January 16, 2019
Media Contact:
Heather Thorstensen
Manager of Communications
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
hthorstensen@sigmaxi.org or (919) 549-4691 ext. 216
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC—When bone, cartilage, or nervous tissue—such as the spinal cord—is severely damaged, it can’t fully repair itself. But artificial materials could help the right cells get to the injury, and stay in place until tissue regeneration can take place. Research in this promising field could help improve the quality of life for so many people, and is coming closer to mainstream use.
One researcher in this area is Treena Livingston Arinzeh, a professor of biomedical engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Livingston Arinzeh co-authored an article about her cutting-edge research that was selected to receive Sigma Xi’s 2018 George Bugliarello Prize, which recognizes a superior interdisciplinary essay, review of research, or analytical article published in American Scientist. Livingston Arinzeh wrote her winning article with NJIT graduate student Jennifer Moy and postdoctoral research associate Gloria Portocarrero Huang. The prize of $5,000 and is awarded with a goal of inspiring thoughtful discourse about how technology, human society, our biological needs, and the needs of other life on our planet can be advanced.
In their article, “Structural Support for Damaged Tissue Repair,” from the September–October 2017 issue, Livingston Arinzeh, Moy, and Portocarrero Huang discuss how scaffolds made from biomaterials that respond directly to external stimuli could help mend bodily injuries. These scaffolds allow cells to grow, proliferate, and differentiate, ultimately forming and regenerating tissue.
“The overall goal is to produce structures that could someday help patients struggling with severe injuries and movement disorders to move freely,” they write.
The prize is endowed chiefly by gifts from the Teagle and Greenwall foundations honoring George Bugliarello, a 1992–93 president of Sigma Xi.
Read more about the George Bugliarello Prize at www.sigmaxi.org/bugliarelloprize.