New Innovations in Medical Robotics

MIT Enterprise Forum of Texas Flagship Event The Methodist Hospital Research Institute

With Special Guest from NASA Johnson Space Center

June 13, 2012 5:15 PM – 8:30 PM Networking with hors d'oeuvres at 5:15-6PM. Program starts at 6PM

The Methodist Hospital Research Institute Auditorium (2nd Floor)

6670 Bertner Ave, Houston, TX 77030

Abstract

New innovations in robotic technologies are making it possible for surgical procedures and medical treatments to be less invasive and more precise for patients and may be controlled remotely by the operator for execution in extreme environments. In addition to performing routine abdominal procedures, research in robotics is making it possible for paralyzed patients to walk and making cardiovascular operations more precise and efficient. These new technologies also show great potential as new ventures for commercialization. Join the MIT Enterprise Forum of Texas in introducing The Methodist Hospital Research Institute’s new Surgical Robotics Institute and hear about technologies developed at Johnson Space Center’s Robonaut Project with ready medical applications.

Moderator

Mauro Ferrari

Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., President and CEO

The Methodist Hospital Research Institute

Panelists

Barbara Bass Tim Boone M. Valderrabano J. L. Contreras-Vidal Myron Diftler

Barbara Bass, M.D., Chair of Surgery and Founder

Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation and Education

Tim Boone, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, The Methodist Hospital Dept. of Urology The Methodist Hospital Research Institute.

Robotic Surgery: A Revolution in Urology

Miguel Valderrabano, M.D., Chief, Division of Cardiac Electrophysiology The Methodist Hospital

Interventional Cardiology

Dr. Jose L. (Pepe) Contreras-Vidal, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department University of Houston

NeuroRex lower-limb smart Exoskeleton (Recently featured in The Economist)

Myron Diftler, Ph.D., Robonaut Project Manager NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston

A Dexterous Humanoid Robot for Space and Terrestrial Applications

Registration and Fee

$15 Students and Medical Residents $20 MITEF Members, South Texas MIT alumni club $20 Members and employees of The Methodist Hospital and TMHRI $30 General Admission $40 For any registrants after 5PM June 11 and walkups. For more information call Dale Wilkins 713.839.0808, dale@amchouston.com Media contact: David Bricker, Methodist Hospital Public Relations, 832.667.5811, dmbricker@tmhs.org

Click here to REGISTER

Map of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute and suggested parking areas

Please use McGovern Commons Parking Garage or the Parking Garage 7

EVENT SPONSORS

Biography of the Moderator and Speakers

Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D.

Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D.

President and CEO

Ernest Cockrell Jr. Distinguished Endowed Chair

The Methodist Hospital Research Institute

President

The Alliance for NanoHealth

Education

Dottore Mathematics, Universita' di Padova, Italy

Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley

Biography

Dr. Ferrari serves as President and CEO of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, where

he holds the Ernest Cockrell Jr. Distinguished Endowed Chair, and is President of The

Alliance for NanoHealth in Houston.

Dr. Mauro Ferrari is a founder of biomedical nano/micro-technology, especially in their

applications to drug delivery, cell transplantation, implantable bioreactors, and other

innovative therapeutic modalities. In these fields, he has published more than 200 peer-

reviewed journal articles and six books. He is the inventor of more than 30 issued patents,

with about thirty more pending in the US and internationally. His contributions have been

recognized by a variety of accolades, including: the Presidential Young Investigator Award

of the National Science Foundation; the Shannon Director's Award of the National Institutes

of Health; the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship;

and the Italiani nel Mondo Award from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His career

research and development portfolio totals over $50 million, including support from the NCI,

NIH, DoD, NASA, NSF, DARPA, DoE, the State of Texas, and the State of Ohio, The Ohio

State University, and several private enterprises. He began his academic career at the

University of California, Berkeley, where he tenured in Material Science, Civil Engineering,

and Bioengineering. Upon recruitment to the Ohio State University, he served as the Edgar

Hendrickson Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Internal Medicine,

Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Associate Vice President, Health Sciences

Technology and Commercialization, Associate Director of the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and

Lung Research Institute and Director of the Biomedical Engineering Center. Upon

recruitment to Houston, he served as Professor and Chair of the Department of

Nanomedicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

Dr. Ferrari also served as Special Expert on Nanotechnology at the National Cancer Institute

in 2003-2005, providing leadership into the formulation, refinement, and approval of the

NCI's Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, currently the world's largest program in

medical nanotechnology.

