Annovis acquires CyberSyn. CyberSyn, a supplier of custom oligos to the C3B has been acquired by Annovis. Annovis is currently under consideration for becoming a member of the C3B.

Advanced DNA microarraying facility established. The Dean of Engineering, Dr. Robert Mattauch, acting with the Cabinet of the School of Engineering, has provided Laboratory Rm. 345 to the C3B for the establishment of an Advanced DNA Microarraying Facility. This 600 sq. ft. laboratory will be outfitted with a class 1,000 bioclean room that will house a liquid handler, pin-microarrayer and biochip imager. This facility will be used in the production of oligo and cDNA microarrays for the study of differential gene expression in various solid tumors.

BioChips 2002 to come to Richmond, Virginia. Plans are being made to bring BioChips 2002 to Richmond. The Knowledge Foundation and the C3B are in discussion to hold BioChips 2002 in Richmond.

Publications and Patent Disclosures

The following papers appeared in print this quarter:

Dara L. Woerdeman and Richard Parnas "Model of a Fiber-optic Evanescent Wave Fluorescence Sensor" J. of Applied Spectroscopy 2001 55(3)

The following pre-publication manuscripts are now available for review by C3B members:

Sean Brahim, Dyer Narinesingh and Anthony Guiseppi-Elie "Influence of interfering substances on novel electroactive hydrogel biosensors" Electroanalysis (submitted for publication 2001-145).

Sean Brahim, Dyer Narinesingh and Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, "Electroactive Hydrogels for the Construction of Clinically Important Biosensors" Biosensors and Bioelectronics (submitted for publication BB00/170).

Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, Norman F. Sheppard, Jr., Sean Brahim and Dyer Narinesingh "Enzyme microgels in packed bed bioreactors with downstream amperometric detection using microfabricated interdigitated microsensor electrode arrays" Biotechnology and Bioengineering" (submitted for publication BB-00-596).

Proposals

The Brain Tumor Biochip team of Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, Sc.D. (Professor, Chemical Engineering and Emergency Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University), William Broaddus, M.D., Ph.D. (Hord Associate Professor, Division of Neurosurgery and Department of Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University) and Oliver Bogler, Ph.D.  (William & Karen Davidson Scholar, Brain Tumor Biology Laboratory, Dept. Neurosurgery & Hermelin Brain Tumor Center, Henry Ford Hospital) are part of a $ 6 million award made to VCU, GMU and INOVA under the Virginia Commonwealth Technologies Research Fund. The team will work on development of the Brain Tumor OncoChip(SM) for genomic classification and staging of brain tumors.

NEWS ITEMS

Gary Wnek, "Thinking Small at the Engineering/Medical Interface," Molecular Cell Biology and Biotechnology Seminar Series, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, April 27, 2001.

Gary Wnek, "Small Thinking About Old Polymers at the Medicine/Engineering Interface," Program in Polymer Science & Technology seminar series, MIT, Cambridge, MA, May 16, 2001.

Anthony Guiseppi-Elie gave a plenary address at the IV International Congress on Chemistry (ICC) & The XIII Caribbean Conference on Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (CCCCEng) Palacio de Convenciones de La Habana, Havana, Cuba. April 16 - 20, 2001. Anthony Guiseppi-Elie "Bio-smart Materials: Co-joined Molecular Recognition and Signal Transduction in Bioelectrochemistry, Biosensors and Biochips"

Anthony Guiseppi-Elie was a keynote speaker at BioChips 2001 BIOCHIPS 2001 - Technology Development & Application. March 12 - 13, 2001 • Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY • Brooklyn, NY USA.

Dara Woerdeman served as Session co-chair for "Composite Materials" at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Adhesion Society in Williamsburg, Va. and will present the following paper:  Joseph Lenhart, Joy Dunkers, John Van Zanten, Dara Woerdeman, Richard Parnas "Localizing Fluorescent Dye to Probe the Buried Interfacial Chemistry"