students gather samples of bacteriophages from the local environment to send to Hatfull's lab at Pitt to sequence the DNA. The sequence is then sent back to the student to analyze. “Hundreds and hundreds of papers have been published by SEA-PHAGES students. However, it’s not about making phage biologists," says Hatfull. "It is about getting students excited about science and showing them that it can be fun, interesting, productive, and a reason to get up in the morning.” And the impact of SEA-PHAGES goes beyond the walls of the classroom—it’s part of a three-pronged effort to understand and find beneficial uses for bacteriophages. While researchers in Hatfull’s lab are doing basic science to learn about phages, students across the country are helping to build the world’s largest database and archive of phages, some of which physicians are using to cure their patients. This fall, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg became the first regional campus in the Pitt system to offer the SEA-PHAGES program to its students. Now Pitt-Greensburg students interested in phage research no longer have to relocate to Pittsburgh or another institution to do that work. https://lnkd.in/eemr2zM5

As director of the Neural Tissue Electrode Interface and Neural Tissue Engineering Lab and William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Bioengineering, Xinyan Tracy Cui works at the interface between artificially made implantable devices and the nervous system. She has dedicated her career to studying how biological responses affect neural interface function, with the end goal of ensuring that the implant and brain tissue work together seamlessly. Implantable devices in the brain are used for anything from recording electrical impulses to restoring motor function in paralyzed patients. While there are obvious benefits to these devices, issues involving mechanical damage to the brain and the host tissue’s response to a foreign object still pose a large problem. To overcome these hurdles, Cui and her lab developed an ultra-thin, flexible implant. The size and shape solve some of the mechanical issues and allow the device to move with the brain rather than irritate it with an immovable object. They also developed different types of coatings that reduce the inflammatory response and attract neurons to the device to get a stronger signal. “Neurotechnology has become such a hot topic and I’m thrilled to be a part of it,” says Cui. “The field is exploding, but there’s still plenty to learn and ways to improve the devices.”

Tiffany Taylor, a current postdoctoral fellow in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, has been awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) fellowship for her work identifying how host and pathogen pathways respond to each other and how those pathways shift throughout an infection. Understanding differences in host-pathogen interactions can help to predict how people will respond to infection. https://lnkd.in/eEP_CZ4e

Marie Norman, founder and director of Pitt’s Innovative Design for Education and Assessment (IDEA) Lab, believes anyone can become a better teacher. At the IDEA Lab, which is part of the Institute for Clinical Research Education, Norman and her team collaborate with researchers and faculty to bring the learning sciences, innovative technologies and multimedia design into their teaching and training. Her work moves Pitt into the forefront of cutting-edge ways to design engaging instruction for learners at all levels. https://lnkd.in/eXSH4aph

A multidisciplinary research team led by Stephen Emery and Youngjae Chun received a $2.3 million Blueprint MedTech grant from the National Institutes of Health to fast-track the development of a minimally invasive, low-profile fetal shunt for treating fetal hydrocephalus. The new device will normalize intracranial pressure before birth and address significant risks associated with untreated fetal hydrocephalus, like seizures, developmental delays and vision problems. “This support is critical for translating a pioneering treatment that could improve the lives of thousands of newborns with hydrocephalus,” says Chun. “Currently, no shunting techniques are designed specifically for use in the fetus, making this effort timely and impactful.” https://lnkd.in/e6secwt8

Make Research Come Alive in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences: A Symposium for Out-of-the-Box Research The University of Pittsburgh is hosting a symposium on April 17th that will showcase four award-winning humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) researchers—Edda Fields-Black (CMU), Marcus Rediker, Jeanne Marie Laskas and Erin Anderson (Pitt). Join us as these researchers share how scholarly work creates meaningful impact beyond publications. Register for the event >> https://lnkd.in/esA4FVTJ HASS-RLN