Dr. Ferrari's degrees are in Mathematics (Padova, 1985, Italy), and Mechanical Engineering

(U.C. Berkeley, M.S. 1987, & Ph.D. 1989). He attended medical school at the Ohio State

University (2002-03).

Dr. Ferrari is an academic- entrepreneur, with several companies that originated from his

laboratory. He currently serves on the Board of Director three companies: Nanomedical

Systems of Austin TX; Leonardo Biosystems of Houston TX, and NASDAQ-traded

Arrowhead Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ARWR).

Research Interests

• Nanomedicine for oncology, traumatic injury, cardiovascular disease, infectious

pathologies, and diabetes

• Nanofluidics

• Biomedical Microtechnology (BioMEMS)

• Drug delivery

• Proteomics and peptidomics for early detection and therapeutic monitoring

• Cell transplantation, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering

• Biosensors and bioseparation technology

• Multiscale discrete/continuum mechanics and biomechanics

• Bioethics

Major Areas of Research

Nanotechnology, Biomechanics, Microtechnology, Bioengineering, Biomaterials

Links

The Alliance for NanoHealth

Discovery Health: Nanotechnology-Enabled Medicine

National Cancer Institute Physical Sciences in Oncology

Recent Publications

de Ven AL, Mack A, Dunner K Jr, Ferrari M, Serda RE.Preparation, characterization, and

cellular associations of silicon logic-embedded vectors.Methods Enzymol. 2012;508:1-16.

PMID: 22449918

van de Ven AL, Kim P, Haley O, Fakhoury JR, Adriani G, Schmulen J, Moloney P, Hussain

F, Ferrari M, Liu X, Yun SH, Decuzzi P.Rapid tumoritropic accumulation of systemically

injected plateloid particles and their biodistribution.J Control Release. 2012 Feb

28;158(1):148-55. PMID: 22062689

Blanco E, Hsiao A, Ruiz-Esparza GU, Landry MG, Meric-Bernstam F, Ferrari M. Molecular-

targeted nanotherapies in cancer: enabling treatment specificity.Mol Oncol. 2011

Dec;5(6):492-503. PMID: 22071376

Grattoni A, Fine D, Zabre E, Ziemys A, Gill J, Mackeyev Y, Cheney MA, Danila DC, Hosali

S, Wilson LJ, Hussain F, Ferrari M. Gated and near-surface diffusion of charged fullerenes in

nanochannels. ACS Nano. 2011 Dec 27;5(12):9382-91. PMID: 22032773

Godin B, Tasciotti E, Liu X, Serda RE, Ferrari M. Multistage nanovectors: from concept to

novel imaging contrast agents and therapeutics. Acc Chem Res. 2011 Oct 18;44(10):979-89.

PMID: 21902173

Mann AP, Tanaka T, Somasunderam A, Liu X, Gorenstein DG, Ferrari M. E-selectin-

targeted porous silicon particle for nanoparticle delivery to the bone marrow. Adv Mater.

2011 Sep 22;23(36):H278-82. doi: 10.1002/adma.201101541. PMID: 21833996

Fine D, Grattoni A, Zabre E, Hussein F, Ferrari M, Liu X. A low-voltage electrokinetic

nanochannel drug delivery system. Lab Chip. 2011 Aug 7;11(15):2526-34. PMID: 21677944

Fan D, De Rosa E, Murphy M, Peng Y, Smid C, Chiappini C, Liu X, Simmons P, Weiner D,

Tasciotti E, Ferrari M. Mesoporous silicon-PLGA composite microspheres for the double

controlled release of biomolecules for orthopedic tissue engineering. Adv Functional Mat.

