(4c) Encapsulation and Stabilization of Biomolecules and Modeling Polymer Depolymerization

My research interests focus on leveraging polymer self-assembly to answer real-world challenges in medicine, such as wound healing and drug stabilization, as well as utilizing data collection and predictions to help inform formulations for drug and biomacromolecular compartmentalization. I wish to utilize complex coacervation alone and in conjunction with techniques such as electrospinning to formulate liquid and solid structures for biomedicine. These topics include:

1. Utilizing ternary systems of two oppositely-charged polymers with solidification techniques for bandages and other such applications to facilitate drug delivery to potentially provide further healing capability.
2. Stabilizing heat labile vaccines, such as those based on mRNA, and other temperature sensitive drugs using complex coacervation, thereby helping eliminate the dependence on the cold chain.
3. Informing, through data collection and predictions, where complexation is best accomplished while maintaining optimal conditions for active moieties, such as drugs and other biomacromolecules.

Research Experience:

During my PhD, I worked to encapsulate and stabilize proteins, enzymes, and viruses against elevated temperatures. Vaccines and other therapeutic cargoes are made, transported, and stored along a “cold chain,” a system designed to maintain the refrigeration of these fragile cargoes. However, if the vaccine or therapeutic falls outside this cold chain, the standard procedure is to throw it out, as it is challenging to check efficacy at point of administration. I utilized complex coacervation, a liquid-liquid phase separation phenomenon, to establish ground rules for encapsulating even weakly charged biomacromolecules in a two-polymer system. I explored the incorporation of three model proteins as a function of solution conditions, polymer properties, and the distribution of charges on the proteins. Using these findings, I incorporated model enzymes and viruses into the coacervate systems and studied the stabilization effects of complex coacervation, particularly with temperatures above refrigeration.

My post-doctoral work is focused on modeling polymer depolymerization. To reduce the global accumulation of plastics in the environment, recyclable polymers have been a topic of increasing interest. Polymers with low ceiling temperatures can be reversibly deconstructed (depolymerized) to yield pure monomer following an applied stimulus and can be re-polymerized from the recovered monomer. I am using Brownian Dynamics to model a variety of different mechanisms, and these simulations inform general, theoretical predictions for polymer unzipping. We are developing new molecular design guidelines for depolymerization chemistries, that are important both for plastic recycling and as the basis for triggered defouling of surfaces within electrochemical devices such as flow batteries.

Teaching Interests:

With all my research (and teaching) experience, I feel qualified to teach the core chemical engineering curriculum. I would be delighted to teach the introductory chemical engineering courses and would want to offer a lower-level laboratory course to introduce laboratory techniques and mindsets earlier in the undergraduate career. In addition, I have experience, and enjoy, teaching coding fundamentals.

One of my goals is to use a mixture of teaching strategies to instruct students so that they may better learn the material. Instead of merely reiterating what an instructor taught in class, students should be able to expand upon course ideas. Additionally, I want them to have the confidence to ask questions and to come up with creative solutions, fostering key engineering strengths. My goals when teaching and mentoring students in the laboratory or classroom are to facilitate and foster intellectual curiosity and development, nurture the ability to problem-solve, and encourage thinking outside the box for solutions. I believe these are skills needed for successful scientists and engineers no matter where their career takes them.