NEWS

August 29, 2015
Jeff Porcupine Tie

Fortune – Bringing the Fire: A Q&A with Bioinspirationalist Jeff Karp

Source: Fortune

Jeff Karp, a leading biomedical engineer, discusses where, why, and how academic-business ventures can be most successful.

The biomedical industry is driven by scientific innovation. Yet, as anyone who has worked in R&D can tell you, harnessing the kind of creativity necessary for innovation is easier said than done. But there’s a new methodology in play that is making fascinating strides in the development of new medical technologies. And it’s a process that often starts not in the lab but at the zoo.

Read more on Fortune – Bringing the Fire: A Q&A with Bioinspirationalist Jeff Karp…

August 13, 2015
BBC Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome Picture

BBC – Gel ‘eases inflammatory bowel problems’

Source: BBC

A gel that “sticks” to affected tissue and delivers medicine gradually over time could help treat some inflammatory bowel problems, researchers say.

Patients with ulcerative colitis often have to rely on medicine given by enema, but this can be uncomfortable, messy and inconvenient.

Read more on BBC – Gel ‘eases inflammatory bowel problems’…

August 5, 2015
Yu Han Nanoparticle Glue

MIT Tech Review – Tiny Glue Guns to Patch Surgical Holes

Source: MIT Technology Review

Read more on MIT Tech Review – Tiny Glue Guns to Patch Surgical Holes…

March 30, 2015
Bloomberg - Cardiac Adhesive

Bloomberg – The Glue That Could Literally Fix a Broken Heart

<div id=”fb-root”></div><script>(function(d, s, id) {  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;  js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3″;  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));</script><div class=”fb-video” data-allowfullscreen=”true” data-href=”https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153189392166880&amp;set=vb.266790296879&amp;type=1″><div class=”fb-xfbml-parse-ignore”><blockquote cite=”https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153189392166880&amp;set=vb.266790296879&amp;type=1″><a href=”https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153189392166880&amp;set=vb.266790296879&amp;type=1″></a><p>This super-adhesive glue could literally fix a broken heart: http://bloom.bg/1F9y5l5</p>Posted by <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153189392166880&amp;set=vb.266790296879&amp;type=1″>Bloomberg Business</a> on Monday, March 30, 2015</blockquote></div></div>

Read more on Bloomberg – The Glue That Could Literally Fix a Broken Heart…

February 26, 2015
Courtesy Robert M Hunt, Wikimedia

The Scientist – Stem Cells Phone Home

Source: The Scientist – Stem Cells Phone Home

Stem Cells Phone Home

A screen of 9,000 small molecules identifies a treatment that improves the targeting of mesenchymal stem cells to sites of damaged tissue.

Read more on The Scientist – Stem Cells Phone Home…

February 20, 2015
TEDMED Stage

Jeff Karp on 2015 TEDMED Editorial Advisory Board

We’re very pleased to announce that Jeff has just been announced as a member of the 2015 TEDMED Editorial Advisory Board. Heartiest congratulations to all new members!

For more information – TEDMED

Read more on Jeff Karp on 2015 TEDMED Editorial Advisory Board…

February 20, 2015

TEDMED 2014: Jeff Karp

Jeff’s TEDMED 2014 talk, illuminating the art and science of developing medical tools, treatments, and technologies from solutions found in nature.

November 9, 2014
Battery Quantum Coat

BBC – ‘Quantum coat’ makes batteries child-safe

Source: BBC – ‘Quantum coat’ makes batteries child-safe

Engineers in the US have produced child-safe batteries with a special coating that stops them causing harm if they are swallowed.

Small, button-shaped batteries can be easy to swallow and cause thousands of injuries every year, some fatal.

Read more on BBC – ‘Quantum coat’ makes batteries child-safe…

October 19, 2014
Inspired by Porcupines

New Scientist & Slate Interview – Inspired by Porcupines

Inspired by Porcupines

Read more on New Scientist & Slate Interview – Inspired by Porcupines…

September 25, 2014
BWH Hackathon 2014 Girish

Karp Lab Members Girish and Julien Place First at BWH Hackathon 2014!

Our heartiest congratulations to Girish and Julien for their outstanding performance at this year’s BWH Hackathon 2014.

Great job guys!

