by Mia Garchitorena

Three Vanderbilt University faculty members have been elected to the 2023 College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). They are:

• James Crowe, Jr., MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, professor of Pediatrics and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and Ann Scott Carell Professor, was selected for “seminal research about the action of human antibodies and translation for development of numerous antibody drugs for infectious diseases.”
• Paul Harris, PhD, professor of Biomedical Informatics, Biomedical Engineering and Biostatistics, was selected for “pioneering contributions in biomedical data collection, standardization and cloud-based systems that support machine learning.”
• Jamey Young, PhD, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering, professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and director of Graduate Studies in Chemical Engineering, was selected for “outstanding contributions of software and mathematical modeling approaches used in metabolism research and leadership in bioengineering education.”

Crowe is a viral immunologist and pediatric infectious disease specialist.

“I’m honored that AIMBE has honored us for our long-term commitment to advancing the field of human antibody engineering. Vanderbilt has been such a great place to develop and deploy new antibody technologies to improve human health,” said Crowe.

Harris is director of the Office of Research Informatics at the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and creator of the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) data platform.

He serves as principal investigator for the NIH-sponsored All of Us Data and Research Center and the NIH/NCATS-sponsored Recruitment Innovation Center.

“I am delighted to be elected as an AIMBE fellow alongside such accomplished peers. This recognition is very meaningful to me and a strong testament to the work our VUMC team has accomplished,” said Harris.

Young developed the first publicly available software package (“INCA”) capable of modeling stable isotope measurements from steady-state or dynamic metabolic tracer experiments. INCA has been licensed more than 1,000 times for academic use and by a dozen different biotechnology companies.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by my peers and to join the ranks of other AIMBE fellows in advocating for medical and biological engineering,” said Young.

The AIMBE College of Fellows includes the top 2% of medical and biological engineers in the United States. The College of Fellows consists of more than 1,500 clinicians, academics, professionals and bioengineers in research, education, clinical practice and government. Between 1991 and 2023, there have been 34 VU faculty who have been elected to the AIMBE’s College of Fellows.