Thank you to everybody who came out to our fourth GBM of the semester to attend Dr. Brancho-Sanchez's research presentation on investigating anti-inflammation using indoleamine-pyrrole 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Dr. -Sanchez is an post-doctoral researcher in Dr. Benjamin Keselowsky's lab in the UF Biomedical Engineering Department. She received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Florida in 2017.

Notes and Announcements:

Active Member Status

SFB presented on the implementation of requirements an “active member” status. Active membership would be optional and would include benefits such as eligibility to attend the SFB National Conference and priority for spots on industry tours and industry info sessions. Requirements would include attending at least 4 meetings and 2 events per semester and becoming a member of the SFB National Chapter.  This amendment to the constitution was put to a vote during the meeting.

Biomaterials Days 2018 - Breaking Barriers in Biomaterials Research

Thank you to everyone that came out to Biomaterials Day 2018.  Please fill out our feedback form!  You can find the form here: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdRpTk_SOhZGPUdhHxqnMzQJOPRy6jwJq6Z3CoaBxW0ZVbGRw/viewform

Volunteer Opportunities

If you are interested in volunteering for any outreach activities (go to tab at top of website: About > Outreach), please check out this link to sign up for the various volunteer opportunities: bit.ly/SFBoutreachsignup

We have a few opportunities that are currently in need of volunteers:

Girls Place

• After school homework assistance

• Once a month on Thursdays

• Next event: April 12th (make sure you sign up a week in advance!)

Hands on Gainesville

• Vertical garden design with Finley Elementary School

• Facilitate once a week during after school program

• Future dates:

  • March 14th

  • March 21st

  • March 28th

  • April 4th

  • April 11th

  • April 18th

  • April 25th

  • May 2nd

GatorTrax (with Tau Beta Pi)

• Designing an activity for elementary aged children about biomaterials

• Activity to last approximately 20 minutes

• First meeting: March 17th from 10:00am - 12:00pm at the Reitz Union

Outreach Committee

• Help design outreach activities

• GatorTrax, EFair, or creatives in residence at the Cade Museum

• Participation counts towards active membership 

National Conference 2018 - Atlanta

The program committee has issued a special call for Late Breaking abstracts.  The deadline for submission is February 1st and will be accepted for poster presentation only.  Follow this link to submit: https://2018.biomaterials.org/.  The conference will take place 4/11 - 4/14 in Atlanta, GA.  This is a great opportunity to present student research and network with students and professionals in the biomaterials community.  We encourage our members to attend and are offering to fund several students to attend. Preference will be given to active members who will be presenting at the conference. For more information on the possibility of funding, please see the society's national website or contact our chapter at uflbiomaterials@gmail.com with any questions.