Dr. Sabia Abidi

SARS-CoV-2, better known as COVID-19 has turned our world upside down. The virus itself is a type of coronavirus with a distinctively high mortality rate and injurious physiological effects that we’ve been seeing in the news for the past several months. In this talk, the speaker will be discussing viruses, specifically the coronavirus, how they spread, how they replicate and the physiology behind their attack on the human hosts. Finally, we will spend some time delving into how doctors, pharmaceuticals and academics are tackling the virus. 

Biography:

Dr. Sabia Abidi is a lecturer in the biomedical engineering department at Rice University and has taught courses in Systems Physiology, Bioinstrumentation, Troubleshooting of Clinical Lab Equipment, and Senior Design. Abidi has a doctorate in biomedical engineering from the University of Texas, Austin. Her investigations utilized in vitro 3-D polymer scaffolds and notch ligand functionalized microbeads to scale up the production of T cells for therapeutic use. Abidi also completed postdoctoral research at NYU School of Medicine utilizing microbiological techniques for malaria research to characterize a unique Plasmodium phenotype – a triggering of parasite death at high densities. Prior to her appointment at Rice, Abidi worked as a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT where she conducted research on using microfluidics for diagnosis and treatment of red blood cell related diseases. Abidi has 10 journal publications and 3 patent applications and was recently awarded a NASA grant to help design teams create a 3D printing database for long space flight missions. She is committed to mentorship and STEM outreach through IEEE WIE, Big Brother/Big Sister, serving as a judge for Rice related and Future City competitions. She currently chairs GBS WIE chapter and is Vice Chair GBS/EMBS Joint Chapter.