Three PhD Students are Graduating in June

Three PhD students of our program will be graduating in June 2006.  On June 14, 2006 Kristy Wood will be defending her PhD thesis in BME in the general area of mechanistic analysis of insulin transport in CaCo-2 cell and other cell lines. Kristy graduated from the BME Department of the University of Wisconsin in June 2002 and was a member of the inaugural class of UT graduate students that started when Professor Peppas moved to UT in January 2003. In fact, Kristy was the last Purdue University student to come to UT during the move of the laboratory in December 2002, as she had done one semester of her graduate BME coursework in the Fall 2002 at Purdue. Kristy has published several papers and reviews and has presented in a decade of conferences around the world. In 2004 she spent several months at Hoshi University in Japan working with Professor Mariko Morishita.  Kristy has accepted a position with a major pharmaceutical/medical company in Boston, MA and will start there in July 2006..

On June 22, 2006 Hunter Lauten will be defending her PhD thesis in BME in the general area of molecularly imprinted methods for proteins and peptides. While at UT, Hunter was a National Science Foundation/IGERT Fellow and was co-supervised by Prof Peppas and Prof. Lisa Brannon-Peppas of the BME Department. Hunter graduated in BME from Vanderbilt University in June 2002. She joined the group in June 2003, but had arrived at UT and had taken BME coursework since September 2002.  Hunter spent an international internship at the University of Parma in 2005. She is the recipient of several national and international best paper awards and has presented papers in numerous conferences including the IUPAC meeting in Prague, the Czech Republic, the International Microencapsulation Conference in Parma, Italy and the European Controlled Release meeting in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Hunter will be a postdoctoral fellow in Professor David Edwards's (NAE member) laboratory at Harvard University.

On June 30, 2006 J. Brock Thomas will be defending his PhD thesis in ChE in the general area of mucoadhesive polymers, their synthesis, characterization and molecular structure. Brock graduated from the University of Tennessee with the highest Engineering Award in June 2003. He joined our group in September 2003. While at UT he was the recipient of the prestigious Homeland Security Fellowship (only 50 of these fellowships are awarded nationally every year). Brock did his PhD in ChE under the co-supervision of Prof. Peppas and Professor Jim McGinity of the College of Pharmacy. Brock has received numerous recognitions and has presented papers in numerous meetings including the International Gels Symposium in Sapporo, Japan, in 2005. Upon graduation, Brock will join a major chemical company in eastern Tennessee.

Kristy, Hunter and Brock will be PhD graduates Nos 68, 69 and 70.

Congratulations!



Brandon Slaughter Featured in Special Graduation Issue of  the University

Our graduating senior and laboratory assistant Brandon Slaughter is featured in a wonderful article published by the University of Texas (See http://www.utexas.edu/features/2006/commencement/  Written by Pam Losefsky, the article is reprinted below

Using science at its smallest scale, May graduate seeks solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges

For Brandon Slaughter, his undergraduate course of study wasn’t so much about mechanical engineering as it was about problem solving.

An older student who first served in the U.S. Navy before getting serious about college, he came to The University of Texas at Austin with perhaps a stronger sense of purpose than the average 18-year-old and quickly settled on the direction he wanted his education to take.

“I wanted variety, I wanted to tie a lot of fields together,” says Slaughter, who displays a potent combination of technical proficiency and creative energy. An engineering degree, he reasoned, offers a method for solving problems, and it can be applied to almost any other field to arrive at new solutions to puzzles that have stymied practitioners for years.

For instance, Slaughter’s research with Professor Nicholas Peppas in the use of nanotechnology to deliver medication directly to patients is a combination of engineering and therapeutics, ideally applied in the treatment of cancer.

“This research team and I are designing and modeling a novel drug release system using nano-scale polymer chemistry,” he says. “Problems like this have been addressed by biochemists and doctors for a long time, but breakthroughs often don’t occur until you’re able to look at the problem in a different way.”

Variety also evolved from his final course in mechanical engineering—the senior design class. Working with his assigned design team, Slaughter further explored applications of mechanical engineering in space.

“I don’t think I could have asked for a more interesting project or a better team,” he says of the computer simulation work he conducted to design a heat pump for use in vehicles that operate in microgravity environments.

Awarded a prestigious $30,000 (per year) National Science Foundation Fellowship that will fund his continued education, Slaughter enters graduate school in the fall.

“I want to continue to conduct early stage research that will eventually provide the solutions to some of our most pressing concerns, like the environment and health care,” he says.

Although he operated and maintained nuclear reactor plants in the Navy and worked as a technician in the semiconductor industry before entering college, it was his experience at the university that really gave him confidence in his ability to analyze and solve problems.

“I remember absolutely dreading calculus, which I had to pass before I could be admitted into the engineering college.” Slaughter says. “UT’s been a great challenge, but I discovered that nothing here has been beyond my ability to grasp, and that’s been empowering. I feel like I can change the world.”



