FEATURED STORY | MAKING AN IMPACT ON HEALTH
Columbia Engineering has had a significant impact on
bettering the human condition since its founding in 1864. As you will see in the following pages, the scope of
health-related research at Columbia Engineering
involves almost every department. Amazing breakthroughs
have happened or are about to happen as
our faculty fight diseases and conditions, bringing
to bear their exceptional and unique talents to chip
away at problems that affect the quality of life and,
indeed, life itself.
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UNLOCKING THE BRAIN'S SECRETS
Walk into any clinical research lab and you will undoubtedly
find one or more microscopes. The problem
with conventional microscopes, however, is they can
only show images of thin slices of dead tissue or cells in
a dish. It takes a special kind of instrument to produce
images from inside the living body, which is exactly the
kind that Elizabeth Hillman is building.
THE BIOLOGY OF PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
Little is known about the biological causes for psychiatric
disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar, which
combined afflict an estimated 10 million people nationwide.
Columbia researchers are working hard to change
that by exploring the role of genetics from a multidisciplinary
approach.
REPAIRING TORN LIGAMENTS
With the rate of ACL tears and other soft tissue injuries
increasing in all segments of the population, it is a hopeful
sign that Professor Helen H. Lu has developed a new
approach to help the body heal after these debilitating
soft tissue injuries.
CAPTURING THE "AHA!" MOMENT
It is very difficult to ask a computer to find something
that is funny to a particular person on the Internet. It is
even more difficult to build a computerized vision system
that can find something that is funny or suspicious
or interesting—and find its way around a room.
FIXING BROKEN HEARTS AND BONES
In 2009, an estimated 785,000 Americans will have a new
coronary attack, and about 470,000 will have a recurrent
attack, while more than 35 million Americans suffer from
TMJ — temporomandibular joint disorders. What is the
connection? The work of Professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic
of the Department of Biomedical Engineering,
who is building complex human tissues that may help
resolve both these debilitating conditions.
