Spring 2025 Seminar Series

March 26, 2025

Protein Delivery Systems for Autoimmune Disease Treatment

Nicholas A. Peppas, The University of Texas at Austin

4:00 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center

Abstract: The biomaterials and drug delivery world is changing drastically. New chemistries have created many exciting new materials. Engineering the molecular design of intelligent biomaterials by controlling structure, recognition and specificity is the first step in coordinating and duplicating complex biological and physiological processes. Here we summarize the latest work of our lab. This includes: (1) Bypassing the BBB barrier for glioblastoma treatment; (2) Combining insulin delivery and glucose sensors for diabetic patients; (3) Nanoparticles for delivery of chemotherapeutic agents; (4) Codelivery for chemotherapy and gene therapy. (4) Use of micelles for RNA delivery. (5) Recent siRNA delivery particulate structures for Crohn’s disease (6) Microfluidic devices for cancer treatment and (7) Addressing diseases less studied: endometriosis, Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia.

Bio: Professor Nicholas A. Peppas is a biomedical/chemical engineer, materials scientist, and nanotechnologist whose research contributions, innovations, inventions have led to twenty chemical, medical and pharmaceutical products. Peppas is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Inventors, Academia Europaea, European Academy of Sciences, Canadian Engineering Academy, Indian National Academy of Engineering, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Korean Academy of Science and Technology, National Academy of France, Royal Academy of Spain, Academy of Athens, Greece, Academy of Romanian Scientists, Mexican Academy of Sciences, Academy of Texas, Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and Italian Society for Medical And Biological Sciences.

He has served as a Visiting Professor in the Universities of Geneva, Paris-Sud, Santiago de Compostela, Madrid, Lisbon, Parma, Pavia, Napoli, Hacettepe (Ankara), Athens, Berlin, Hebrew University (Jerusalem), Hoshi University (Tokyo), Nanyang University (Singapore), Sichuan University (Chengdu), Peking Medical College (Beijing).

His group has set the fundamentals of flow and transport phenomena in numerous medical problems, based on the principles of engineering science and biology. He has published or edited 37 books, 2,150 publications and is cited in more than 230,000 references (H=229). He is honored by 200 Awards including NAE Founders Award, NAM Adam Yarmolinsky, Pharmaceutical Global Leader Award, and the Biomaterials Global Impact Awards. His AIChE Awards include the Founders Award, William Walker Award, Warren K. Lewis Award, Materials Engineering and Sciences Award, and Food, Pharmaceuticals and Bioengineering Award.

Peppas holds a D.Eng. from NTU Athens, a ScD. from MIT and is the recipient of 15 honorary doctorates and professorships from France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Israel and China. He is the Editor of Regenerative Biomaterials (Oxford) and Past-President of CRS, SFB, the International Union of Biomaterials Sciences, and the International Sigma Xi research organization.

March 12, 2025

On Interpretation of Impedance Spectra

Mark Orazem, University of Florida, Gainesville

4:00 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center

Abstract: The interpretation of impedance spectroscopy data requires both a physical insight into the chemistry and physics that govern the system under investigation and an assessment of the error structure of the measurement. Our group has recently published a measurement model computer program that enables both assessing the stochastic and bias errors in a measurement and provides for regression of interpretation models.1 The program is made available under the GNU General Public License (GPL) 3.0 that makes it free for non-commercial use. Tutorials are provided in the included reference manual and as reference 2. The object of this presentation is to describe the approach taken by our group for interpretation of impedance data, including error analysis and development of interpretation models.

The need for an interpretation model that accounts for the chemistry and physics of the system is especially urgent, given the proliferation of papers that rely on distribution of relaxation time (DRT) methods. Such DRT models provide a useful intermediate step toward an interpretation model, but cannot replace a model that accounts explicitly for the chemistry and physics of the system.

Bio: Mark Orazem obtained his BS and MS degrees from Kansas State University and his doctorate in 1983 from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1983, he began his career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, and in 1988 he joined the faculty of the University of Florida, where he is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, the William P. and Tracy Cirioli Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Associate Chair for Graduate Studies. Prof. Orazem is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society, the International Society of Electrochemistry, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He served as President of the International Society of Electrochemistry and co-authored, with Bernard Tribollet of the CNRS in Paris, a textbook entitled Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, now in its second edition. Prof. Orazem received the Henry B. Linford Award of the Electrochemical Society, the Electrochemical Society Corrosion Division H. H. Uhlig Award, and with his co-author Bernard Tribollet, the 2019 Claude Gabrielli Award for contributions to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Prof. Orazem has been teaching short courses on impedance spectroscopy for the Electrochemical Society and other organizations since 2000.

