Health
— HEALTH —
Multiple Sclerosis
Three Purdue professors developed Ampyra, the first and only FDA-approved therapy addressing walking impairment in MS patients — one of the most difficult and pervasive challenges of the disease. Researchers at Purdue developed the original concept and basic science and conducted initial animal studies at the University’s Center for Paralysis Research. The first clinical testing of the drug in paraplegic canines occurred in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
— HEALTH —
Cancer Research
Professor Philip Lowe is pioneering an initiative to use folates to help diagnose and deliver therapeutic drugs to cancerous tumors. In animal trials, researchers achieved 100 percent cure rates with advanced, metastatic cancers. It is now in human trials.
— HEALTH —
Cancer Detection
Livia Eberlin (PhD S’12), developed a pen-like device that can detect cancerous tissue within seconds by touching it during surgery. The handheld probe, called the MasSpec Pen, uses a little drop of water to make the analysis and doesn’t require any incisions, making it less invasive and faster than traditional pathology.
— HEALTH —
Common Cold Virus
Michael Rossmann was a professor of biological sciences who led the team of researchers who were the first to map the structure of a human common cold virus to an atomic level. He also discovered the Rossmann fold protein motif and developed a phasing technique named molecular replacement, which has led to about three quarters of depositions in the Protein Data Bank.
— HEALTH —
Got Milk?
Connie Weaver’s pivotal work in calcium requirements has been used to set the national standards for adequate calcium intake for women and adolescents. Weaver is a professor emerita of the Department of Foods and Nutrition.
— HEALTH —
Mass Spectrometry Innovations
Professor Zheng Ouyang (PhD S’02) and R. Graham Cooks, the Henry B. Hass Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry, have developed miniature mass spectrometers devices that may impact the personalized medicine plans for prescription drugs.
— HEALTH —
SmartGait
SmartGait is a wearable balance and gait assessment device that can be operated by any individual in order to assess their balance and gait on a regular basis. SmartGait includes a right-angle wide-angle lens, a waist belt, a phone holster, and a smartphone app. SmartGait alerts users or caregivers if the wearer falls or has a change in health. Shirley Rietdyk, professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, developed SmartGait in 2014. She has been conducting research on balance and mobility for 27 years. Her overarching goal is to reduce falls in older adults in order to reduce the personal and economic burdens associated with falls.
— HEALTH —
X-Ray Fluorescence
Linda Nie, associate professor of health sciences, and her team developed portable X-ray fluorescence technology to measure lead in vivo, or within the body, with minimum radiation harm. “X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is less invasive than blood testing and has been used to measure lead in bone for more than 20 years, but few research institutions possess the technology because of infrastructure demands for the detection system and the need for a specialist to operate it,” Nie says. “A more accessible technology to measure bone lead would have numerous benefits.” Nie first put her innovation to the test on a 2014 visit to Shanghai Jiaotong University’s Xinhua Hospital in China.
— HEALTH —
Treating NPC and FSGS
Aditya Kulkarni (PhD S’12) is the founder and chief scientific officer of Oraxion Therapeutics Inc. in Bangalore, India, which entered into an option agreement with a US-based pharmaceutical company for the release of its lead asset, ORX-301, which can be used to treat Niemann-Pick type C disorder (NPC), a rare lysosomal storage disorder characterized by excess accumulation of cholesterol in organs, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a rare disease that attacks the kidney’s filtering units.
— HEALTH —
Kenya Partnership
Through this program, the College of Pharmacy has worked with its partners in Kenya to distribute much-needed antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications to areas of Kenya that have been devastated by HIV — areas where that diagnosis was a certain death sentence. The collaboration with the College of Pharmacy led to the formation of a program called Bridging Income Generation through group Integrated Care (BIGPIC), giving Kenyans access to much-needed health care.
— HEALTH —
Technology Innovator
Leslie Geddes was the Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Engineering. He received the 2006 National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush in a White House ceremony in 2007. The award is the nation’s highest honor for technological innovation. Among Geddes’s accomplishments were innovations ranging from burn treatments to miniature defibrillators, from ligament repair to tiny blood pressure monitors for premature infants.
— SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING SCIENCES —
Audiology Clinic
Carl A. Binnie became the director of the campus audiology clinic in the M.D. Steer Speech and Language Clinic in the basement of Heavilon Hall in 1984. He developed a new approach to testing hearing-impaired adults by creating a real-life environment. The Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences received a grant from the Indiana Lions Club to convert a classroom into a simulated living room. No other audiological laboratory or research facility in the United States had laboratories for simulating the home environment. Hearing tests and hearing aid fittings were usually done in sound-free booths. It was not uncommon for persons fitted with hearing aids to still have trouble hearing in their own homes.
