College of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Shi's Vita

NAME: Riyi Shi
POSITION TITLE: Mari Hulman George Endowed Professor of Applied Neuroscience Professor of biomedical engineering Director, Center for Paralysis Research. Department of Basic Medical Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering
EDUCATION/TRAINING: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai, China MD/BS 1984
Medicine University of North Texas, Denton, TX M.S. 1988
Neuropathology Purdue University PhD 1994 Develop. Neurobiology

A. Positions and Honors

Positions

  • 09/84 - 06/86 Resident and Clinical Instructor, Dept. Orthopedics, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai, China
  • 09/86 - 12/88 Research Assistant, Dept. Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
  • 01/89 - 07/92 Research Assistant, Dept. Pharmacology, Univ. Texas Southwestern Med. Ctr., Dallas, TX
  • 08/92 - 07/94 Research Assistant, Dept. Anatomy and Ctr. Paralysis Research, Purdue University
  • 08/94 - 01/97 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Div. Neurosurgery, Univ. North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
  • 02/97 - 09/98 Associate Scientist, Ctr. Paralysis Research, Dept. Basic Medical Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • 10/98 - 06/03 Assistant Professor, Ctr. Paralysis Research, Dept. Basic Medical Sciences, Sch. Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • 07/02 - 06/03 Assistant Professor, Dept. Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering (courtesy appointment), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • 07/03 – 06/09 Associate Professor, Depts. Basic Medical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering (courtesy appointment), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • 07/09 – Present Professor, Depts. Basic Medical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering (courtesy appointment), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • 10/09 – Present Visiting professor, Fourth Military Medical University, Xian, China.
  • 10/08 – Present Adjunct professor, Institute of trauma and orthopedics, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine.

Honors

  • 1998 Canadian Research Studentship, Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Death
  • 05/94 Award for Outstanding Student Platform Presentation, Thirty-forth Annual Midwest Developmental Biology Conference, Granville, Ohio
  • 03/96 Visiting Scholar, The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Mie University, Tsu, Japan
  • 11/98 Recipient: Iwao Yasuda Annual Award for Excellence in Biomedical Engineering Research, Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine.
  • 03/99 Visiting Scholar, The Japan Foundation for Aging and Health and Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
    2002-pres: Scientific reviewer: New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research Program
  • 2004 Southern Consortium for Injury Biomechanics. University of Alabama
  • 2005-2009: Scientific Reviewer: Scientific Peer Advisory Committee, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
  • 2006 Scientific reviewer: American Heart Association Brain Two (2) Peer Review Study Group.
  • 2006 Outstanding Alumni: Basic Medical Science, Purdue University.
  • 2008 Recipient: 2008 Pfizer Animal Health Awards for Research Excellence. School of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University.
  • 2008 Paper: (Hamann, K., Durkes, A., Ouyang, H., Uchida K, Pond, A., and Shi, R. Critical Role of acrolein in secondary injury following ex vivo spinal cord trauma. J. Neurochemistry. 107: 712-721. 2008) was selected by Faculty of 1000 Biology as one of the most important paper of the year.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18710419/
  • 2009 Section chair and discussion leader, applications of induced Cell Fusion in Medicine. Gordon Research Conference: Cell-Cell Fusion. July 19-24, 2009 Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH
  • 2009 Program Chair, 2nd International Conference on BioMedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI 2009, sponsored by IEEE and EMB). Oct. 14-19, Tianjing China.
  • 2011 Program Chair, 4th International Conference on BioMedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI 2009, sponsored by IEEE and EMB). Oct. 15-19, Shanghai China.
  • 2011 Guest Editor, Journal Medical Systems, Special Issue on the Second International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI 2009), 35, 2011.
  • 2011-pre. Member of editorial Board, World Journal of Pharmacology
  • 2011-pre Member of editorial Board, Neural regeneration research

B. Research Support

This laboratory is currently supported by:

