About the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics
When the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics opened its doors at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia in 2002, it was the world's first dedicated bioelectrics research facility. The founders of the Center chose the term bioelectrics to define this new field, in which pulsed power engineers work with life scientists and clinicians to understand and then to harness the effects of very strong but very short bursts of electrical energy on cells, tissues, and whole organisms [1].
Since then, as the field has expanded in numbers and in geographic reach, the Center has served as an international point of reference and a gathering place for fundamental and applied bioelectrics research.
Center laboratories today maintain active concentrations in cancer cell biology and immunology, cancer therapeutics, neurostimulation and electrophysiology, integrative pulmonary biology, cold atmospheric plasma biomedicine, renewable energy, and environmental remediation, nanosecond and picosecond pulse generators and delivery systems, including high-power antenna systems for noninvasive electrostimulation, and molecular simulations of cellular constituents under electrical stress.
Mission
The mission of the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics (FRRCBE) is to generate scientific knowledge and increased understanding of the interaction of electromagnetic fields and ionized gases with biological systems, and to use this knowledge to optimize and develop applications in biotechnology, medical diagnostics and therapeutics, food and other industrial processing and sterilization, and environmental remediation. Within this framework the Center conducts leading-edge interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research, recruits world-class faculty, early-career scientists and exceptional graduate students, supports local, regional, national and, international research and development and educational programs, and seeks to share these opportunities with Old Dominion University students and faculty. The FRRCBE engages with entrepreneurial individuals, organizations, and companies to promote commercialization of Bioelectrics-based technologies, and seeks to increase external funding and institutional visibility.
