Great question. Here's more on the researchers:
Monica Moya is a research engineer in the Lab’s Center for Micro and Nano Technology, Materials Engineering Division. Her focus currently is on the 3D printing of living cells to formulate working blood vessels and the human vascular system. The work is tied in with the iCHIP program, the in-vitro chip-based human investigational platform, which aims at reproducing the systems of the human body (i.e. the brain, heart, blood-brain barrier etc.) on a computer chip. The technology would be used for testing of new pharmaceuticals and chemicals to see how they react with the body without the need for human subjects.
More on Monica’s work:
https://www.llnl.gov/news/researchers-3d-print-living-blood-vesselsMore on iCHIP:
https://str.llnl.gov/march-2014/pannuYouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_lpcwKfwF8 (Maren, the video’s host, will likely serve as moderator of the Google Hangout)
Vanessa Tolosa is a principal investigator in the Center for Micro and Nano Technology, Materials Engineering Division. Her research has included work on neural interfaces (implantable devices in the brain), deep brain stimulation (DBS), and advanced prosthetics for the deaf and blind. The neural (brain) implants are designed to help veterans and others suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease by encoding and decoding electrical signals in the brain and “bypassing” damaged parts of the brain to promote normal functioning. Retinal and auditory implants have already successfully been used to restore sight and hearing in human patients and in animal studies.
The Lab’s Neurotech page:
https://neurotech.llnl.gov/Reddit AMA with Vanessa:
https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/2ko351Retinal implants:
https://www.llnl.gov/news/retinal-prosthesis-llnl-helped-develop-approved-fdaYouTube video on neural implants:
https://youtu.be/C7U0SWWW4eshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKUuE1ow99c99c
Julie Jackson is a researcher in Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) and part of the Lab’s Center for Engineered Materials, Manufacturing and Optimization. Julie's lab is using several different types of novel methods for 3D printing of ultra-lightweight, yet super-strong materials with a number of profound applications for technology such as “wearables,” wireless sensors, and the aerospace and automotive industries. Julie is a grad student in mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC Davis and a graduate of Livermore High School.
More about the Lab’s Additive Manufacturing program:
https://manufacturing.llnl.gov/additive-manufacturing
3D printing of ultralight, ultrastiff materials:
https://www.llnl.gov/news/lawrence-livermore-mit-researchers-develop-new-ultralight-ultrastiff-3d-printed-materialsVideo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5od5sxzUAE
