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Oct. 22, Thursday, 4 p.m. -- Thomas C. Skalak, vice president for research and professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia, will speak on "Biomedical Engineering and Innovation Driving the Creative Economy: Solving Complex Systems Problems in Blood Vessel Remodeling, Major Diseases, and Other Societal Challenges." Skalak will discuss the ways that converging problems in medicine require improving our basic understanding of blood vessels. Skalak's team recently showed that magnets about ten times the strength of ordinary refrigerator magnets promote healing by improving blood circulation at injury sites. Poor circulation is a major cause of swelling at sites of injury to soft tissues such as muscles or ligaments. Because injuries that don't swell heal faster and feel less painful, magnets could be more effective than ice packs and compression for common bumps and sprains. The seminar will take place in the Genome & Biomedical Sciences Facility main floor auditorium and is part of the Department of Biomedical Engineering's Distinguished Seminar Series. Contact: Holly Ober, (530) 752-2177, hjober@ucdavis.edu.