The BWH Hackathon in collaboration with the Brigham Innovation Hub and MIT Hacking Medicine will bring together inventive, forward-thinking minds to change the status quo and create disruptive solutions in healthcare today. The event will bring together a diverse, multidisciplinary group to “pitch” problems impacting healthcare, develop solutions over a two-day period, and then present demos of solutions to a panel of judges for recognition and honors.

Read more on Karp Lab Members Girish and Julien Place First at BWH Hackathon 2014!…

August 19, 2014
Maria Pereira TR35

Maria Pereira Wins MIT TR35 Award!

We’re exceptionally proud to announce that Maria Pereira has won the prestigious MIT Tech Review Innovators Under 35 Award for her work on cardiac adhesives! Congratulations Maria!

MIT Tech Review

March 18, 2014
Jeff Karp IEEE

IEEE Pulse – At the Interface of Disciplines

Source: IEEE Pulse
At the Interface of Disciplines


JEFFREY KARP PULLS FROM NATURE AND NANO TO TRANSFORM MEDICINE

Five years ago, Jeffrey Karp sat down to a dinner party with Massachusetts General Hospital dermatologist R. Rox Anderson. The two started talking, and by the end of the evening, Karp—himself a bioengineer at the nearby Brigham and Women’s Hospital—knew he wanted to make a collaboration happen between them. But on what? As he thought, he twisted his ring—his nickel allergy had flared up, and the skin on his finger was chafed and raw. Twist, and think; twist, think. And then it hit him: up to 45 million people in the United States shared his allergy, and the best measures they had to control it were small-molecule chelating creams with a dangerous tendency to leach into the skin.

Read more on IEEE Pulse – At the Interface of Disciplines…

December 15, 2013
Karp-gecko-patch

Feature – Nature Publishing Group

We were recently featured in an article in partnership with the Nature Publishing group. The article highlights the importance of our focus solving important biomedical problems that can be effectively translated into effective solutions. It is still amazing what nature can teach us!

Source: Nature Publishing Group – From Nature To Clinic

One late evening in a coffee shop near McGill University, Jeff Karp overheard two students talking about drug delivery and tissue engineering. Jeff, an undergrad, listened closely as the students discussed two graduate level courses. At the time Jeff was questioning his major. He had switched from biology to chemical engineering but found himself bored in class; uninterested in the details of how refrigerators work. That night at the coffee shop Jeff learned about two classes that he became desperate to take: one on artificial organs and engineering and the other on cells and biotechnology. To enroll he would need to take no less than 5 prerequisite physiology classes. Undeterred, Jeff added a year to his undergrad studies and switched majors yet again, this time to biomedical engineering. He had finally found the right balance between medicine and engineering. Jeff says a “degree in engineering is a degree in problem-solving” and that he uses the skills he learned in undergrad every day. Read more on Feature – Nature Publishing Group…

September 2, 2013
Ivanhoe Medical Breakthroughs - Super Sticky Tape

Karp Lab on Ivanhoe Medical Breakthroughs!

Click link below to view video:

Ivanhoe Broadcast News – The Karp Laboratory

For full article:

ABC Network – MySunCoast

We are pleased to have been featured on Ivanhoe’s recent Medical Breakthroughs. Ivanhoe is focused on providing television viewers with solutions to today’s problems,  with its news reports being distributed to more than 80 million households every week.

Read more on Karp Lab on Ivanhoe Medical Breakthroughs!…

July 5, 2013
Parasite Inspired Adhesive Patch

The Scientist – Sticking Power

Source: The Scientist

Sticking Power

An adhesive inspired by a parasitic worm could help better affix skin grafts in burn patients.

Parasite Inspired Adhesive Patch

Bioengineer Jeffrey Karp is used to finding inspiration in unusual places. He’s looked to porcupines’ barbed quills and the sticky pads of geckos’ feet, for example, to develop medical adhesives. And one afternoon a few years ago he sat in his office with some of his lab members Googling parasites. Read more on The Scientist – Sticking Power…

May 23, 2013
CCTV Panel on the Ethics of New Stem Cell Cloning Method

Prof Karp Live on CCTV! [Panel on the Ethics of New Stem Cell Cloning Method]

Anchor Anand Naidoo joins Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society, and Jeffrey Karp from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute to talk about the controversy surrounding a recent breakthrough in stem cell research involving the cloning of human stem cells.