Accepted 2011 Jul 20.

Ranganathan SI, Ostoja-Starzewski M, Ferrari M. Quantifying the anisotropy in biological

materials. ASME J Appl Mech. 2011 Nov;78:064501-064504.

doi: 10.1115/1.4004553

Gentile F, Sakamoto J, Righetti R, Decuzzi P, Ferrari M. A doublet mechanics model for the

ultrasound characterization of malignant tissues. J Biomed Sci Eng. 2011;4:362-374.

doi:10.4236/jbise.2011.45046.

Murphy MB, Blashki D, Buchanan R, Dongmei F, De Rosa E, Shah R, Stupp S, Weiner B,

Simmons P, Ferrari M, Tasciotti E. Multi-composite bioactive osteogenic sponges featuring

mesenchymal stem cells, platelet-rich plasma, nanoporous silicon enclosures, and peptide

amphiphiles for rapid bone regeneration. J Funct Biomater. 2011;2:39-66. doi:

10.3390/jfb2202003.

De Rosa E, Chiappini C, Fan D, Liu X, Ferrari M, Tasciotti E. Agarose Surface Coating

Influences Intracellular Accumulation and Enhances Payload Stability of a Nano-delivery

System. Pharm Res. 2011 May 24. PMID: 21607779

Grattoni A, Gill J, Zabre E, Fine D, Hussain F, Ferrari M.

Device for rapid and agile measurement of diffusivity in micro- and nanochannels. Anal

Chem. 2011 Apr 15;83(8):3096-103. Epub 2011 Mar 24. PMID: 21434670

Refuerzo JS, Godin B, Bishop K, Srinivasan S, Shah SK, Amra S, Ramin SM, Ferrari M.

Size of the nanovectors determines the transplacental passage in pregnancy: study in rats. Am

J Obstet Gynecol. 2011 Apr 7. PMID: 21481834

Hu Y, Gopal A, Lin K, Peng Y, Tasciotti E, Zhang XJ, Ferrari M. Microfluidic enrichment of

small proteins from complex biological mixture on nanoporous silica chip. Biomicrofluidics.

2011 Mar 30;5(1):13410. PMID: 21522500

Blanco E, Hsiao A, Mann AP, Landry MG, Meric-Bernstam F, Ferrari M. Nanomedicine in

cancer therapy: Innovative trends and prospects. Cancer Sci. 2011 Mar 29. PMID: 21447010

Tasciotti E, Godin B, Martinez JO, Chiappini C, Bhavane R, Liu X, Ferrari M. Near-infrared

imaging method for the in vivo assessment of the biodistribution of nanoporous silicon

particles. Mol Imaging. 2011 Feb;10(1):56-68. PMID: 21303615

Lee SY, Zaske AM, Novellino T, Danila D, Ferrari M, Conyers J, Decuzzi P. Probing the

mechanical properties of TNF-α stimulated endothelial cell with atomic force microscopy.

Int J Nanomedicine. 2011;6:179-95. Epub 2011 Jan 24. PMID: 21499414

Tanaka T, Godin B, Bhavane R, Nieves-Alicea R, Gu J, Liu X, Chiappini C, Fakhoury JR,

Amra S, Ewing A, Li Q, Fidler IJ, Ferrari M. In vivo evaluation of safety of nanoporous

silicon carriers following single and multiple dose intravenous administrations in mice. Int J

Pharm. 2010 Dec 15;402(1-2):190-197. PMID: 20883755

Serda RE, Mack A, van de Ven AL, Ferrati S, Dunner K Jr, Godin B, Chiappini C, Landry

M, Brousseau L, Liu X, Bean AJ, Ferrari M. Logic-embedded vectors for intracellular

partitioning, endosomal escape, and exocytosis of nanoparticles. Small. 2010 Dec 6;

