NJIT and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) have forged alliances in diverse disciplines to improve our health and well-being.  >>

NJIT and UMDNJ have executed a license agreement with The Incubation Factory, St. Louis, MO, covering their personal tonometer technology on which a patent is pending.  >>

NJIT's Department of Biomedical Engineering in collaboration with the Division of Career Services will host the Spring Biotech/Life Sciences Industry Forum on Feb. 9, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in Fenster Hall Rm. 698.  >>

NJIT's Vision and Neural Engineering Laboratory is seeking research subjects who have tried progressive lenses (bifocals without the line) and wear them regularly or dislike them and have not had LASIK surgery or any other types of eye surgery. Participants will receive $10 per hour of experimentation. The study will last 3-6 sessions; each session is approximately 1 hour and occurs on different days. We will work with your schedule. Contact: Tara Alvarez, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering at NJIT, e-mail: tara.l.alvarez@njit.edu; 973-596-5272.   >>

Tara L. Alvarez, PhD, associate professor in the department of biomedical engineering and director of NJIT’s Vision and Neural Engineering Laboratory, was one of 12 Outstanding Women of Science recognized at the New Jersey Association for Biomedical Research (NJABR) 2008 Red Carpet Gala held on May 1 at the Bridgewater Manor in Bridgewater, NJ.  >>

A young professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is doing research that could help stroke victims recover their vision.  “When people have strokes, we think of their losing limb mobility but a similar loss can affect the eye muscles, causing what is known as visual field neglect,” said Tara Alvarez, Ph.D., of Andover Township, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at NJIT. “A person with visual field neglect who looks at a clock may only see the numbers on one side of the clock, such as one through six. To this person, the rest of the clock does not exist. A better understanding of motor control can give these people the tools to re-learn the lost visual skill.” Alvarez’s neuroscience research will not only help stroke victims but also lead to diagnosis of other visual diseases. The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded Alvarez an NSF Career award. She will receive the $400,000 grant over five years. The prestigious career award recognizes teacher-scholars most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.The journal Vision Research will publish her research, “Divergence Eye Movements are Dependent on Initial Stimulus Position,” in an upcoming 2005 issue.Alvarez seeks to understand how the brain learns when visually locating objects in three-dimensional (3D) space. Understanding the learning strategies that the human brain uses to control eye movement will also yield insight into the general problem of motor learning.  Her research will lead to a better understanding of basic motor control and also discover how dysfunctions in the eyes’ three-dimensional tracking sysem affect motor learning. Motor learning refers to the way the brain learns by altering the control of human movement. >>