(2dc) Peptide Guided Bio-Hybrid Functional Architectures and Materials

Research Interests: In Nature, through millions of years of trial-and-error evolution, highly tuned biological systems have emerged that far exceed the capabilities of man-made systems, e.g., self-healing materials, mechano-sensitive assemblies, and excellent lubrication in joints. Nature’s ingenuity is grounded in its ability to cooperatively assemble relatively few biomolecule species into hierarchical systems using simple intermolecular interactions. Materials engineering approaches that tailor these soft interactions have brought forward a diverse set of materials with biomimetic function. My research interests lie in the rational engineering of soft matter systems guided by molecular fundamentals elucidated from nanoscale experimental and computational interrogations. I aim to develop bio-hybrid composite materials that utilize peptide binding motifs to bridge disparate materials such as synthetic polymers, biomolecules, and inorganic nanostructures. By leveraging the strengths of these individual components, we may control the molecular self-assembly across multiple length and time scales and develop functional materials with properties rivaling those of their naturally occurring counterparts. Of particular interest is the development of materials and interfaces with bioinspired functionalities such as catalysis, mechano-memory, and broadband energy dissipation. My long-term goal is to seamlessly integrate such macromolecular assemblies with man-made systems for the fabrication of hybrid devices and technologies for bio-catalysis, bio-inspired lubrication, and living materials.

Research Experience: My research training has been multidisciplinary in nature. Prior to my graduate training, I obtained extensive research experience designing and testing spatiotemporal DNA nanotube assemblies in Prof. Rebecca Schulman’s Dynamic and Adaptive Biomolecular Materials Lab at Johns Hopkins University. Through graduate training in Molecular Engineering, my fundamental knowledge has been extended beyond Chemical Engineering to include the intersections of Bioengineering, Materials Sciences, Biochemistry, and Biophysics. During my graduate training in Prof. René Overney’s NanoScience Lab at the University of Washington, the material scope of my research was widened to include peptide-inorganic interfaces. Through the application of molecular dynamics simulations, peptide synthesis, and scanning probe microscopy-based characterizations, I rationally designed peptides with predictable assembly structure and interfacial binding energies. In my on-going research as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, I have combined my biomolecular design and assembly experience with the Prof. Stuart Rowan’s synthetic polymer expertise and Prof. Margaret Gardel’s soft matter physics expertise to create mechanically sensitive and trainable semi-synthetic actin networks. Throughout my research career I have gained experience in all three of the key materials engineering pillars of characterization, synthesis, and modeling/simulations. Specifically, I have experience with scanning probe microscopy, rheology, light scattering, confocal microscopy, enhanced sampling molecular dynamics, as well as peptide and polymer synthesis.

Teaching Interests: As the lines between traditional engineering fields continue to blur, specifically for emerging technologies, incorporation of interdisciplinary aspects involving Nanoscience and Molecular Engineering (NME) into our undergraduate (UG) educational programs will be imperative to prepare students for the demands of our future workforce. The University of Washington and the University of Chicago have both spearheaded the incorporation of NME into the core UG engineering training. During my PhD, I have had the opportunity to take active part as teaching assistant (TA) in the incorporation and development of NME specific courses, as well as classical Chemical Engineering transport courses in the graduate program. As future faculty, my intent is to further refine my experiences and weave NME principles throughout my teaching so students can tackle problems currently insufficiently addressed by mere phenomenological approaches. This will include besides theoretical classroom teaching, hands-on experimental and computational module development. My aim is to lead a lab that facilitates an environment in which undergraduates can develop their research experience and cultivate technical skills critical for industry or academia. Additionally, as I have learned from mentoring six undergraduates and two master’s students, this emphasis on UG research gives graduate students valuable experience leading student research, thus, better preparing them for their future research careers.

Future Directions: As future faculty, my research plan is three-fold: (1) Design and synthesize peptide binding motifs with specificity towards inorganic and biomolecular targets, (2) Utilize such motifs to tune interactions and assembly of macroscopic materials, and (3) Implement nanoscale characterization techniques to link the molecular scale interactions and phenomena to bulk material properties. While my current research has focused on 2D and 3D architectures, namely designing and characterizing surface assemblies, and biopolymer networks, respectively, my future research plan entails bridging these systems to create complex bio-hybrid, stimuli responsive materials. The molecular engineering of intermolecular interactions and transport phenomena within these hierarchical assemblies will allow for immense control over the hybrid system’s function with implications to emerging technologies, such as, directed nucleation and organization of nanomaterials, tailored sensing, nanopatterned biocatalysts, and improved tribological materials.