March 7, 2025

A Journey through Membrane Materials: Natural, Synthetic and Somewhere in Between

Gabriel A. Montaño, Northern Arizona University

2:00 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center

Abstract: In biology, lipids serve as the principle organizing molecule in membranes. Membranes are essential to life, serving as cellular barriers, the point of interaction for cellular recognition events, and home to important biological processes such as photosynthesis and cell signaling through non equilibrium organization. Biohybrid and bioinspired membrane materials have been demonstrated as useful frameworks for investigating complex biological processes under controlled conditions (i.e. composition, pH, temperature, ionic strength) as well as for applications ranging from diagnostic and therapeutic delivery vesicles to catalysis and environmental treatment, etc. In this talk, I will describe membrane materials built upon natural lipids and synthetic polymer amphiphiles and our ability to control organization and activity toward investigating complex biological processes such as photosynthetic light-harvesting as well as understanding underlying principles that govern the utility of such materials for technology applications such as those described above. I will also share my unconventional journey to materials science, the challenges, struggles, and fun along the way!

Bio: Dr. Gabriel Montaño is a native New Mexican born and raised in Gallup, NM and has spent his academic and professional careers in the southwest. Gabriel attended New Mexico State University where he received his Bachelors of Science in Biology; attended Arizona State University where he completed his PhD in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and; was an Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 2005, Gabriel accepted a position as a Technical Staff Member with the newly developed Department of Energy-Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) where he remained until the fall of 2017. In the fall of 2017, Montaño moved to Northern Arizona University (NAU) and led the creation of the Center for Materials Interfaces in Research and Applications (¡MIRA!). In addition, he led the establishment of the Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science at NAU and created a PhD program in Applied Physics and Materials Science. Dr. Montaño also served as NAU’s Chief Diversity Fellow and oversaw the creation and implementation of NAU’s first Diversity Strategic Plan. Gabriel has served as a Board Member and as President of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), is a member of the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC), and an advisory Board member for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Materials, Chemical, and Computation Science Division. He has dedicated his career to demonstrating to aspiring scientists the possibility of being an effective, high-impact research scientist while making a difference through outreach initiatives that can help current and future generations of scientists.

March 4, 2025

Functional and Tunable Biomimetics for Reproductive Tissue Engineering

Ariella Shikanov, University of Michigan

3:45 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center

Abstract: Premature ovarian insufficiency and infertility are irreversible and significant side effects of radiation and chemotherapies that impact the quality of life of young cancer survivors. Restoration of reproductive function is uniquely challenging because women are born with a non-renewable reserve of ovarian follicles, the functional unit of the ovary each containing a single oocyte and hormone producing somatic cells. Clinically available fertility preservation options to restore the lost ovarian endocrine function are limited, especially for children and young adults. We aim to create biomimetic constructs that direct tissue regeneration and restore biological function by combining approaches from engineering, materials, chemistry and life sciences. To achieve this, we designed biomaterial-based matrices that support the development of ovarian follicles cultured in vitro or transplanted in vivo. For the in vitro follicle culture, we developed a degradable hydrogel that promotes deposition and sequestration of extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules secreted from the cultured follicles and cells. The ECM-sequestering peptides incorporated in the hydrogel acted as a scaffold for ECM deposition mimicking the fibrous structure of native ECM. Towards restoration of ovarian endocrine function in adolescent pediatric cancer survivors we developed the first generation of a hydrogel-based immuno-isolating capsule that supported survival and function of murine allografts in immune competent hosts. Further, human ovarian tissue encapsulated and implanted in ovariectomized NOD scid gamma (NSG) mice responded to circulating follicle stimulating hormone and secreted ovarian hormones in a physiological process of follicle maturation. In conclusion, we demonstrated that biomimetic hydrogels can support the development of ovarian follicles cultured in vitro or transplanted in vivo.

Bio: Professor, Biomedical Engineering and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education, Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan.

February 19, 2025

Bioprinting for Regenerative Medicine and Cancer: a tool to interrogate and engineer intracellular pathways

Thomas Boland, University of Texas at El Paso

4:00 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center

Abstract: Inkjet bioprinting (TIB) holds immense promise for regenerative medicine, drug discovery, and fundamental biological research, enabling the engineering of functional living tissues. While characterization of bioprinted structures has been a focus of TIB development since its introduction in 2003, this approach inherently limits our understanding of cell behavior within the printing apparatus and immediately post-printing. This presentation explores recent discoveries regarding cell behavior during and shortly after inkjet bioprinting, illuminating previously hidden biological processes.

The mechanical stress exerted by many bioprinting modalities, potentially causing cellular deformation, raises questions about their role in mechanotransduction. Since integrins and cytoskeletal proteins mediate this process—the exchange of physical forces between cells and their extracellular matrix (ECM)—we investigated whether the mechanical stress of bioprinting could be used to model and influence cell behaviors such as reprogramming, vasculogenesis, and drug resistance in cancer cells.