6(23):2691-2700. PMID: 20957619

Fine D, Grattoni A, Hosali S, Ziemys A, De Rosa E, Gill J, Medema R, Hudson L, Kojic M,

Milosevic M, Brousseau L, III, Goodall R, Ferrari M, Liu X. A robust nanofluidic membrane

with tunable zero-order release for implantable dose specific drug delivery. Lab Chip. 2010

Nov 21;10(22):3074-3083. PMID: 20697650

Ananta JS, Godin B, Sethi R, Moriggi L, Liu X, Serda RE, Krishnamurthy R, Muthupillai R,

Bolskar RD, Helm L, Ferrari M, Wilson LJ, Decuzzi P. Geometrical confinement of

gadolinium-based contrast agents in nanoporous particles enhances T1 contrast. Nat

Nanotechnol. 2010 Nov;5(11):815-21. PMID: 20972435

Ziemys A, Grattoni A, Fine D, Hussain F, Ferrari M. Confinement effects on

monosaccharide transport in nanochannels. [cover] J Phys Chem B. 2010;114(34):11117-

11126.

Hu Y, Peng Y, Brousseau L, Bouamrani A, Liu X, Ferrari M. Nanotexture optimization by

oxygen plasma of mesoporous silica thin film for enrichment of low molecular weight

peptides captured from human serum. Sci China B. 2010;53(11):1-8.

Godin B, Driessen WH, Proneth B, Lee S-Y, Srinivasan S, Rumbaut R, Arap W, Pasqualini

R, Ferrari M, Decuzzi P. An integrated approach for the rational design of nanovectors for

biomedical imaging and therapy. [Invited] Adv Genet. 2010;69:31-64. PMID: 20807601

Somasunderam A, Thiviyanathan V, Tanaka T, Li X, Neerathilingam M, Lokesh G, Mann A,

Peng Y, Ferrari M, Kostergaard J, Gorenstein DG. Combinatorial selection of DNA

thioaptamers targeted to the HA binding doman of human CD44. Biochemistry. 2010 Oct

26;49(42):9106-9112. PMID: 20843027

Blinka E, Loeffler K, Hu Y, Gopal A, Hoshino K, Lin K, Liu X, Ferrari M, Zhang JXJ.

Enhanced microcontact printing of proteins on nanoporous silica surface. Nanotechnology.

2010 Oct 15;21(41):415302. PMID: 20834118

Mann AP, Somasunderam A, Nieves-Alicea R, Li X, Hu A, Sod AK, Ferrari M, Gorenstein

DG, Tanaka T. Identification of thioaptamer ligand against E-selectin: Potential application

for inflamed vasculature targeting. PLoS One. 2010 Sep 30;5(9). pii: e13050. PMID:

20927342

Godin B, Gu J, Serda RE, Bhavane R, Tasciotti E, Chiappini C, Liu X, Tanaka T, Decuzzi P,

Ferrari M. Tailoring the degradation kinetics of mesoporous silicon structures through

PEGylation. J Biomed Mater Res A. 2010 Sep 15;94(4):1236-1243. PMID: 20694990

Ferrari M. Vectoring siRNA therapeutics into the clinic. [news] Nat Rev Clin Oncol.

2010;7(9):485-486. PMID: 20798696

Parmar BJ, Longsine W, Sabonghy EP, Han A, Tasciotti E, Weiner BK, Ferrari M, Righetti

R. Characterization of controlled bone defects using 2D and 3D ultrasound imaging

techniques. Phys Med Biol. 2010 Aug 21;55(16):4839-4859. PMID 20679698

Klopp AH, Lacerda L, Gupta A, Debeb BG, Solley T, Li L, Spaeth E, Xu W, Zhang X,

Lewis MT, Reuben JM, Krishnamurthy S, Ferrari M, Gaspar R, Buchholz TA, Crisofanilli

M, Marini F, Andreeff M, Woodward WA. Mesencymal stem cells promote mammosphere

formation and decrease E-cadherin in normal and malignant breast cells. PLoS One. 2010