  • NIH
  • NSF
  • Indiana State Department of Health

C. Mentorship

AS MAJOR PROFESSOR

  • Melissa A. Peasley: Ph.D, completed May 2003
    • "The mechanisms of secondary damage in ischemic spinal cord injury"
  • Jian Luo: Ph.D. completed Dec. 2003
    • "Free radical-mediated neuropathology and its management in mechanical spinal cord injury"
      2004 Pfizer student research excellence award, 2004
  • Jennifer McBride. Ph.D. completed Dec. 2005
    • "Functional and anatomical damage of mammalian spinal cord following mechanical stretch"
      Winner: 1st place in Tacker student presentation competition, 2005
  • Ashley Nehrt M.S. completed Dec. 2005
    • "The role of calcium in axonal resealing in mammalian spinal cord"
      Winner: 1st place in poster competition in Purdue Neuroscience retreat. 2004.
  • Haiping Chen M.S. completed Aug. 2006
    • "Free radical-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and its rescuer"
  • Jianming Li Ph.D. completed April 2009
    • "Three-Dimensional Construct for Nerve Regeneration"
      National Science Foundation IGERT fellow: 2003-2005
      Purdue Strategic Initiatives Fellowship, 2005-2006
      GK-12 National Science Foundation educational Fellowship 2007-2008
      V. Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching, Biomedical Engineering (2007)
      Purdue Graduate Student Teaching Award (2007)
      Henry Ford II Scholar for best engineering student: 2007-2008
      Outstanding Graduate Student Award (2008)
      1st place in Annual Sigma Xi Graduate Student Research Poster Award (engineering) 2008
      Bisland dissertation fellowship: 2008
  • Kristin Hamann Ph.D. completed May. 2009
    • "Role of acrolein in spinal cord injury"
      1st place in Tacker student presentation competition, 2007
      Honorable mention in Annual Sigma Xi Graduate Student Research Poster Award (life science) 2007
      1st place in Annual Sigma Xi Graduate Student Research Poster Award (life science) 2008
      Pfizer student research excellence award 2008
      Bisland dissertation fellowship: 2008
  • Hui Ouyang Ph.D. completed Aug. 2010
    • "Biomechanics of spinal cord injury"
      Honorable mention in Annual Sigma Xi Graduate Student Research Poster Award (Engineering) 2008
      Bisland dissertation fellowship: 2009
  • Wenjing Sun Ph.D. completed Dec. 2010
    • "Restoration of axonal conduction following mechanical trauma"
      1st place in Tacker student presentation competition, 2008
      Pfizer student research excellence award 2010
      Bisland dissertation fellowship: 2010-2011
  • Todd Rickett Ph.D. completed May 2011
    • Enhance axonal growth through multiple stimuli
      1st place in Annual Sigma Xi Graduate Student Research Poster Award (engineering) 2009
      NIH CTSI Student Fellowship: 2008-2010
      Bisland dissertation fellowship: 2010-2011
  • Rui Yan M.S. completed Jan. 2012
    • Restoration of axonal conduction through potassium channel blockade
  • Abeje Ambaw Ph.D. completed Jul. 2012
    • "The Role of acrolein in Parkinson's diseases"
    • Best Student teaching assistant: Purdue University, 2009
  • Gary Leung Ph.D. completed Jul. 2012
    • The role of oxidative stress in experimental allergic encephalitis
    • NIH CTSI Student Fellowship: 2010-2012
    • 1st place in Annual Pfizer Graduate Student Research Poster Award 2011
  • Sean D. Connell Ph.D. completed Jan. 2013
    • Blast-induced central nervous system trauma
    • Purdue Strategic Initiatives Fellowship, 2009-2010
  • Lingxing Zheng Ph.D. completed Feb. 2014
    • Mechanisms and interventions of free radical-mediated cell death
  • Michael Walls M.S. completed Apr. 2014
    • Blast-induced neuronal damage
  • Desiree White Ph.D. completed Nov. 2014
    • Enhance drug delivery through nano technology.
  • Jonghyuck Park Ph.D. completed Dec. 2014
    • Inhibition of secondary injury in animal models of spinal cord trauma
  • Melissa Tully Ph.D. completed Apr. 2015
    • Neuroprotection in experimental allergic encephalitis
  • Nicholas Race Ph.D. completed Apr. 2017
    • Causes and consequences of mild blast-induced traumatic brain injury: From biomechanics to behavior
  • Ran Tian Ph.D.  expected May 2017
    • Discovery of novel acrolein scavengers and their neuroprotection effects
  • Sasha M. Vega Alvarez Ph.D. expected Jun. 2017
    • Oxidative stress-mediated inflammation and behavioral deficits after blast-induced neurotrauma
  • Glen Acosta Ph.D. expected Dec. 2017
    • Biochemical characterization of blast-induced traumatic brain injury and subsequent susceptibility to Parkinson's disease
    • Most Outstanding Interdisciplinary Project Award, Purdue University Interdisciplinary Graduate Program: 2014
    • Nominee from Purdue, MAGS Distinguished Thesis Award: 2016
    • Eli Lilly-Stark Neurosciences Research Institute Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Neurodegeneration: 2017
  • Jessica Page Ph.D.
    • Functional Restoration following demyelination in spinal cord injury