Khoshakhlagh and Elaine Horn-Ranney at the Kennedy Space Center at the launch of the NASA SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship in December.

We’re on It

If there is an ecosystem that is threatened, a population in peril, a subject matter unexplored, a discovery yet to be made, a cure to be found — somebody at Tulane is working on it. That’s just what we do.

Tulane students learn this early and often. No sooner do they arrive on campus than they encounter opportunities that will help them become the leaders of tomorrow by effecting real change today.

 

Two perfect examples of this are biomedical engineering graduates Elaine Horn-Ranney (SSE ’08, ’13) and Parastoo Khoshakhlagh (SSE ’13, ’15), who both earned PhDs from Tulane. Research they began as Tulane students resulted in Perf-Fix, a gel-based patch that can repair damaged eardrums without surgery. Now the efforts of these two young scientists and entrepreneurs have gone out of this world. Their gel patch was on board the recent launch of the SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship. NASA scientists ran experiments on the gel in the hope that this Tulane-born technology might help both astronauts in flight and wounded soldiers back here on Earth.

Mike Fitts, President
Mike Fitts, President

Tulane’s research and scholarship span the globe and enter the heavens while also incorporating (and often combining) multiple disciplines in science, engineering, business, poetry, politics, medicine, law, architecture and more. Our studies and essays fill the pages of the nation’s leading research, academic and literary journals. The commentary of Tulane faculty can be found in national media coverage and trending on social media. Our authors are best-sellers, our faculty are world-renowned, and our discoveries are life-changing.

We are also attracting an increasing share of the world’s best students, those who want to be on the ground floor of tomorrow’s breakthroughs and on the front row of human history as it unfolds and advances. Our academic leaders are creating an amazing synergy across disciplines that makes the Tulane student experience one of the most unique and innovative anywhere.

Tulane’s research and scholarship span the globe and enter the heavens while also incorporating (and often combining) multiple disciplines in science, engineering, business, poetry, politics, medicine, law, architecture and more.

Understanding what triggers an immune response, prompts a behavior, fuels an addiction or places human need at the center of design are all central to our mission of teaching, learning, discovering and changing. We are concerned with justice, with creating new economic opportunities, with preserving the past through study and securing the future through sustainability.

Tulane research and scholarship play a central role in the new New Orleans — a tech hub that is showing the promise of becoming the country’s next Silicon Valley.

By attracting the world’s top faculty and students, Tulane is creating a critical mass of brain power and energy. We are educating the next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs, designers, creators and innovators who are as enthralled by New Orleans’ culture as they are inspired by its potential. Our efforts will give talented young people the opportunity to pursue their careers and build their lives among generations of old and new New Orleanians. Together, they will continue to make sure — somebody is on it.