The NanoBio REU program proudly presents a special seminar from Dr. Manu O. Platt from Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. The seminar and luncheon are sponsored by UGA College of Engineering and UGA Faculty of Infectious Diseases. 

“What’s Eating You?”: Technologies to personalize cancer treatment decisions

Dr. Manu O. Platt

Associate Professor, Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., Thursday, July 9, 2015

Paul D. Coverdell Center Auditorium

Patient-to-patient variability in disease progression continues to complicate clinical decisions in diagnosis and treatment. We focused on individual variability in production of cysteine cathepsins, powerful proteases that are the most potent mammalian collagenases and elastases and are upregulated during tissue-destructive disease progression. We study them in the context of tissue remodeling during cancer progression. During this seminar, Dr. Platt will discuss his applications of these technologies and potential use as both diagnostic and prognostic indicators useful for patient specific predictions of disease severity and variability, while identifying new targets for pharmacological targeting.

Dr. Manu O. Platt received his B.S. in Biology from Morehouse College in 2001 and his Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University joint program in biomedical engineering in 2006 studying flow mediated mechanisms of proteolytic cardiovascular remodeling in atherosclerosis. He finished his postdoctoral training at MIT in orthopedic tissue engineering and systems biology prior to returning to Georgia Tech and Emory in the joint department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Platt’s research bridges tissue remodeling and systems biology. The Platt Lab studies proteolytic mechanisms in a number of diseases: pediatric strokes in children with sickle cell disease, HIV-mediated cardiovascular disease, tendinopathy in overuse injuries, and personalized medicine applications. His work has been funded by NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, International AIDS Society, Georgia Cancer Coalition, and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Platt has also been undertaking a number of training and professional development activities to increase the numbers of and the success of BME students and postdocs from underrepresented minorities. He has been an active member of the BMES Diversity Committee and the diversity Director for the NSF Science and Technology Center EBICS (Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems).