“Since I was very small, I’ve always been driven to learn,” said the Louisville native. “I’ve been analytical, curious, interested in not just why things are the way they are, but how they work.”

The bioengineering sophomore had several obstacles to overcome in life, including the loss of his mother as a young teen, along with mental health difficulties.

Frank, who was homeschooled through most of middle and high school, says “it was mostly just me on my own with the computer, figuring out what I was interested in. Engineering cropped up very early on as a potential choice, and it always appealed to me because it seemed to jive with my personality.”

After high school and a gap year, Frank attended Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC) to explore his options, but he kept finding his way back to his dream of engineering. However, in entrance testing at the community college, he discovered he was at a ninth-grade level in math.

“I knew if I wanted to do engineering, I had to get real good at math real quick,” he said.

In those early days, there were times when Frank spent four hours a day on math in addition to everything else, but he eventually got to a point where the concepts just clicked.

Applying to at University of Louisville was a relatively easy decision that felt like fate, said Frank.��Coming from a nontraditional background prompted Frank to encourage other students like himself who might not think they had what it takes to become an engineer. He volunteered with the bioengineering department to give a presentation at Moore High School, near where he grew up.

“I felt like it was important to reach out and speak to them — I was homeschooled, I had behavioral problems, substance abuse issues, but here I am a sophomore and I’m doing advanced calculus now for fun,” he said. “It is not impossible, it is absolutely doable, and they need to hear the message that there is always a way to rise above.”

Frank’s star continues to rise. He discovered his niche working at , an innovation hub sponsored by GE Appliances on the Belknap campus, created as a space for engineers and product developers to dream up new products.

“FirstBuild has been a blessing and an absolutely transformative experience for me,” said Frank.

Early on, he was given the responsibility for designing an assembly line in the manufacturing process for a new product. Within six months, he was promoted to Assembly Lead, and now co-manages and mentors 20 to 30 students.

“Jacob is naturally gifted at being able to solve problems and help people,” said Brenden Hoover, manufacturing engineer at FirstBuild and Frank’s supervisor. “He makes every employee we have a better employee. Engineering school is hard, and I think his story speaks loudly to those students who are struggling.”

.

Under the new memorandums of understanding, UofL has teamed up with Assiut University, south of Cairo��in Asyut, and the newly established Al-Alamain University, near Alexandria.

The agreements will allow those students to spend the first two years of their education at their home universities before completing their degrees at UofL.

“This is what we need, in terms of international collaboration, to lift us up,” said UofL president Dr. Neeli Bendapudi.

The first memoranda was signed in January with Egyptian Minister of Higher ����ֱ�� and Scientific Research, Dr. Abdel-Ghaffar, to forge the new relationship between UofL and Al-Almain University. The school is slated to open this year, and under this agreement, the first students would be Cardinals.

While the agreement will begin with undergraduate bioengineering programming, UofL’s bioengineering chair, Dr. Ayman El-Baz, said it could potentially expand later to include both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

“These agreements are just the first step in expanding the reach of Speed School and UofL to provide high quality education,” he said. “Once established, these programs will confer economic and societal benefits to both Egypt and Kentucky.”

The second agreement was signed with Dr. Tarek El-Gammal, president of Assiut University. Under this agreement, El-Baz said, students at Assiut would complete two years of their undergraduate engineering degrees in Egypt before coming to UofL.

“We are excited to move forward with this MOU,” El-Gammal said. He was in Louisville for the signing.��

He and 167 other inventors from institutions around the world will be formally recognized as 2019 NAI Fellows at a ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona, in April 2020, according to a .

“It is a great honor for me to be one of the NAI fellows,” said El-Baz, a UofL J.B. Speed School of Engineering alum and chair of bioengineering.

At UofL, El-Baz works at the intersection of computer science and medicine. Many of his inventions use artificial intelligence to analyze medical images, allowing them to very accurately diagnose everything from ��to to .

El-Baz is the sixth UofL inventor to be inducted into the NAI, following Suzanne Ildstad and Kevin Walsh (2014); William Pierce (2015); Paula Bates (2016); and most recently, Robert S. Keynton (2017).