Aug 16.doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012180

Ferrati S, Mack A, Chiappini C, Liu X, Bean AJ, Ferrari M, Serda RE. Intracellular

trafficking of silicon particles and logic-embedded vectors [cover]. Nanoscale. 2010

Aug;2(8):1512-1520. doi: 10:1039/c0nr00227e

Sakamoto JH, van de Ven AL, Godin B, Blanco E, Serda RE, Grattoni A, Ziemys A,

Bouamrani A, Hu T, Ranganathan SI, DeRosa E, Martinez JO, Smid CA, Buchanan RM, Lee

S-Y, Srinivasan S, Landry M, Meyn A, Tasciotti E, Liu X, Decuzzi P, Ferrari M. Enabling

individualized therapy through nanotechnology [review]. Pharmacol Res. 2010

Aug;62(2):57-89. PMID: 20045055

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Barbara Lee Bass M.D., F.A.C.S.

Barbara Lee Bass M.D., F.A.C.S.

Senior Member

The Methodist Hospital Research Institute

John F. and Carolyn Bookout Distinguished Endowed Chair

of Surgery

The Methodist Hospital

Director, Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation

and Education (MITIE)

Professor of Surgery

Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University

Education

B.S.c. Tufts University M.D. University of Virginia Medical School, Charlottesville, VA

Postdoctoral Training

Gastrointestinal Surgical Research Fellowship - Division of Surgery, Walter Reed Army

Institute of Research, Washington, DC

General Surgery Residency - George Washington University, Washington, DC

Biography

Barbara Lee Bass, MD, FACS is the John F. and Carolyn Bookout Distinguished Endowed

Chair, Department of Surgery, at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, and Professor of

Surgery at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York. In addition to her clinical

practice in gastrointestinal and endocrine surgery, Dr. Bass has led a funded laboratory program

in gastrointestinal epithelial injury and repair for 19 years. More recently, she has held leadership

roles in the development of surgical quality initiatives at the national level in both the Veteran

Affairs Health Care System and at the American College of Surgeons. A recognized leader in

surgical education, Dr. Bass recently completed a 7-year term as a Director and Chair of the

American Board of Surgery. Dr. Bass is immediate past president for the Society for Surgery of

the Alimentary Tract, and recipient of the Nina Starr Braunwald Award from the Association of

Women Surgeons. Most recently, Dr. Bass was appointed to the Strategic Planning Group of the

NIH National Commission on Digestive Diseases. She serves on the editorial boards of Annals

of Surgery, SURGERY, the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, and The World Journal of

Surgery. Dr. Bass is a graduate of Tufts University and the University of Virginia School of

Medicine. She completed general surgery training at George Washington University Hospital

and during her residency completed a fellowship in gastrointestinal physiology at the Walter

Reed Army Institute of Research, while serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

She has held faculty positions at George Washington University School of Medicine and the

University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she served as Professor of Surgery and

Associate Chair for Research and Academic Affairs.

Description of Research

Dr. Bass’ current practice is primarily in surgical oncology, including pancreatic,

gastrointestinal, breast, and endocrine disorders. Practicing in an academic medical center, she

enjoys the opportunity to train surgical residents at all levels and to incorporate medical students

into her clinical practice.

Major Areas of Research

Breast cancer, Surgical quality and outcomes research

Recent Publications

Lyons C, Joseph R, Salas N, Reardon PR, Bass BL, Dunkin BJ.Mesh fixation with a barbed

anchor suture results in significantly less strangulation of the abdominal wall. Surg Endosc. 2011

Nov 15. PMID: 22083327

Joseph RA, Salas NA, Donovan MA, Reardon PR, Bass BL, Dunkin BJ.Single-site laparoscopic

(SSL) cholecystectomy in human cadavers using a novel percutaneous instrument platform and a

magnetic anchoring and guidance system (MAGS): reestablishing the "critical view". Surg

Endosc. 2012 Jan;26(1):149-53. PMID: 21789639

Fahy BN, Todd SR, Paukert JL, Johnson ML, Bass BL. How accurate is the Accreditation

Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Resident survey? Comparison between

ACGME and in-house GME survey. J Surg Educ. 2010 Nov-Dec;67(6):387-92. PMID:

21156296

Todd SR, Fahy BN, Paukert JL, Mersinger D, Johnson ML, Bass BL. How accurate are self-

reported resident duty hours? J Surg Educ. 2010 Mar-Apr;67(2):103-7. PMID: 20656607

Moore LJ, Moore FA, Todd SR, Jones SL, Turner KL, Bass BL. Sepsis in general surgery: the

2005-2007 national surgical quality improvement program perspective. Arch Surg. 2010

Jul;145(7):695-700. PMID: 20644134

Joseph RA, Salas NA, Johnson C, Goh A, Cuevas SP, Donovan MA, Kaufman MG, Miles B,

Reardon PR, Bass BL, Dunkin BJ. Video. Chopstick surgery: a novel technique enables use of

the Da Vinci Robot to perform single-incision laparoscopic surgery. Surg Endosc. 2010

Dec;24(12):3224. PMID: 20574857

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Timothy B. Boone, M.D., Ph.D.

Timothy B. Boone, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior Member

The Methodist Hospital Research Institute

Chairman, Department of Urology

The Methodist Hospital

Professor of Urology

Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University

Clinical Professor of Urology, Scott Department of Urology

Baylor College of Medicine

Education

B.S. Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas (Biology) Ph.D. University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences,

Houston, Texas (Neuroscience) M.D. University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas

Postdoctoral Training

Internship, General Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas,

Texas

Residency, General Urology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas,

Texas

Biography

Dr Timothy B. Boone is the Chair of Urology at the Methodist Hospital and a member of the

Methodist Neurological Institute. He is Professor of Urology at Weill Cornell Medical College

and holds appointments as Professor of Urology at Texas A&M College of Medicine and Baylor

College of Medicine where he is a Clinical Professor of Urology. Dr Boone earned his Master of

Science in physiology and Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Texas Graduate School of

Biomedical Sciences at Houston. He completed his M.D./Ph.D. at the University of Texas

Medical School at Houston and urology residency training at the University of Texas

Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. In 1991 he joined the faculty in the Department of

Urology at UT Southwestern for two years and then moved to Baylor College of Medicine where

he joined the Scott Department of Urology. In 2000 Dr. Boone was named Professor and Chair

of the Scott Department of Urology where he served until 2008. For over 20 years he has

actively participated in the care of spinal cord injured veterans with neurogenic bladder

dysfunction with the VA Spinal Cord Injury Units in Dallas and now in Houston.

Dr. Boone specializes in the treatment of patients with incontinence following prostatectomy,

women with complex voiding disorders, and bladder problems related to neurologic disease

including spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. He maintains

active participation in research with the Neurourology Laboratory at Baylor, focusing on

mechanisms of sensory control and dysfunction in the bladder and urethra that are related to

spinal cord injury, diabetes or obstruction.

Throughout his career Dr. Boone has written over 100 publications and given hundreds of

lectures regionally and nationally while serving as a visiting professor for many departments of

urology. He is a member of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons, Clinical

Society of GU Surgeons, American Urological Association, Texas Urological Society, Society

for Neuroscience, Society for Urodynamics and Female Urology, and the AOA Honor Medical

Society. He serves as consultant reviewer for several scientific journals including Neurourology

and Urodynamics, Journal of Urology, British Journal of Urology, Urology, Spinal Cord, and the

New England Journal of Medicine. He is on the editorial board of Nature Reviews in Urology,

Neurourology, and Urodynamics, and Current Bladder Dysfunction Reports. Dr. Boone was

elected as a Trustee to the American Board of Urology in 2006 and will serve as President of the

American Board of Urology from 2011 - 2012.

