(6c) Molecular Recognition: From Polymer Science to Precision Medicine

Mission: To engage students in solving real-world healthcare problems through sound engineering fundamentals and rational design principles, within the laboratory and classroom.

Research Interests: Molecular recognition is of utmost importance in a variety of biomedical applications, ranging from targeted drug delivery, to the fabrication of scaffolds for tissue engineering, and diagnostic sensing. There is a need for further investigation in this area, and I plan to pursue a number of complementary research directions:

1. Fabrication of Biohybrid Materials for Molecular Recognition: My dissertation work in the laboratory of Prof. Nicholas A. Peppas has focused on the development of peptide-modified and molecularly imprinted polymers for targeted drug delivery applications. My work has highlighted the need for cost-effective, environmentally robust materials with natural and synthetic components, which act as biological actuators, coupling specific recognition of analytes to a mechanical output.

Relevant Publication: Clegg, J. R., Zhong, J. X., Irani, A. S., Gu, J., Spencer, D. S., & Peppas, N. A. (2017). Characterization of protein interactions with molecularly imprinted hydrogels that possess engineered affinity for high isoelectric point biomarkers. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 105(6), 1565-1574.

2. Development of Predictive Models for Protein-Biomaterial Interactions: Protein adsorption to injectable pharmaceuticals and biomedical implants drives important functions such as biocompatibility, bioactivity, and immune response. However, no existing tools predict the adsorption of proteins to biomaterials.

Relevant Publication: Clegg, J. R., Gu, J., Sun, J., Roy, M., Venkataraman, A., & Peppas, N. A. Elucidating Independent and Combinatorial Effects of Gel Diameter and Hydrophobicity of Protein Adsorption. (in preparation)

3. Biohybrid Platforms for Disease Modeling and Therapy: I will use combinations of natural and synthetic components to reverse-engineer the relevant physiological environment of diseased states. Relevant aspects of this process will be mimicking the proper mechanical properties and maintaining the necessary chemical cues to mimic the native environment. This process will test the fields’ understanding of a disease, as well as generate drug-screening platforms.

Relevant Publication: Clegg, J. R., Wechsler, M. E., & Peppas, N. A. (2017). Vision for Functionally Decorated and Molecularly Imprinted Polymers in Regenerative Engineering. Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine, 3(3), 166-175.

4. Next-Generation Biosensors: I will use combinations of natural and synthetic materials to generate new biosensors, with particular emphasis on using materials as biological actuators into mechanical outputs that are amenable to low resource settings

Relevant Publication: Culver, H. R., Clegg, J. R., & Peppas, N. A. (2017). Analyte-responsive hydrogels: intelligent materials for biosensing and drug delivery. Accounts of chemical research, 50(2), 170-178.

Research Funding and Awards: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Student Award for Outstanding Research from the Society for Biomaterials (Awarded to one Ph.D. candidate annually).

Teaching Interests: The atmosphere of our classrooms, in parallel with course content, shapes students’ perceptions of entire Chemical Engineering disciplines, which has an enduring impact on their life and career trajectory. My teaching mission, as a faculty member, will take three major forms:

The first is in graduate student education, in the areas of laboratory, technical, and communication-oriented training necessary for success as a professional engineer or educator. My approach will involve clinical practitioners in the design process, while simultaneously involving engineering students in generalizable mixed-methods research, developing transferrable skill to complement their technical prowess for industry or academia.

The second, in undergraduate education, will be the development and instruction of both core and elective undergraduate courses through inquiry-based learning. At UT Austin, I received formal training in teaching. I completed my Master’s degree in STEM Education in May 2018, and was the first student to earn a graduate certificate in engineering education. Building upon this training as a faculty member, I am prepared to teach core (e.g. transport phenomena, thermodynamics, materials) and elective (e.g. polymer engineering, biomaterials, other graduate courses) chemical engineering courses. My inquiry-based approach will place substantial emphasis on applying chemical engineering analysis to understand case studies, solve real-world examples, construct design solutions to open-ended prompts, work in teams, and communicate to diverse audiences, while minimizing emphasis on memorization.

Third, I plan to develop an undergraduate research program, guided by student-centered outcomes, to simultaneously advance the biomaterials discipline and empower the next generation of engineering researchers. I have developed a four-point model for student-centered undergraduate research programs that includes the development of technical expertise, increasing familiarity with uncertainty and experimentation, participation in scientific discourse, and maturation of professional identity.

Relevant Publications to Education Mission: [1] Clegg J.R. & Diller K.R. Challenge Based Instruction Cultivates Transferable Skill and Confidence in Biomedical Problem Solving. European Journal of Engineering Education. (in revision). [2] Clegg, J. R., & Diller, K. R. (2018). Evolution of Biomedical Engineering Students’ Perceptions of Problem Solving and Instruction Stategies During a Challenge-Based Instruction Course. Proc. American Society for Engineering Education, Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, UT, 6/27/18.