Leon Bellan

  • Vanderbilt University

    Autoimmune drug shows promise in treating severe burns

    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… Read More

    Jan. 12, 2022

  • Vanderbilt University

    Five engineering faculty recognized with innovative teaching awards

    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… Read More

    Feb. 26, 2021

  • Vanderbilt University

    Trans-institutional collaboration receives $2 million BRAIN Initiative grant, developing brain organoids to map neurological development

    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… Read More

    Feb. 3, 2021

  • Vanderbilt University

    First step toward model brain: turning iPSCs into working blood-brain barrier

    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… Read More

    Feb. 21, 2019

  • Vanderbilt University

    Five professors named Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows

    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;… Read More

    Aug. 17, 2018

  • Vanderbilt University

    Tiny circuit boards stay operational in warm water, dissolve when cooled

    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… Read More

    Jun. 26, 2017

  • Vanderbilt University

    Bellan research story among six regional Emmy nominations for Vanderbilt

    Mechanical engineer Leon Bellan is working to create artificial human capillary blood vessels using cotton candy and gelatin. Bellan A VU Inside story about his research – Cotton Candy Organs – was nominated Nov. 19 in the Informational/Instructional Series category, and was… Read More

    Nov. 23, 2015

  • Vanderbilt University

    Engineer uses cotton candy to build artificial blood vessels

    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… Read More

    Apr. 1, 2015

  • Vanderbilt University

    School announces new department chairs, associate deans, five faculty appointments

    Adams The School of Engineering has announced the appointments of two department chairs, two associate deans, and five new faculty members. The appointments are effective July 1, 2013. Douglas Adams has been named Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Adams comes to Vanderbilt from… Read More

    Jul. 1, 2013