{"509671":{"#nid":"509671","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Petit Scholars Scaling New Heights","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EFor 17 years, the Petit Undergraduate Scholars program has been developing a new generation of bioengineering and bioscience researchers, providing a full year of comprehensive research experience for Atlanta area university students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ESince it\u2019s launch in 2000, the program has fostered hundreds of top undergraduate researchers who have gone on to distinguished careers in research, medicine, and industry. That is the point of the program, after all, and this year\u2019s record-setting class of Petit Scholars is poised to carry on that tradition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re excited about this year\u2019s cohort of students,\u201d says faculty mentor for the Petit Scholars program, Tom Barker, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME). \u201cThey represent the most diverse pool of applicants we\u2019ve ever had. And this year\u2019s class again broke records for academic achievement.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe 2016 version of the Petit Scholars is the largest one yet, with 22 students, and for the first time there as many females as males (11 each). And while the class represents just two schools this year, Georgia Tech and Emory University, it spans a wide range of disciplines (seven different academic majors are represented), and is supported by a record number of funding sources (ten, including a high of six scholarships supported by Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EOther funding sources include the Petit Endowment, the Regenerative Engineering and Medicine (REM) research center (a collaboration of Emory, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia), pharmaceutical firm UCB, the Beckman Coulter Foundation, medical device giant Medtronic, biotech company Cook Regentec, longtime Georgia Tech supporters Henry and Mary Pruitt and Karl Dasher.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe majors Half of this year\u2019s scholars are BME majors. Other majors represented this year are biomedical engineering, biology, chemistry\/biochemistry, chemical and biomolecular engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, and for the first time, industrial and systems engineering (ISYE).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cApplying industrial engineering principles and techniques to analyzing health systems is something that hasn\u2019t really been done until recently,\u201d says Sean Monahan, one of two Petit Scholars (Alex Moran is the other) majoring in ISYE. \u201cOur technique and ability to analyze a health system can have implications at all levels.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIt shouldn\u2019t be too surprising that industrial and systems engineering would be part of the Petit Scholar mix, considering the broad range of bio-related projects the students are immersed in.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EWorking with graduate student mentors and Petit Institute faculty, the scholars participate in research in the areas of cancer biology, biomaterials, drug development, molecular evolution, stem cell engineering, systems biology, regenerative medicine, as well as molecular, cellular and tissue biomechanics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThis year, there also is focused interest in the areas of bioinformatics, immunoengineering, neuroengineering, and pediatrics (including robotics, data analytics, interoperability, process improvement, nanomedicine, sensor and device development).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ESo, for example, Monahan\u2019s project will center on data analytics related to the utilization of pediatric healthcare, while Moran\u2019s research will help determine the lifetime cost of pediatric depression.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EFor his part, Barker is eager to see what this year\u2019s group of Petit Scholars will be doing in 10 years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cI expect great things from this class,\u201d he says. \u201cOne day I\u2019ll likely be calling them colleagues.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Largest, most diverse group of undergraduate researchers comprise 2016 class"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ELargest, most diverse group of undergraduate researchers comprise 2016 class\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Largest, most diverse group of undergraduate researchers comprise 2016 class"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2016-03-04 19:33:12","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:57","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-03-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-03-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"509651":{"id":"509651","type":"image","title":"Petit Scholars 2016","body":null,"created":"1458923537","gmt_created":"2016-03-25 16:32:17","changed":"1475895270","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:30","alt":"Petit Scholars 2016","file":{"fid":"204939","name":"608a5739.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/608a5739_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/608a5739_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":457443,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/608a5739_0.jpg?itok=mpwy8Joc"}}},"media_ids":["509651"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"857","name":"Petit Scholars"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}