Welcome, Readers!
By Nitish Thakor
Welcome to The June 2012 issue of the Life Sciences Newsletter! We hope that you have already subscribed or will subscribe to the Newsletter so you can receive our articles on a regular basis. We also urge you to inform your colleagues about this exciting Newsletter that is linked to the IEEE Life Sciences Portal.
This month we feature an interview with Joseph Smith, of the Gary & Mary West Wireless Health Institute, speaking about the healthcare crisis, and some simple approaches that can reduce costs.
The new field of microfluidics has come into prominence in the news as researchers develop the “lab-on-a-chip” for rapid, inexpensive medical detection and diagnosis. C.T. Lim, of the National University of Singapore, discusses the use of microfluidics for detecting cancer cells
The path from medical device concept to practice is frequently long and circuitous. Tom O’Dwyer reports on a newly-formed center based at MIT that aims to transform medical electronic device industries.
Once again we are favored with the Computational Biology Corner, where M. Vidysagar ponders the curious case of acronyms in his professional field. We think you will find this entertaining! Perhaps it reminds you of some of your favorite acronyms?
We look forward to your active participation in this Newsletter. We hope that many of you will send us your comments and suggestions and submit cutting edge scientific news stories, share emerging technologies, discoveries and breakthroughs, for possible publication in future issues. Send them to us at lsnews@ieee.org.
Nitish Thakor, Editor-In-Chief
Lee Moffitt, Managing Editor
lsnews@ieee.org
In his roles as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Science Officer of the West Wireless Health Institute, Dr. Joseph M. Smith leads initiatives to identify and accelerate the use of health care innovations and technologies... 
Mathukumalli Vidyasagar received B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, in 1965, 1967 and 1969 respectively. Between 1969 and 1989, he was a professor of Electrical Engineering at various universities in the USA and Canada. 
C.T. Lim is a Professor of Bioengineering at the National University of Singapore and a Principal Investigator at the university's Mechanobiology Institute. 
Tom O'Dwyer is Director of Healthcare Technology at Analog Devices Inc. in Wilmington, Massachusetts. In his current role, he has responsibility for all aspects of semiconductor technology for the worldwide healthcare market...