A faculty member with the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) is joining one of the world’s most elite societies for biomedical engineers. Associate Professor May Dongmei Wang, Ph.D., was recently elected as an Administrative Committee Officer (AdCom) representing North America in the international IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS). 

“I’m honored and humbled to receive a committee position within this globally-recognized organization,” Wang said.  “Health Informatics is identified as one of the 14 Grand Challenges in the 21st Century by the National Academy of Engineering. I have been devoted to biomedical and health informatics (BHI) research for personalized and predictive medicine since I joined Georgia Tech-Emory BME as a faculty member. This new recognition will allow me to help grow BHI within the IEEE and BME communities to tackle this Grand Challenge.”

In addition to her new position, Wang has been serving as the Biomedical and Health Informatics Technical Committee Chair and will present at the EMBC 2014 Frontiers in Biomedical Engineering Symposium.

Wang’s research centers around translating huge amounts of multi-modality and multi-scale biomedical data acquired by –omic technologies, tissue and histopathological imaging, bedside monitors, and wearable sensors into knowledge that helps physicians make health decisions for each individual, including:

1. Identifying biomarkers from tera-bytes (TBs) of next generation sequencing data for personalized diagnosis and treatment of cancer and cardiac patients.
2. Identifying cellular and tissue imaging markers from TBs of pathological H&E, multiplex Quantum-Dots IHC imaging, or imaging mass spectrometry data for clinical decision support.
3. Analyzing bedside continuous monitoring data and point-of-care data for real-time critical care in ERs and ICUs
4. Developing mobile health and educational intervention solutions for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) kids to report pain and medication adherence. A small clinical trial for SCD kids has been finished in Children’s Health of Atlanta, and the approach will be extended to other chronic conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and pain management.

“Through my new position with EMBS, I will have the opportunity to work with biomedical engineers around the world to continually innovate in the field of BHI research for discovery, development, and delivery. The ultimate goal is to use novel technologies to improve human health outcomes and reduce costs at every level.”

IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society is the world's largest international society of biomedical engineers. The organization is made up of 9,100 members in some 97 countries. EMBS provides its members with access to the people, practices, information, ideas and opinions that are shaping one of the fastest growing fields in science.

Related Links: Wang’s Profile , Wang's Lab

Written by Chris Calleri