Research Group Website

Educational Qualifications

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Colorado, Boulder (2013 – 2017)
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley (2013)
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin (2007)

Courses Taught

CHE 372 Reactor Design and Analysis
CHE 210 Introduction to Computing
CHE 379/384T Molecular Principles of Biomaterials

Focus

Biomolecular and biomimetic materials, hydrogel development, cell-matrix interactions, dynamic materials

Research

We study and develop dynamic polymer systems to engineer complex biological microenvironments. In processes such as disease or tissue development, there is an active interplay between cells, the extracellular matrix, and precise chemical and physical signals that change over time. Engineered materials that capture these dynamic properties can shed insight to biological mechanisms and address problems in human health. Using principles from chemical engineering, materials science, and biology, we pursue the following research goals:

• Fundamental understanding of polymer structure-property relationships, especially biomimetic and stimuli-responsive polymers
• Development of synthetic hydrogels that actively probe cell-matrix interactions
• Engineering new material platforms for disease models

Awards & Honors

• National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Awardee, 2021
• NIH Early Stage Investigator Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), 2020
• Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigator, 2020
• McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering TEAChE Award, 2019
• The Alcalde Texas Ten Teaching Award, 2019
• American Chemical Society (ACS) Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Young Investigator Award, 2019
• Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigator, 2019
• US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium selected participant, 2018
• UT Senate Spring 2018 Professor of the Semester, 2018
• Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface (CASI), 2016

 Selected Publications

• A. Hillsley, J.E. Santos, A.M. Rosales.* “A Deep Learning Approach to Identify and Segment alpha-Smooth Muscle Actin Stress Fiber Positive Cells.” Scientific Reports, 2021.
• T.M. FitzSimons, E.V. Anslyn, A.M. Rosales.* “Effect of pH on the Properties of Hydrogels Crosslinked via Dynamic Thia-Michael Addition Bonds.” ACS Polymers Au, 2021.
• H.C. Schunk, D.S. Hernandez, M.J. Austin, K.S. Dhada, A.M. Rosales,* L.S. Suggs.* “Connecting Materials Chemistry to Inflammatory Biology: Assessing the Range of Enzymatic and Oxidative Tunability for Biosensor Design.” Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 8, 3460-3487, 2020.
• T.M. FitzSimons, F Oentoro, T.V. Shanbhag, E.V. Anslyn, A.M. Rosales.* “Preferential Control of Forward Reaction Kinetics in Hydrogels Crosslinked with Reversible Conjugate Additions.” Macromolecules, 53(10), 3738-3746, 2020.
• L.D. Morton, A.V. Hillsley, M.J. Austin, A.M. Rosales.* “Tuning Hydrogel Properties with Sequence-Defined, Non-Natural Peptoid Crosslinkers.” Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 8, 6925-6933, 2020.
• M.J. Austin, A.M. Rosales.* “Tunable Biomaterials from Synthetic Sequence-Controlled Polymers.” Biomaterials Science, 7, 490-505, 2019.
• A.M. Rosales, S.L. Vega, F.W. DelRio, J.A. Burdick, K.S. Anseth. “Hydrogels with Reversible Mechanics to Probe Dynamic Cell Microenvironments.” Angewandte Chemie, 129, 12300-12304, 2017.