Read more on Prof Karp Live on CCTV! [Panel on the Ethics of New Stem Cell Cloning Method]…

March 7, 2013

BWH – Prickly Porcupine: Medicine’s Next Top Model?

Source: Brigham and Women’s Hospital HealthHub

PorcupineThe North American porcupine is easily recognizable due to its impressive coat of long, sharp quills. These unique projections are designed so that they can easily penetrate animal flesh, but are extremely difficult to remove. While this may be bad news for a predator or a curious pet, this natural mechanism is a boon for a curious medical researcher trying to develop a better medical device.
Read more on BWH – Prickly Porcupine: Medicine’s Next Top Model?…

February 28, 2013

Inside Science TV – Ouch-Free Medical Tape

Source: Inside Science TV

January 22, 2013

BWH – Research: Dr. Jeffrey Karp: Biomimicry-Inspired Work Featuring Porcupine Quill Study

Research: Dr. Jeffrey Karp: Biomimicry-Inspired Work Featuring Porcupine Quill Study from BWH Public Affairs on Vimeo.

January 18, 2013

Scilogs – From Nature to Nurture

Original Story: SciLogs – From Nature to Nurture

One late evening in a coffee shop near McGill University, Jeff Karp overheard two students talking about drug delivery and tissue engineering. Jeff, an undergrad, listened closely as the students discussed two graduate level courses. At the time Jeff was questioning his major. He had switched from biology to chemical engineering but found himself bored in class; uninterested in the details of how refrigerators work. That night at the coffee shop Jeff learned about two classes that he became desperate to take: one on artificial organs and engineering and the other on cells and biotechnology. To enroll he would need to take no less than 5 prerequisite physiology classes. Undeterred, Jeff added a year to his undergrad studies and switched majors yet again, this time to biomedical engineering. He had finally found the right balance between medicine and engineering. Jeff says a “degree in engineering is a degree in problem-solving” and that he uses the skills he learned in undergrad every day.
Read more on Scilogs – From Nature to Nurture…

January 5, 2013

Ben Ouyang Wins Canada’s Got (Science) Talent Sunnybrook Prize!

We are proud to announce that Ben Ouyang has won Canada’s Got (Science) Talent Sunnybrook Prize 2012 and a handsome $10,000 prize!

Ben would also like to give credit to his mentor Maria Pereira, who was the original creator of the material and was ‘a fantastic mentor for [him] during [his] stay at the Karplab’.

Read more on Ben Ouyang Wins Canada’s Got (Science) Talent Sunnybrook Prize!…

January 3, 2013

Discovery News: Jellyfish-Inspired Tentacles Capture Cancer

Source: Discovery News

Original paper: PNAS – Bioinspired multivalent DNA network for capture and release of cells

A new device inspired by jellyfish tentacles can be used to both count and sort cancer cells, which is an important indicator of how well chemotherapy or other treatments are working. Source: Rohit Karnik and Suman Bose

A new device inspired by jellyfish tentacles can be used to both count and sort cancer cells, which is an important indicator of how well chemotherapy or other treatments are working.
Source: Rohit Karnik and Suman Bose

Tiny strands of DNA that float like jellyfish tentacles can grab and hold tumor cells in the bloodstream in a device inspired by nature that may help cancer patients fight the dreaded disease.

The device can be used to both count and sort cancer cells, which is an important indicator of how well chemotherapy or other treatments are working. Doctors need to know whether cancer cells are being knocked out or developing immunity.

“The key is to know which drugs the remaining cells would be most susceptible to,” said Jeffrey Karp, an author on the paper published today in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Science (PNAS) and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Therapeutics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “Often these cells in the blood stream are at very low concentrations and it’s difficult to isolate them. What you really want to do is collect them and study the biology of the cells and subject them to different kinds of chemo so you know which one is best to use.”

Read more on Discovery News: Jellyfish-Inspired Tentacles Capture Cancer…

January 3, 2013

Prof Karp’s Interview on Discovery Channel!

Interview begins at 2:10.

Source: Discovery Science

December 11, 2012

MIT News – Inspiration from a porcupine’s quills

Source: MIT News

Inspiration from a porcupine’s quills

Understanding the mechanisms behind quill penetration and extraction could help engineers design better medical devices.