“We’re very proud of Ayman, and all past UofL inductees, for this huge accomplishment and all the hard work behind it,” said Allen Morris, executive director of the . His office works with UofL researchers, like , to commercialize their inventions.��

“This kind of honor shows our university’s commitment to and leadership in research, invention and technology commercialization,” he said. “These inventions have the power to change and improve the way we work and live.”

Aside from the EPI-Center, El-Baz has also worked with other UofL programs for technology development and commercialization. He was the first researcher to hit a “trifecta” with UofL’s suite of��, having earned entry into the UofL Coulter Translational Partnership, NSF I-Corps and NSF AWARE:ACCESS programs.

“These crucial support mechanisms have enabled me to develop and translate technologies from ideation to commercialization quickly,” El-Baz said.

To date, El-Baz holds eight patents, five copyrights and has had 11 technologies optioned and two have been licensed to companies for further development and commercialization. Some technologies have also resulted in startup ventures like Autism Diagnostics Technologies Inc., which El-Baz co-founded, creating jobs and economic development.��

NAI fellows hold a collective 41,500 issued U.S. patents, resulting in 11,000 licensed technologies and companies, generating more than 36 million jobs and $1.6 trillion in revenue, according to the release.

“I am so impressed by the caliber of this year’s class of NAI Fellows, all of whom are highly-regarded in their respective fields,” NAI President Paul R. Sanberg said in the release. “The breadth and scope of their discovery is truly staggering. I’m excited not only see their work continue, but also to see their knowledge influence a new era of science, technology, and innovation worldwide.”

The technology is the first FDA approval in a new category for products used during spine surgery that have both mechanical and electrical components.

The device,��patented through the ,��consists of a series of strain sensors placed on the titanium rods, which are implanted into the body to hold the vertebrae in place after a spinal fusion surgery.��Spinal fusion, which “fuses” vertebrae together, is usually .

The device can help doctors see whether the spine is solidly fusing after the surgery.��The sensors measure the strain on the rods, which indicates the level of strain on the spine.��

Currently, the only way to determine that is through an additional exploratory surgery, said Dr. John Naber, a UofL professor who worked on the technology. But the UofL-invented system allows doctors to determine that from outside the body.

“The big payoff is to eliminate unnecessary surgeries,” said Naber,��who also is associate chair of electrical and computer engineering.

According to a 2019 article in the journal analyzing lumbar fusion rates, about 200,000 spinal fusion surgeries are performed every year in the U.S. And, the number of elective fusion surgeries has increased by more than 60% since 2004.

The device was invented by a team that included the ’s Drs. Naber, Kevin Walsh, William Hnat and Michael Voor, along with Leatherman’s Spine Center orthopedic surgeon Dr. Randy Puno.

The technology is now marketed by Ohio-based Intellirod Spine Inc. as the “LOADPRO sensing system.”

Ric Navarro, CEO of Intellirod, said the company plans to commercially launch the product at the Cleveland Clinic and the Leatherman Spine Center in Louisville now that it has FDA approval. The company plans to expand its launch sites in the near future.

“We are delighted to be the first device in this new FDA product category for spine to give the surgeon unprecedented new information about how much strain is on their rods as they correct a deformity,” he said.

Listen to a radio interview with Naber on .

“That’s always been a reason for me to go into that field,” he said.��

Dunn currently works in the bio-measurements lab where he and other students are conducting research on devices that allow hearts to pump blood more easily. It’s that kind of research that he hopes will lead him to a career in medical devices.

“I’ve never actually been interested in research,” said Dunn. “I guess it’s because I never thought about what it would be.”

Check out more about Dunn’s story:

His talk will center around the significance of nanoparticles in medicine.

“Nanoparticles have incredible potential to revolutionize several aspects of our lives ranging from electronics to health care,” O’Toole said. “But what are they? Why is there so much interest in them, especially for use in research and medicine? We will go on a casual journey through the “World of Nano,” where everyday materials take on bizarre properties and new medical breakthroughs may be just around the corner.

O’Toole’s talk will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, at , 8023 Catherine Lane. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

The next Beer with a Scientist program will be May 15.

Hardin, formerly the associate dean for graduate programs and professor in the College of Nursing at East Carolina University, became a fellow in 2017 in the American Academy of Nursing, one of the highest honors of profession.

