VUSE news roundup

February 21, 2014
Futurity: Baby hearts need rhythm to grow the right way
A Vanderbilt research team has taken an important step toward the goal of growing replacement heart valves from a patient’s own cells. The team determined that the mechanical forces generated by the rhythmic expansion and contraction of cardiac muscle cells play an active role in the initial stage of a baby’s heart valve formation. W. David Merryman, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, Joey Barnett, professor of pharmacology, and graduate student Mary Kathryn Sewell-Loftin are quoted.

The Tennessean: Program helps girls crack the career code
Vanderbilt University graduate Kimberly Bryant
founded a program called the Black Girl Code in 2011 to expose and nurture young African-American and Latino girls in computer coding and Web design.

The Tennnessean: Students enhance learning with Betty’s Brain software
Vanderbilt University computer engineers
have developed a software system called Betty’s Brain for use in local classrooms to help students learn and master more complex concepts while educators can assess their comprehension in real time.

February 20, 2014
Red Orbit: Rhythm needed by babies’ hearts to develop correctly
A new study has suggested that baby hearts need rhythm to develop correctly, even before they have blood to pump. W. David Merryman, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, Joey Barnett, professor of pharmacology, and graduate student Mary Kathryn Sewell-Loftin reported that they have determined that the mechanical forces generated by the rhythmic expansion and contraction of cardiac muscle cells play an active role in the initial stage of heart valve formation.

February 13, 2014
FoxNews.com: Researchers work to secure military smartphones
Soldiers in Afghanistan are experimenting with smartphones engineered to better protect operational datas designed by scientists at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems, or ISIS. Vanderbilt experts and researchers are working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, on a program called Transformative Apps, an effort designed to develop a family of military-relevant software applications, or apps. Douglas Schmidt, professor of computer science, is quoted.

February 7, 2014
DefenseTech: Vanderbilt works to secure military smartphones
Soldiers in Afghanistan are experimenting with smartphones engineered by scientists at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS), to better protect operational data

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