Major Areas of Research

Incontinence, Neurourology, Neurogenic Bladder, Urinary Diversion and Urinary

Reconstruction

Recent Publications

Lai HH, Boone TB. Complex artificial urinary sphincter revision and reimplantation cases--how

do they fare compared to virgin cases? J Urol. 2012 Mar;187(3):951-5. PMID: 22264456

Munoz A, Somogyi GT, Boone TB, Smith CP. Lumbosacral sensory neuronal activity is

enhanced by activation of urothelial purinergic receptors. Brain Res Bull. 2011 Nov 25;86(5-

6):380-4. PMID: 21924327

Lai HH, Munoz A, Smith CP, Boone TB, Somogyi GT. Plasticity of non-adrenergic non-

cholinergic bladder contractions in rats after chronic spinal cord injury. Brain Res Bull. 2011

Aug 10;86(1-2):91-6. PMID: 21689735

Munoz A, Somogyi GT, Boone TB, Smith CP. Central inhibitory effect of intravesically applied

botulinum toxin A in chronic spinal cord injury. Neurourol Urodyn. 2011 Sep;30(7):1376-81.

doi: 10.1002/nau.21068. PMID: 21509809

Lai HH, Boone TB. Implantation of artificial urinary sphincter in patients with post-

prostatectomy incontinence, and preoperative overactive bladder and mixed symptoms. J Urol.

2011 Jun;185(6):2254-9. PMID: 21497853

Munoz A, Smith CP, Boone TB, Somogyi GT. Overactive and underactive bladder dysfunction

is reflected by alterations in urothelial ATP and NO release. Neurochem Int. 2011

Feb;58(3):295-300. PMID: 21145365

Munoz A, Gangitano DA, Smith CP, Boone TB, Somogyi GT. Removal of urothelium affects

bladder contractility and release of ATP but not release of NO in rat urinary bladder. BMC Urol.

2010 May 24;10(1):10.

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Miguel Valderrábano, M.D.

Miguel Valderrábano, M.D.

Associate Member

The Methodist Hospital Research Institute

Chief, Division of Cardiac Electrophysiology

Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center

Methodist DeBakey Cardiology Associates

Associate Professor of Medicine

Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University

Education

M.D. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) School of Medicine, Madrid, Spain

Postdoctoral Training

Residency, UCLA-West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Chief Fellow, Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Biography

Dr. Valderrábano came to Houston from Los Angeles where he was director of the Implanted

Devices Clinic at the UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center and assistant professor of medicine at

UCLA Medical Center.

Dr. Valderrábano received his medical degree from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM)

School of Medicine in Madrid, Spain, and internal medicine training at UCLA. He completed his

cardiology and electrophysiology training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where

he was chief cardiology fellow. He then joined the faculty at the David Geffen School of

Medicine at UCLA.

Description of Research

Dr. Valderrábano’s research and clinical interests focus on finding new and more effective

treatments for atrial fibrillation, including epicardial mapping and ablation. His research has been

funded by grants from the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health

(NIH).

Major Areas of Research

Atrial fibrillation, epicardial mapping, ablation

Recent Publications

Dave AS, Báez-Escudero JL, Sasaridis C, Hong TE, Rami T, Valderrábano M. Role of the Vein

of Marshall in Atrial Fibrillation Recurrences After Catheter Ablation:: Therapeutic Effect of

Ethanol Infusion. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2012 Mar 19. PMID: 22429895

Wang S, Chen J, Valderrábano M. Nutrient restriction preserves calcium cycling and

mitochondrial function in cardiac myocytes during ischemia and reperfusion. Cell Calcium.

PMID: 22424693

Báez-Escudero JL, Morales PF, Dave AS, Sasaridis CM, Kim YH, Okishige K, Valderrábano M.