David Beavers and Sheena Black win Presidential Endowed Fellowships

David Beavers and  Sheena Black received the 2006 Presidential Endowed Scholarship.  Both BME juniors working in our laboratory are just two of three students in the College of Engineering who were recognized with this prestigious fellowship.  The University of Texas Development Board established the prestigious Endowed Presidential Scholarship program in 1973 to provide merit-based scholarship support to its most talented and deserving students.



Don Owens wins prestigious SFB Award

Last week Don Owens a senior PhD student in Chemical Engineering received one of the STAR awards of the Society for Biomaterials. These awards are bestowed upon the students whose papers received the highest score during the blind evaluation of all papers. Don's work was the only one selected by two Special Interest Groups (SIGs), the Drug Delivery and the Ophthalmic Biomaterials SIGs.



Peter Jian Receives University-wide University Coop/George H. Mitchell Award for Academic Excellence

Our laboratory assistant and BME junior Peter (Yicun) Jian has been selected as one of the finalists of the University-wide University Coop/George H. Mitchell  Awards for Academic Excellence. The nine recipients of this award, widely considered as the award for the best undergraduate(s) of the University, will receive $2,000 (five students), $5,000 (three students) or $20,000 (one student).  These winners will be announced at a dinner on April 28. Peter has been working in our laboratory for a year under the supervision of ChE PhD student Don Owens on the development of externally triggered nanodevices for release and targeted treatment of diseases. He has published two proceedings papers and has received several regional awards for his research. This summer he will be an intern in the prestigious MD Anderson clinical internship program. He is a premed student and will be applying to various medical schools next Fall.



Participation and Best Paper Award at Ninth European Symposium on Controlled Drug Delivery

On April 5-7, 2006, Hunter Lauten and Kristy Wood, both BME PhD students in their last year of studies, attended the Ninth European Symposium on Controlled Release in Noordwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. Both presented posters of their most recent research. Kristy Wood's paper on "Lectin Functionalized Complexation Hydrogels for Oral Protein Delivery", co-authored with Greg Stone, was awarded the Best Paper Award of the meeting.



Laura Serra Receives PhD Degree

On May 31, 2006, Laura Serra defended her PhD thesis in the School of Pharmacy of the University of Barcelona. Professors Peppas (UT) and Josep Domenech of the University of Barcelona were her two advisors. Laura conducted most of her PhD thesis in our laboratories. She was with our group from 2002 to 2005. While at UT, she was appointed as a Visiting Scientist in the Division of Pharmaceutics.

Her PhD thesis involved the dynamic analysis of tethered structures used in molecular mucoadhesion. In addition, Laura developed novel mucoadhesive systems for oral protein delivery and studied their cellular response. Her publications include  L. Serra, J. Doménech and N. A. Peppas, “Design of Poly(ethylene glycol)-tethered Copolymers as Novel Mucoadhesive Drug Delivery Systems”, Europ. J. Pharm. Bioph., 63, 11-18 (2006);    L. Serra, J. Doménech and N. A. Peppas, “Drug Transport Mechanisms in and Release Kinetics from Molecularly Designed Poly(Acrylic Acid-g-Ethylene Glycol) Hydrogels”, Biomaterials, (in press); and a review article in the Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery.  In addition she presented papers at AIChE, HSEMB, and AAPS meetings and the World Congress of Drug Absorption.   Laura Serra is the 67th PhD to graduate from this laboratory.

Laura has accepted a position a a research scientist with Kimberly-Clark in Neenah, Wisconsin.



Tom Dziubla Accepts a Faculty Position

We are glad to inform you that Tom Dziubla  (BS 1998) has accepted an offer and will join the ChE Department of the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor in August 2006. Tom did his BS thesis in our laboratory in 1997-98 and followed Tony Lowman (PhD 1997) to Drexel University where he did his PhD thesis (PhD 2003) under his direction. Upon graduation, he spent three years as a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

Tom's research interests are in biomaterials, biopolymers, poly(ethylene glycol). With this group he co-authored several papers including A.M. Lowman, T.D. Dziubla and N.A. Peppas, "Novel Networks and Gels Containing Increased Amounts of Grafted and Crosslinked Poly(ethylene glycol)," Polym. Prepr., 38 (1), 622-623 (1997);  T.D. Dziubla, N.A. Peppas and A.M. Lowman, “Tailor-made Networks of Poly(ethylene glycol) for Controlled Drug Delivery,”  Proceed. Int. Symp. Control. Rel. Bioact. Mater., 26, 539-540 (1999);  T.D. Dziubla, A.M. Lowman and N.A. Peppas, “Evaluation of Poly(ethylene glycol)-Based Copolymers for Contact Lenses,” Trans. Soc. Biomater., 27, 232 (2001); and A.M. Lowman, T.D. Dziubla, P. Bures and N.A. Peppas, “Structural and Dynamic Response of Neutral and intelligent Networks in Biomedical Environments”, in N.A. Peppas and M.V. Sefton, eds., “Molecular and Cellular Foundations of Biomaterials”, 75-130, Academic Press, New York, 2004



Ruben Morones wins prestigious Fellowship

Ruben Morones, a third year ChE PhD student working under the direction of Professor Wolfgang Frey (BME) and Nicholas Peppas  has  been awarded  the  E.D. Farmer Fellowship for 2006-2007.  This is a prestigious fellowship that recognizes his important contributions to the field of nanotechnology. Ruben has published several papers on nanomaterials.