The North American porcupine

The North American porcupine
Photo: Mike Cuccarese

Read more on MIT News – Inspiration from a porcupine’s quills…

December 11, 2012

KarpLab: Finding Inspiration in a Porcupine Quill

December 7, 2012
Laulicht Tape Adhesive Schematic

Medical Tape Innovation Featured On CNN Health

Source: CNN Health – Spiderwebs may inspire better medical tape

Taking medical tape off an adult isn’t too painful because breakage occurs in the glue (you can sometimes see the leftover residue). But removing the same adhesive from a newborn can break fragile skin, causing significant damage, says Jeffrey Karp, researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Traditional medical tape has two layers: the sticky one and the non-sticky one that forms the backing. The adhesive is designed for adults, Karp said; newborns need something else just for them.
Read more on Medical Tape Innovation Featured On CNN Health…

December 7, 2012

Neonatal Medial Tape – Demonstration Video

 

November 24, 2012

Karp Lab Movember 2012

The KarpLab team is proud to announce their Movember 2012 effort! This is a renewal of our annual commitment and effort to raise funds for prostate cancer research.

Do visit the KarpLab Upper-Lip-Hair Dreamteam and contribute your bit to prostate cancer research!

Read more on Karp Lab Movember 2012…

November 18, 2012
The backing of the newly developed medical tape easily peels off, leaving the adhesive behind.

Taking the sting out of medical tape

Source: MIT News

New adhesive comes off quickly, sparing infants’ delicate skin from damage.

Anne Trafton, MIT News Office
Ripping off a Band-Aid may sting for a few seconds, but the pain is usually quickly forgotten. However, for newborns’ sensitive skin, tearing off any kind of adhesive can pose a serious risk.Newborns lack an epidermis — the tough outermost layer of skin — so medical tape used to secure respirators or monitoring devices critical for the survival of premature babies can wreak havoc: Every year, more than 1.5 million people suffer scarring and skin irritation from medical tape, and the majority of those are infants or elderly people, who also have fragile skin.“This is just a huge unmet need,” says Jeffrey Karp, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Therapeutics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.Bryan Laulicht, a postdoc in MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, and MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer have now joined Karp in developing a new type of medical tape that can be removed without damaging delicate skin. The new tape could be produced by adapting current adhesive-manufacturing systems, according to the researchers.

Read more on Taking the sting out of medical tape…

November 18, 2012

MIT News at Noon: Jeffrey Karp

Jeff recently delivered his “News at Noon” talk at the MIT Museum.

The event is co-sponsored by the MIT News Office and the Museum, and features researchers discussing their recently promoted work. On Nov. 2, Jeff discussed his team’s new medical adhesive that is safe enough for an infant’s delicate skin.

Read more on MIT News at Noon: Jeffrey Karp…

November 18, 2012

Oscar R. Miranda has been awarded the prestigious Arthritis Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship

Source: Arthritis Foundation

Karp Lab team member Oscar Miranda has been awarded a research grant by the Arthritis Foundation for his work on ‘Inflammation Responsive Hydrogels for Treatment of Inflammatory Arthritis’.

Congratulations Oscar!

Read more on Oscar R. Miranda has been awarded the prestigious Arthritis Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship…

November 18, 2012

Eoin O’Cearbhaill awarded first prize for the best poster presentation at the MIT Sloan BioInnovation

Source: Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Awards & Honors – Mar 8, 2012

O’Cearbhaill Wins at BioInnovations Conference
Eoin O’Cearbhaill, PhD, BE

Eoin O’Cearbhaill, PhD, BE, postdoctoral associate in the BWH Laboratory for Advanced Biomaterials and Stem-Cell-Based Therapeutics, was awarded first prize for the best poster presentation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan BioInnovations 2012 conference. This event was organized to showcase the most exciting life science and health care technologies with commercial potential from MIT and the greater Harvard community.

