‘Leon Bellan’
Autoimmune drug shows promise in treating severe burns
Jan. 12, 2022—A severe burn injury is not static. Within 72 hours, partial thickness burns can progress, or convert, to full thickness burns, greatly increasing the risk of infection, incapacitating scarring, and even death. Preventing the conversion is one of the most challenging aspects of treating burns, and a trans-institutional team of researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical...
Five engineering faculty recognized with innovative teaching awards
Feb. 26, 2021—The extraordinary, creative efforts of five engineering faculty members to adapt to their new teaching environments in Fall 2020 were recognized recently with a Teaching Innovation Award from Philippe Fauchet, Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Dean of Engineering. The honorees quickly converted their in-person classes to online formats due to the COVID-19 pandemic and made innovative,...
Trans-institutional collaboration receives $2 million BRAIN Initiative grant, developing brain organoids to map neurological development
Feb. 3, 2021—Vivian Gama, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology, and Leon Bellan, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, have won a $2.3 million, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative. Vivian Gama Leon Bellan (Vanderbilt University) The researchers will be developing three-dimensional brain organoids and...
First step toward model brain: turning iPSCs into working blood-brain barrier
Feb. 21, 2019—Vanderbilt University engineering researchers took a major step toward building a “brain in a dish:” They cultured induced pluripotent stem cells into a successful three-dimensional blood-brain barrier model. The future of drug testing and disease research lies in creating organoids, or models of human organs, to determine efficacy and potency of medications. Duplicating the endothelial...
Five professors named Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows
Aug. 17, 2018—Five engineering professors have been named Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows by the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. They join 12 other faculty members in the 2018-2019 class of fellows, the largest class since the program’s inception in 2010. They are assistant professors Leon Bellan, mechanical engineering; Uttam Ghosh, computer science; Taylor Johnson, computer engineering; Kenny...
Tiny circuit boards stay operational in warm water, dissolve when cooled
Jun. 26, 2017—Building transient electronics is usually about doing something to make them stop working: blast them with light, soak them with acid, dunk them in water. Professor Leon Bellan’s idea is to dissolve them with neglect: Stop applying heat, and they come apart. Using silver nanowires embedded in a polymer that dissolves in water below 32...
Bellan research story among six regional Emmy nominations for Vanderbilt
Nov. 23, 2015—Mechanical engineer Leon Bellan is working to create artificial human capillary blood vessels using cotton candy and gelatin. A VU Inside story about his research – Cotton Candy Organs – was nominated Nov. 19 in the Informational/Instructional Series category, and was produced by Amy Wolf, Zack Eagles and Mike Todd. Vanderbilt University received six Mid-South...
Engineer uses cotton candy to build artificial blood vessels
Apr. 1, 2015—Vanderbilt University mechanical engineer Leon Bellan is working to create artificial human capillary blood vessels using cotton candy and gelatin. His goal is for researchers to use these man-made capillaries to help keep artificial organs and other tissues alive, which could dramatically impact the field of regenerative medicine. Vascular toolbox Bellan’s lab is hoping these...