BME Community Remembers the Legacy of Alan J. Hunt During Annual Lecture
Dr. Pun’s lecture on “Engineering synthetic alternatives to biologics for medicine,” highlighted efforts to develop synthetic alternatives to biologics used in medicine.
The U-M BME community honored the life and memory of the late Professor Alan J. Hunt during the November 15 Hunt Memorial Lecture. Through the generosity of the Hunt Family, this annual event has commemorated Dr. Hunt’s academic contributions and continued his legacy of inquisitiveness and learning.
Suzie Pun, Ph.D., the Washington Research Foundation Professor of Bioengineering, Director for the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute, and Associate Director of the Resuscitation Engineering Science Unit (RESCU), at the University of Washington, was the 2024 featured lecturer.
U-M BME faculty David Kohn and Connie Wu served as co-chairs of this year’s event, which was held at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Several faculty noted the coincidence of UW’s Dr. Pun as this year’s speaker, since Dr. Hunt himself had grown up in the Seattle area and earned his Ph.D. in Biophysics at UW.
Dr. Pun’s lecture on “Engineering synthetic alternatives to biologics for medicine,” highlighted efforts to develop synthetic alternatives to biologics used in medicine. The three examples she noted were the development of synthetic polymers that facilitate hemostasis and resuscitation for trauma medicine; the synthesizing of a polymer that facilitates intracellular delivery of biologic cargo synthesized based on design principles learned from adenoviral vectors, and the identification of unique aptamers to replace antibodies used in cell therapy manufacturing.
BME is grateful to the ongoing support of the Hunt Family and our community in honoring Dr. Hunt and continuing his commitment to scholarship and research.