Read more on Eoin O’Cearbhaill awarded first prize for the best poster presentation at the MIT Sloan BioInnovation…

May 27, 2011

How to Write a Paper to Communicate Your Research

May 13, 2009

Karp Lab Lunch

April 27 2009GroupLunch02 On this day, the Karp Lab celebrated Dr. Weian Zhao’s recent Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Postdoctoral Fellowship award.In addition, the lunch also served as a farewell for Sebastian Schaefer, a graduate student from Germany. Sebastian Schaefer had been working at the lab during the period lasting from September 2008 to April 2009. He had contributed immensely to the group during this time and was highly valued for his skills in flow cytometry. Sebastian is looking forward to pursuing his Ph.D. in Germany. The Karp Lab wishes you luck and all the best, Sebastian! GroupLunch01GroupLunch03

Read more on Karp Lab Lunch…

March 10, 2008

Recent News

 Eoin O’Cearbhaill awarded first prize for the best poster presentation at the MIT Sloan BioInnovation 

Praveen Kumar Vemula awarded Ramalingaswami Re-Entry Fellowship from Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India 

Dr. Karp is named a Champion of Healthcare by the Boston Business Journal

Read more on Recent News…

September 9, 2007

Educational

August 26, 2007

Books

August 26, 2007

Websites

Postdoc Fellowships

http://www.karplab.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/postdoc-fellowships.xls

Graduate Fellowships

http://www.bioen.illinois.edu/graduate/grad_fellowships.html

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=6201&org=NSF

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/Fellowships/index.htm

http://opd.tamu.edu/funding-opportunities/funding-opportunities-by-category/graduate-funding-opportunities

http://opd.tamu.edu/seminar-materials/seminar-materials-by-date/Sept%2014%20How%20to%20Fund%20Your%20Graduate%20Studies%202006%20for%20web.ppt

http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/?p=132

BMES Engineering & Science Career Network online job placement service 

http://jobboard.bmes.org/search.cfm

Surgical Video Library

http://www.biomaterialsvideos.org/

AcademicCareers 

http://web.mit.edu/career/www/graduate/academiccareers.html

NIH Grant Review Process

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMO3HoLJuJY

Read more on Websites…

August 26, 2007

Collaborators

Jeff Borenstein – Director of the Biomedical Engineering Center, Draper Laboratory (nanofabrication)

 

Christopher V. Carman – Assistant professor, Beth Israel Deaconess (Molecular & Vascular Medicine)

 

David Carter – Draper Laboratory (nano/microfabrication)

Read more on Collaborators…

August 26, 2007

Facilities

We have over 750 sq. ft. of laboratory space in the Partners Research Building at 65 Landsdowne Street, on the Harvard campus and office space adjacent to the main laboratory. Spearate office space is available to podtdoctoral fellows, technicians, and graduate students.

Read more on Facilities…

August 26, 2007

Biomaterials

SELF-ASSEMBLING DRUGS

One of the fundamental problems in drug-delivery is striking a balance between toxicity and therapeutic effect. Hydrogels have been widely applied as intelligent carriers in controlled drug-delivery systems. Self-assembled hydrogel-based drug-delivery has been hindered by the unknown fate of the host gelator after the gel degradation. Thus, we propose a conceptually novel approach to address these limitations. The existing ambiguity can be substantially decreased by designing prodrug-based LMWGs from existing drugs whose metabolic pathways are well documented (See Figure below).

Read more on Biomaterials…

August 26, 2007

Medical Devices

NEEDLES THAT SENSE TRAVEL THROUGH TISSUES
In collaboration with Alex Slocum and Erik Bassett at MIT, we have developed a new needle sensing device that can detect travel of needles through various tissues. This can be used to significantly reduce complications associated with placement of needles, wires and catheters.

Read more on Medical Devices…

August 26, 2007

Stem Cell Engineering

INTRAOPERATIVE STEM CELL THERAPY

We are working towards development of intraoperative autologous stem cell based therapeutics that can be performed rapidly under emergent situations (e.g., within emergency room or battlefield settings).

Read more on Stem Cell Engineering…

August 26, 2007

BioMEMS

THERAPEUTIC MICRO-DEVICES BASED ON CELL ROLLING

Cell rolling is an important physiological and pathological process that is used to recruit specific cells in the bloodstream to a target tissue. This process may be exploited for biomedical applications to capture and separate specific cell types. One of the most commonly studied proteins that regulate cell rolling is P-selectin. By coating surfaces with this protein, biofunctional surfaces that induce cell rolling can be prepared.

Read more on BioMEMS…