March 06, 2006

AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING HONORS UH ADJUNCT PROFESSOR DR. SUSAN HARDIN

Susan Hardin, President and CEO of VisiGen Biotechnologies, Inc., has been elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in Washington, D.C.

She was nominated and elected by The College of Fellows for outstanding achievements in medical and biological engineering. A formal induction ceremony will be held during the Institute’s Annual Event in Washington, D.C. on March 2 to induct the 98 new members.

The College of Fellows leads the way in technological advancement, advocating for public policies that facilitate further progress and preparing young scientists and engineers to build on that progress in the decades to come. Over the years, AIMBE Fellows have helped to revolutionize medicine, engineering and related fields that enhance and extend the lives of people all over the world. Counting several Nobel Prize winners among them, their work also helps protect the environment, leads to new national security safeguards and contributes to a better society in many other ways.

With Fellows in every U.S. state – and in nations around the world – the College includes the heads of engineering and medical schools at major universities, along with some of the most respected professors and researchers at those institutions. Within academia, AIMBE Fellows are regularly recognized for their contributions in both teaching and research. Fellows are members of the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. AIMBE Fellows also can be found outside the field of engineering, working in clinical settings, and in government and industry.
Dr. Hardin received a BS in Biology from Penn State University and a PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from Indiana University. She completed postdoctoral studies in Biochemistry at Brandeis University and served as the Director of the Gene Technologies Lab at Texas A&M University before rising through the academic ranks at the University of Houston. In 2000, she and 4 other University of Houston faculty members formed VisiGen to develop a DNA sequencing technology that is projected to sequence a human genome in a day for $1000. VisiGen’s has attracted grants and contracts from DARPA and NIH and, more recently, developed strategic relationships with SeqWright, Inc., and Applied Biosystems. Dr. Hardin resigned her tenured professorship at the University in August 2005, but remains associated with the University as an Adjunct Professor.
AIMBE (www.aimbe.org) was founded in 1991 to establish a clear and comprehensive identity for the field of medical and biological engineering – which is the bridge between the principles of engineering science and practice, and the problems and issues of biological and medical science and practice. Representing over 75,000 bioengineers, AIMBE serves and coordinates a broad constituency of medical and biological scientists and practitioners, scientific and engineering societies, academic departments and industries. AIMBE membership includes 1,000 peer-reviewed Fellows, 18 scientific and professional societies through its Council of Societies, 88 universities through its Academic Council and 9 industrial corporations through its Industrial Council.