Peter Jian Receives University-wide University Coop/George H. Mitchell  Award for Academic Excellence

Our laboratory assistant and BME junior Peter (Yicun) Jian has been selected as one of the finalists of the University-wide University Coop/George H. Mitchell  Awards for Academic Excellence. The nine recipients of this award, widely considered as the award for the best undergraduate(s) of the University, will receive $2,000 (five students), $5,000 (three students) or $20,000 (one student).  These winners will be announced at a dinner on April 28. Peter has been working in our laboratory for a year under the supervision of ChE PhD student Don Owens on the development of externally triggered nanodevices for release and targeted treatment of diseases. He has published two proceedings papers and has received several regional awards for his research. This summer he will be an intern in the prestigious MD Anderson clinical internship program. He is a premed student and will be applying to various medical schools next Fall.



Brandon Slaughter Receives NSF Fellowship

Our laboratory assistant and Mechanical Engineering senior Brandon Slaughter has been selected as a recipient of a prestigious National Science Foundation Fellowship.



Elena Losi defends PhD Thesis

On March 13, 2006, Elena Losi successfully defended her PhD thesis in the Department of Pharmacy of the University of Parma, Italy. Elena worked in our laboratory from June 2003 to May 2005. Her PhD thesis addressed the development and mechanistic analysis of novel drug delivery systems with concave and convex surfaces, called Dome Matrix® systems. These are modified tablets with improved release characteristics, ease of administration, high patient compliance/comfort, low cost and flexibility in dosing schedule. They have been developed at the University of Parma by her other major professor, Prof. Paolo Colombo, and have been discussed in several early publications including E. Losi, R. Bettini, P. Santi, F. Sonvico, G. Colombo, K. Lofthus, P. Colombo and N.A. Peppas, “Assemblage of Novel Release Modules for the Development of Adaptable Drug Delivery Systems”, J. Controlled Release, 111, 212-218 (2006).

At UT, Elena developed an advanced experimental technique that can be applied on dry and slowly swelling tablets in situ (without moving them out of the dissolution vessel during swelling and release) and can be used to identify the swelling and dissolution process. High Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography is a technique for digitally tomographing a swelling sample in real time using X-rays. This way, one can achieve acquisitions of multiple data on “slices” of a sample over a range of angular orientations. The technique provides rapid acquisition, is a  nondestructive technique, provides cross-sectional images in different planes through a sample, allows visualization of features in the interior of opaque and solid sample, allows continuous collection of digital information on 3-D geometries and properties of a wide range of materials and was applied to the pharmaceutical field for the first time.

Elena is also a co-author of two other publications from her work at UT:  N. J. Kavimandan, E. Losi, J. J. Wilson, J. S. Brodbelt and N. A. Peppas, “Synthesis and Characterization of Insulin-Transferrin Conjugates”, Bioconjugate Chem., (submitted)  and   N. J. Kavimandan, E. Losi, and N. A. Peppas, “Novel Delivery System Based on Complexation Hydrogels as Delivery Vehicles for Insulin-Transferrin Conjugates”, Biomaterials, (in press).

Elena Losi has accepted a position as a research scientist with a major pharmaceutical company in Italy.

High Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography images of a Dome Matrix ® at t=0 and after 15 and 55 min of exposure to a PBS solution

Eight BME and ChE undergraduate students receive URF fellowships in 2005-2006

Eight undergraduate students from Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering have received prestigious URF Fellowships to work in our laboratories this year. They are Greg Stone (ChE), Gail Su (ChE), Peter Jian (BME), Brandon Slaughter (ME), Jack Eby (ChE), Adrienne Rosales (ChE), David Beavers (BME) and Joseph Tsingsanchali (ChE).

The  University Cooperative Society provided generous funding for the Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF) Program. The Co-op gift, with additional funds from the Student Government and University colleges and schools, provides university-wide funding for undergraduate student research.  The Undergraduate Research Fellowship program provides support for specific scholarly research projects conducted by full-time UT undergraduate students.

Biomedical engineering doctoral candidate receives research paper grand prize at Italian meeting (UT COE News)

IGERT Fellow Presents Research in Prague (UT BME News)

Three students receive Whitaker Foundation awards (UT COE News)

Three graduate students selected to present research at world conference (UT COE News)

Three Graduate Students Recognized with Whitaker Awards from the Society for Biomaterials (UT COE News)