A nurse practitioner who specialized in care for older adults, Hardin said her goal is to ensure every individual who wants to be a nurse gets an opportunity. Hardin, whose mother and daughter are nurses, wants to instill five I’s into her students: have integrity, be innovative and influential, know how to work interprofessionally, and invest in themselves and others.

Early in the meeting, the senate voted to approve the proposal on implementing a masters of science in bioengineering, providing all engineering disciplines at UofL with bachelor’s and master’s options.

One senator stated that bioengineering is a rapidly growing field, and one of the goals of the degree program is to retain UofL students who have a bachelor’s degree in the field. That senator added that roughly 50 percent of students who complete their bachelor’s degree in bioengineering pursue a master’s degree.

Before reports from Faculty Senate Standing Committees, provost office designee Tracy Eells delivered status of an information item to the group. Eells spoke about a potential two-part event titled “Voice, Diversity and Governance: Managing the College Classroom in Today’s Political Environment,” with the goal to provide a forum for discussion about how faculty can manage discourse in the classroom.

President’s Report

Provost Beth Boehm provided a brief report on behalf of president Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, who was off campus for the day.

It was noted that Health Sciences Center items represented the largest share of time on the Benadpudi’s agenda.

Topics highlighted:

• Jewish Hospital is transitioning services to UofL Hospital. There was a question raised about whether there is enough space to accommodate increasing services.
• There is a plan to create a new university health identity, UofL Health, that is comprised of the hospital and physical health.
• Bendapudi noted a plan to provide a balance budget strategy for the School of Medicine.

Provost Report

Provost Beth Boehm offered an update on recent mold concerns raised by a student in Threlkeld Hall, informing senators that the Department of Health inspected multiple dorms and all passed. She added that the meeting between residents at the on-campus property and director of housing revealed minor issues, which were not reported previously. Maintenance attempted to address all issues immediately.

Boehm then noted the appointment of Dr. Aaron Thompson as the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary ����ֱ��’s fourth president. She stated that he wants to examine new out-of-state tuition costs and also have more discussion focused on mission differentiation.

After mentioning that all three candidates for the Chief Information Office were on campus recently, she established that search firms have been identified for two positions: Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation.

One final item Boehm spoke about regarded who on campus sets policy on political speech, including policy on using campus email for political views.

Reinstatement of Phi Kappa Phi chapter

Officials are working to reinstate the school’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor society. It is open to undergraduate, graduate and professional students who rank in the top 10 percent of their respective classes.

Currently, officials are in search of four volunteers from faculty to hold positions. Boehm, speaking as a member, noted the career and networking opportunities as part of the society. In 1946, UofL became the 50th university to join the organization.

Other general interest items from the meeting:

• Roy Fuller said the Part-Time Faculty Committee is in the process of developing a document to help these employees, advocating for parking, development opportunities, and the value of retaining part-time faculty.
• David Owen stated that the Executive Committee is reviewing a policy that would ban all scooters on campus. He also noted that UofL signed on with business community partner CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion.
• Lazaro Donis-Munoz discussed Student Government Association initiatives, including prayer space for students of Muslim faith and additional areas for bikes to park on campus.

Currently, close to half of Americans age 85 or older suffer from ��������𾱳����’s which begins to erode brain function up to 15 years before it’s diagnosed. Dr. Barnes says the test developed at UofL could identify early warning signs for ��������𾱳����’s in people over age 60.

According to bioengineering professor Dr. Ayman El-Baz, the system combines a traditional MRI scan with computer software. Patients drink a liquid nuclear material called Pittsburgh compound B that flows through the cardiovascular system, including the brain, which is divided into 104 sections. The liquid binds to the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimers “lighting up” the brain sections with unhealthy tissue, sections that might impact memory, language or location skills. The software can separate the overlapping data and images to more accurately target each one of the 104 sections of the brain that are affected.

“This is non-invasive technology for detecting ��������𾱳����’s” Dr. El-Baz said.

There are six UofL researchers working on the project along with colleagues in Egypt and at the University of South Carolina. They are applying for patents.