— VETERINARY MEDICINE —
Center for the Human-Animal Bond
The center is “committed to expanding our knowledge of the interrelationships between people, animals, and their environment.” Established in 1982 as the Center for Applied Ethology and Human-Animal Interaction, housed within the College of Veterinary Medicine, it explores relationships and all aspects of human–animal connections, from companion pets to domestic animals to wildlife.
— CHILD DEVELOPMENT —
Nursery School
Mary Mathews, daughter of Purdue Trustee Virginia Clay-pool Meredith, earned the first degree in home economics in the State of Minnesota. Mathews was appointed the inaugural head of Purdue School of Home Economics and established the first nursery school in Indiana.
— PHARMACY —
Psychedelic Renaissance
Dave Nichols, retired professor of medicinal chemistry, had a 40-year career that contributed to the psychedelic renaissance in psychiatric medicine. He was the only chemist in the United States licensed to create psychedelic substances, such as LSD, MDMA, and DMT, which have been proven effective when used by psychiatrists in treating certain psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
— PHARMACY —
Nuclear Pharmacy Program
There are very few nuclear pharmacy programs in the United States and Purdue’s is considered to be among the best in the nation. It is the sole provider of continuing education for board recertification in nuclear pharmacy — compounding radioactive materials for use in medicine.
— PHARMACY —
Bionucleonics
Professor John E. Christian (P’39, PhD HHS’44) was a pioneer in bionucleonics, a term coined by Purdue President Fred Hovde (HDR E’75) in 1948. Christian was one of a handful of scientists accomplishing meaningful work in peaceful uses of radioactive materials. In 1946, because of his reputation in the industry, Purdue received the first shipment of radioisotopes from the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, atomic energy plant, and the University was granted the first institutional license by the Atomic Energy Commission. The system of control developed at Purdue was used as a model for the federal government.
— PHARMACY —
Dolores Cooper Shockley
Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1930, Shockley (MS P’53, PhD P’55) grew up attending segregated schools. In 1955, she became the first black woman to earn a doctorate in pharmacology in the United States. She later became chair of pharmacology at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee — the first black woman to chair a pharmacology department in the country.
— SPEECH, LANGUAGE, & HEARING SCIENCES —
Vibrograph
In the 1930s, Max Steer, founder of Purdue’s M.D. Steer Speech and Language Clinic, and Joseph Tifn, founder of industrial psychology at the University, devised an apparatus called a vibrograph, which converted the voice in the form of a sound wave into a beam of light that was photographed. From the photograph, or oscillogram, a chart analysis or “pitch graph” showed at a glance the true characteristics of the voice. Steer and Tifn analyzed the radio voices of Adolf Hitler; British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain; Benito Mussolini, leader of the National Fascist Party; French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier; President Franklin Roosevelt; and well-known stage and radio personalities.
— HEALTH —
Project Baseline
This study looks at the potential of mapping human health just as the world has been mapped. Project Baseline, a 1,000-participant study in a four-year program, partners Purdue with Duke and Stanford medical schools along with Google, Verily, and other technical partners. Those in the study participate by contributing their health data, combining forces with researchers, clinicians, engineers, and designers as they collaborate to create a new generation of tools and services for health care.
— VETERINARY MEDICINE —
Cancer Research
Scientists involved in the Purdue Comparative Oncology Program work to help both humans and pets with cancer. Because certain types of cancers share similarities in dogs and humans, progress made with dogs can lead to human treatments. The group’s advancements in the treatment of bladder cancer in dogs have extended survival and improved the quality of life. The studies conducted in pet dogs at the College of Veterinary Medicine have resulted in clinical trials in humans with bladder cancer.
— NURSING MOTHERS —
Lactation App
Azza H. Ahmed (CERT NURS’08), assistant professor in the School of Nursing, led the team of researchers that developed Lactor, an interactive web-based breastfeeding monitoring system. The system has two main components: the Mother’s Portal, where the user enters breastfeeding data and receives notifications; and the Lactation Consultant’s Portal, where lactation consultants can monitor mothers’ data. Lactor sends automated immediate feedback to the mother, provides suggestions to solve the problem, and alerts the lactation consultant. A Lactor app was created in 2018 to instantly connect breastfeeding mothers with pediatricians or lactation consultants to collect data, monitor patients, and provide consultation and support to breastfeeding mothers.
— HEALTH —
SpeechVive
Jessica E. Huber, professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences, developed SpeechVive, a device that sits on the ear and aids those with Parkinson’s disease by capitalizing on the Lombard effect — the reflex that causes people to speak louder, clearer, and slower in the presence of background noise. SpeechVive Inc. was founded in 2011.
