PASADENA, Calif.—Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have joined a global medical effort to address a number of diseases through innovative, multi-institutional, multidisciplinary approaches. The initiative, the Global Enterprise for Micromechanics and Molecular Medicine (GEM4), is centered at MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and was officially launched October 12 at an MIT campus ceremony.
According to Mory Gharib, who is the Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioengineering at Caltech, the participation of Caltech researchers will concentrate on the micromechanics of cells and tissues related to certain diseases.
"In the past, researchers have always looked at the biological and chemical aspects of diseases like malaria," says Gharib. "So this is a novel approach. The idea is that, by looking at the ways certain mechanical properties of the cell change with the disease, you could have new and ideally faster technical devices for doing diagnoses."
An end result might be a microfluidic device, for example, that would use a hairpin needle for doing in situ examinations of cells passing by. The sensor, by utilizing the laws of physics, would be able to tell the percentage of infected cells.
Such a device could also be used for screening, Gharib says. "Millions and millions of cells could be screened, with no need for determining their chemical or spectral behavior."
Another Caltech researcher who will be closely involved in the GEM4 effort is Ares Rosakis, who is director of the Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories (GALCIT) and the von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering. According to Rosakis, a $750,000 gift from Joe and Edwina Charyk to GALCIT will go to facilitating Caltech's participation in GEM4. Specifically, the Charyk gift will be used for the creation of the Charyk Biomechanics Laboratory, which will be part of the existing GALCIT complex.
According to MIT's announcement, GEM4 is "a new paradigm in global interactions among leading institutions to work together seamlessly across the boundaries of science, engineering, technology, medicine, and public health, with an emphasis on biomechanics at the microscopic and molecular levels."
Among GEM4's goals are the bringing together of institutions globally, the creation of new models for interdisciplinary partnerships, and the fostering of a global forum to address and explore huge challenges for the future. The diseases and conditions to be addressed include metastatic cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory diseases, and infectious diseases such as malaria.
"The initial emphasis will include (but will not be limited to) molecular, subcellular, and cellular mechanics applied to major problems in biomedicine," the MIT announcement continues, "where a single investigator or institution is not likely to have the full spectrum of expertise, infrastructure, or resources available to span fundamental molecular science all the way to clinical practice and societal implications."
Professor Subra Suresh, who is the GEM4 director, is the Ford Professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. At Caltech he held the Clark Millikan Visiting Professor Chair in Aeronautics and was also a Moore Visiting Scholar.
