This CAREER proposal describes a Research Plan devoted to the design of artificial lung tissue that will be used to study a class of molecules called S-nitrosothiols (RS-NO), and a Teaching Plan devoted to the incorporation of Problem-Based Learning into the engineering curriculum. RS-NO compounds can be inhaled, and hold promise as a potential source of nitric oxide to lung tissue. Nitric oxide can relax smooth muscle in the lung, and this feature is beneficial to several important diseases such as asthma and Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). The objectives of the project are to: 1) engineer and characterize a model of lung tissue which can be used to study physical and chemical properties of biological molecules, 2) characterize the chemistry RS-NO in lung tissue including the effect of active disease, and 3) design therapeutic strategies which optimize the concentration of nitric oxide at smooth muscle sites following the inhalation of RS-NO. Completion of the Research Plan will not only provide the pivotal information necessary to fully investigate the therapeutic potential of RS-NO in the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as bronchial asthma, but will also provide an important model system that can be used in a wide range of future airway studies.
The main objective of the Teaching Plan is the incorporation of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) techniques into the undergraduate and graduate engineering curriculum. PBL is a method that allows not only the acquisition of basic facts and laws associated with the discipline, but strongly encourages the development of less tangible, but perhaps more important, skills of the practicing engineer which include reasoning, judgment, and innovation. Secondary objectives include the incorporation of research results from the Research Plan into the curriculum and peer-assessment. Completion of the Teaching Plan will introduce a new method of teaching engineering concepts that in the long term will produce more creative and effective engineers.
