American biomedical engineer and researcher
Manu Omar Platt (born 1980) is an American biomedical engineer serving as the director of the NIH Biomedical Engineering Technology Acceleration (BETA) center. He also serves as NIBIB Associate Director for Scientific Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
He was previously a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. He served as Diversity Director of the Center on Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems.
Early life and education.
Platt is the son of a veteran of the United States Air Force. He spent his high school years in Dover, Delaware. As a high school student, Platt took part in science enrichment programmes at Delaware State University. He earned his undergraduate degree at Morehouse College, where he studied biology as an ARCS Foundation scholar. At Morehouse, Platt was mentored by Robert M. Nerem, and he took part in the Morehouse SPACE scholar programme. On Nerem's advice Platt moved to the Georgia Institute of Technology for his graduate studies, where he worked with Hanjoong Jo on endothelial cell biology. His doctoral research was performed in collaboration with Emory University School of Medicine, as one of the first students to be part of the newly established biomedical engineering program. After earning his doctoral degree he joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Research and career.
In 2009 Platt was appointed to the faculty of the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech, where he investigated the proteolytic mechanisms of disease, with a focus on conditions that impact Black communities. He has concentrated on reducing the occurrence of stroke in patients with sickle cell disease.
Platt has investigated how scientific discoveries have impacted the governmental response to HIV/AIDS. He studied the various bills introduced by the United States Congress, and found that whilst the number of bills was related to breakthroughs in scientific research, it did not impact the passage of laws.
Platt is the founding director of "Engaging New Generations at Georgia Tech through Engineering and Science" (ENGAGES), a biotechnology and engineering research scheme for African American high school students. He delivered the 2017 Biomedical Engineering Society lecture, where he spoke about being from an underrepresented group in science, "Often, if you are the first or the only of a particular demographic category, the path is neither well paved, nor well lit,". He remarked that scientists can feel like they are waiting for the "perfect time", to be impactful in promoting diversity and inclusion. In 2019 he was selected as a Keystone Symposia Fellow. In response to the George Floyd protests, universities released statements that called out racism within their research institutions. Platt wrote a perspective piece for "Nature Reviews Materials" on racism within academia, in which he wrote, "It is said that science is a meritocracy; however, that only holds true if Black professors' existence is accepted."
Platt was chosen, after a nationwide search, to become inaugural director for the NIBIB Biomedical Engineering Technology Acceleration (BETA) center, which works on translational, cross-disciplinary projects.
Personal life.
Platt is one of six sons, including political science researcher Matthew B. Platt. He is a master of origami.
References.
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