Discover the Science of Health
Shula Pollard, Ph.D., is an experienced bioengineer in biomaterials and medical device design. She holds a Ph.D. in bioengineering from UCSD, where she designed and tested scaffolds for guided nerve regeneration. Since then she has worked in industry as a medical device product manager and most recently as a medical writer focusing on competitive intelligence, clinical trial data, and continuing medical education. She also teaches Introduction to Medical Devices, an online course offered through UCSD Extension.
Although chronic diseases with high morbidity and mortality such as diabetes and heart disease command the lion’s share of research dollars, people actually seek healthcare most often for skin issues such as actinic keratosis (a premalignant condition of thick, scaly, or crusty patches of skin) or acne, followed by joint disorders and back pain, according to a recent Mayo Clinic study [1].
At the convergence of biotechnology and nanotechnology, a new project to map the active human brain may eventually lead to an understanding of human perception and consciousness, as well as therapies for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and autism.
