The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Professor Bruce Gale, Ph.D., Department of Mechanical Engineering Chair and Merit Medical Professor at University of Utah, to its College of Fellows.
AIMBE is an organization that advocates for the value of medical and biological engineering to society. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer. The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”
Gale was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows “for outstanding contributions to advancing innovative applications of microfluidic technologies to address biomedical needs through research and commercialization.” He was inducted along with 140 colleagues who make up the AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2023.
“I am excited to receive this recognition,” he said. “This is a great group to be part of and highlights the work we do.”
Gale’s research is focused on using microfluidics to solve problems. He has regular conversations with doctors, chemists, and biologists about problems they are trying to solve and then looks at ways to apply microfluidics to solve those problems. He has developed tools for drug development, pathogen detection, fast PCR technologies, medical devices, and more.
“Microfluidics is a great tool for manipulating biological materials,” said Gale, “which is why so much of our work is application oriented.”
In addition to the patents Gale has received for his work, he has also spun off multiple companies. The earliest company, originally Wasatch Microfluidics and now called Carterra, provides technology that helps rapidly discover new antibody-based drugs, which are becoming very common. Their technology is in 17 of the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies and was used to help develop one of the drugs used to treat COVID. Another company, WFluidx, builds a device for genotyping zebra fish embryos. This technology has helped labs more quickly find embryos that have generated specific genetic mutations. Biologists can use these zebra fish to test potential treatments to these genetic diseases, which can then lead to treatments in humans. Around 100 labs around the world are using this device.
You can learn more about Gale’s work through his lab website.