Ethanol Infusion the Vein of Marshall Facilitates Mitral Isthmus Ablation. Heart Rhythm. 2012

Mar 6. PMID: 22406143

Valderrábano M, Dave AS, Báez-Escudero JL, Rami T. Robotic catheter ablation of left

ventricular tachycardia: initial experience. Heart Rhythm. 2011 Dec;8(12):1837-46. PMID:

21802391

Lumsden AB, Anaya-Ayala JE, Birnbaum I, Davies MG, Bismuth J, Cheema ZF, El Sayed HF,

Seethamraju H, Loebe M, Valderrabano M. Robot-assisted stenting of a high-grade anastomotic

pulmonary artery stenosis following single lung transplantation. J Endovasc Ther. 2010

Oct;17(5):612-6. Erratum in: J Endovasc Ther. 2010 Dec;17(6):A6. PMID: 20939718

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Jose Luis (PePe) Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D.

Jose Luis (PePe) Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D.

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of Houston

Education

Engineer's Degree in Electronics & Communications, Monterrey Institute of Technology

(ITESM), Monterrey, Mexico

M.S. in Electrical Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO

Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University, Boston, MA

Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Motor Neuroscience, Arizona State University,

Tempe, AZ

Awards and Honors

Research and Development Award, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, 2011

President-Elect, International Graphonomics Society, 2011-2013

National Science Foundation Review Panel (Ad-hoc)

NIH 2011/10 ZRG1 BBBP-V (10) B: Small Business: Biobehavioral and Behavioral

Processes across the Lifespan Study Section

NIH MFSR: Motor function, Speech and Rehabilitation Study section, 2006-2010

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE), Senior Member , 2008

Senior Research Scholar, City of Paris, France, 2006

International Brain Research Organization-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche

Médicale (IBRO-INSERM; Fellow, 2000

Human Frontier Science Program (Fellow), 1995

Instituto Iberoamericano, Spain (Fellow), 1993

Editorial Boards

Computers in Biology and Medicine (Associate Editor)

Neural Networks (Action Editor)

Frontiers in Neuroprosthetics (Review Editor)

International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction (Editorial Review Board)

Human Movement Science (Guest Editor), 2012 Special Issue on Neuroscience of Fine Motor

Control Across the Lifespan

Computers in Biology and Medicine (Guest Editor), 2012 Special Issue on Brain-Mind-Machine

Interfaces

Research Interests

Reverse engineering the brain

Designing non-invasive brain-machine interface to robotic systems for rehabilitation,

enhancement or repair of the motor system after brain or body injury, neurological insults, or

advanced aging

Utilizing neural interfaces as tools for reverse-translational studies of brain plasticity and brain-

machine interaction/confluence

Bio-robotics and powered wearable exoskeletons

Fast, reliable, non-invasive brain-smartphone/device interfaces

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Ron Diftler, Ph.D.

Ron Diftler, Ph.D.

Robonaut Project Manager

NASA Johnson Space Center

Biography

Dr. Diftler serves as the Robonaut Project Leader at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Robonaut

is a human scale space robotic system designed to assist astronauts, before, during and after

space walks. The Robonaut Team’s latest robot, Robonaut 2 (R2) is the culmination of 15 years

of NASA Robonaut development and a highly successful partnership with General Motors. One

of the R2 units was launched on Space Shuttle Discovery in February, 2011 and is currently

undergoing testing onboard the International Space Station. R2 was designed for safe human

interaction, human work speeds and human strength, responsive force control (bandwidth),

assembly task autonomy and a simplified human machine interface (HMI). Dr. Diftler has led

this team through the R2 collaboration with GM as NASA’s industrial partner, as well as

previous collaborations with DARPA, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, MIT, UMass, USC, Rice and

the Institute for Human-Machine Cognition. He is also a member of the International

Architecture Working Group, which has representation from China, Europe, Canada, and Japan.

The focus of this group is on evaluating robotic systems for future space applications.

Dr. Diftler holds a B.S.E. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, a

M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Yale University and a Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering from

Rice University. Dr. Diftler has published more than 50 peer reviewed technical papers in

robotic systems and helicopter dynamics. He has 11 patents currently in process or awarded in

the field of robotics. Dr. Diftler is a recipient of a 2009 NASA Exceptional Engineering

Achievement Award, a 2004 NASA Public Service Medal, and the 2005 IEEE Humanoids

Conference Best Paper Award.

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