Keynton is a professor and the Lutz Endowed Chair of Biomechanical Devices of the Department of Bioengineering at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering. Keynton was founding chair of the bioengineering department, which under his tenure grew into the most productive basic and translational research department in the Speed School. He is also the director of research initiatives in the office of the executive vice president for research and innovation.

“I am humbled by the nomination and support from my colleagues at UofL and I am truly honored to have been selected to be a member of the National Academy of Inventors and to be associated with such a prestigious group,” Keynton said. ��

Keynton’s research focuses on Lab-on-a-Chip devices, microsensors, biomedical devices and biomaterials. He joined UofL in 1999 and has co-founded three companies with UofL colleagues. His career has centered on multidisciplinary research, which includes more than $51 million of funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Wallace H. Coulter Foundation and the Veterans Administration.

“Professor Robert S. Keynton is a leader in research and innovation at UofL and the nation and around the world,” said William Pierce, UofL executive vice president for research and innovation, who was named an NAI Fellow in 2015. “As founder of our department of bioengineering, he has��built a talented faculty as he built his own research efforts.��He has brought in many millions of research��dollars in research funding individually and has led or helped lead development of our Nanotechnology Center, our Coulter Project initiative, our REACH (NIH) for proof-of-concept centers, and our NSF I-Corps Centers to provide opportunity for so many.��Currently he leads efforts that will provide opportunities for untold numbers of students, fellows and future alumni.��We are proud to have Rob as one of our leading innovators, inventors and scientists.”

Keynton is the fifth UofL researcher to be named an NAI Fellow. In addition to Pierce in 2015, honorees have been Suzanne T. Ildstad, MD, and Kevin M. Walsh in 2014 and Paula J. Bates in 2016.

With the election of the 2017 class there are 912 representing more than 250 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes. The 2017 Fellows are named inventors on nearly 6,000 issued U.S. patents, bringing the collective patents held by all NAI Fellows to more than 32,000 issued U.S. patents.

The new NAI Fellows will be inducted April 5 as part of the of the National Academy of Inventors at the Mayflower Hotel, Autograph Collection in��Washington, DC.

Passionately Curious

Inspired by her uncle, who suffers from quadriplegia, Hendrick wanted to pursue a field of study that could help others like him to live better lives. Initially interested in pursuing medicine, Hendrick is uneasy with the sight of blood, but still wanted to do something that could positively impact the lives of others. No less committed to her vision, she has developed and pursued a passion in bioengineering.

“If doctor’s don’t have the tools that they need, they can’t do their job. That’s going back to the source of how I can make an impact. My uncle can’t even tie his own shoes. Seeing him, he loves technology. He’s one of the most technology advanced people in the household, so that he can write emails, and stay up with the news, even though he can barely use his hand. He uses his knuckle for the mouse. He has a lot of patience,” says Hendrick.

Her Story

Sponsored by the Tachau family, the contest encouraged students to consider the struggle of women in the workplace, and how those efforts continue to shape the world around us. Named for Dr. Mary K. Bonsteel Tachau, a chair in the History department, the first woman to hold the position of chair at the university, Hendrick’s essay attended to the difficulties posed to Tachau, and how she overcame them.

She says, “My essay talked about the work that she did. She wrote a ton of letters to different people in our state legislature at the time and worked with different groups to work mainly on gender equality as that related to higher education. Also looking at it as a more social issue across the board. It also talked about and how that relates to now. How the work that she did was really important, but not quite as intersectional as it could be.”

Intersectional feminism focuses on the experiences of women of all social stripe, regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic class, something that Hendrick focuses on in her time in Women 4 Women.

Part of the Women’s Center, she explains of the group that they are, “dedicated to increasing education mainly, awareness through different topics. We are affiliated with the Women’s Center. We utilize them for resources for different events.

Life After Graduation

Ideally, Hendrick hopes to work in a medical device, part of her continuing pursuit of helping others whenever possible. In the meantime, she stays especially busy in her various extracurricular activities.

“I don’t have a life. I do a lot. It’s not easy, but it’s been one of the most important things for me, because it gave me a community on campus that engaged with social justice issues. Not just for women, but for LGTBQ+, people of color… it’s been really useful to me. It was definitely something that I really wanted,” Hendrick said.