This study examines the effects of TIB on both healthy fibroblasts and breast cancer cells. Bioprinted triple-negative breast cancer cells exhibited more aggressive behavior, including increased proliferation, migration, and drug resistance, compared to non-bioprinted controls. Hormone-responsive breast cancer cells displayed a hormetic response to bioprinting, with low doses exhibiting a beneficial effect (e.g., cell death) and high doses an inhibitory effect. These behaviors are characteristic hallmarks of cancer.

Analysis of TIB-treated fibroblasts revealed several hallmarks of cellular reprogramming, including the expression of pluripotency markers OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, and LIN28B. Bioprinted cells exhibited transient overexpression of lamin A/C in the early hours post-printing, suggesting mechanical stress within the nucleus. Additionally, YAP/TAZ expression in the nucleus was significantly elevated and was not inhibited by WZ4003, a NUAK2 inhibitor known to prevent YAP/TAZ nuclear entry in normal cells. This suggests that alternative pathways, such as YAP Ser128 phosphorylation or pore deformation, may be involved in facilitating the nuclear entry of YAP/TAZ in bioprinted cells.

In conclusion, bioprinting is emerging as a valuable engineering tool for investigating intracellular responses to mechanical stress. This study demonstrates the transformative potential of TIB technology for creating robust models in cancer and stem cell research, enabling the study of drug resistance mechanisms and other biological processes.

Bio: Thomas Boland is a Professor in the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso. He also serves as the director of UTEP's Biomedical Engineering Program. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Ecole Nationale Sup‚rieure d'Ing‚nieurs de Genie Chimique in Toulouse, France in 1990, and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA in 1995. In 1994, he was a finalist for the Materials Research Society Graduate Student Award. Following his Ph.D., he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Department of Materials Science at the Pennsylvania State University from 1995-1997, and at the Naval Research Laboratory from 1997-1999. In 1999, he joined Clemson University as Assistant Professor, where he received tenure in 2005. Prior to heading up the UTEP BME program, Thomas was the Director of a NSF/NIH funded Bioengineering and Bioinformatics Summer Institute, whose primary mission is to introduce senior undergraduate and junior graduate students with science and engineering backgrounds to the interdisciplinary research projects in the bioengineering and bioinformatics areas. Thomas' research interests are applying engineering principles to automate, predict and build three dimensional structures that show biological function. He has received numerous awards and was featured on CNN and the Discovery Channel for his groundbreaking innovations using inkjet printers to assemble cells and biomaterials into viable and functioning structures. He is the author of more than 45 publications, including 3 invited reviews and chapters, and he has delivered more than 25 invited presentations. He is a member of the AVS, MRS, the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) and the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS).

February 12, 2025

Selective Catalytic Transformations of Polyolefins

Aaron Sadow, Ames National Lab and Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University

4:00 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center

Abstract: We are investigating catalytic materials and methods that regulate the cleavage of C–H bonds or C–C bonds in polyolefins, to introduce functional groups at selected positions or to create narrow distributions of shorter, partially deconstructed chains. This approach involves the design and synthesis of 3D porous inorganic metal oxide architectures which contain catalytic sites in well-defined positions in the material, along with spectroscopic investigations and theoretical models of polymer adsorption and translocation in the pores. In parallel, we are developing catalytic sites and reactions that break C–C and C–H bonds in aliphatic hydrocarbon polymers. As these catalytic sites are incorporated into 3D architectures and studied in polyolefin deconstruction reactions, our team is developing theoretical, kinetic models and in situ spectroscopic methods for studying the ‘macromolecular’ mechanisms that influence the average chain lengths of products and the dispersity of product distributions.

Such approaches using micro or mesoporous materials can lead to processive catalysis, whereby a polymer chain is adsorbed into the pores of the inorganic oxide and is successively cleaved into smaller fragments without release of the ever-shortening polymer chain. Nanoparticles, responsible for C-C cleavage, localized in the pores at uniform distances from the pore mouth, then cleave polyolefin chains into semi-regular smaller chain lengths. We will present our studies of these architectures and catalytic reactions in the selective deconstruction of polyolefins.

February 5, 2025

Membraneless Intracellular Organization: Role of Nucleic Acid Phase Separation

Anisha Shakya, UNM

4:00 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center

Abstract: Compartmentalization of the cellular interior allows organization of the numerous biochemical processes that cells need for proper function. This can occur with or without lipid membranes. Condensation of biological macromolecules like proteins and nucleic acids through phase separation into liquid-like droplets (biomolecular condensates) has emerged as a central feature of membraneless compartmentalization in cells. Phase separation can allow organization across multiple length scales; ranging from large organelles, such as the nucleolus, to small functional compartments such as transcription “hubs”. Misregulation of this physical phenomenon in cells has also been linked to diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. My research has involved elucidating the formation, dynamics, and maintenance of biomolecular condensates, both in vitro and in cells, using modern optical microscopy techniques and a range of biophysical, biochemical, cell biology tools. In this talk, I will summarize my work on understanding the formation and dynamics of nucleic acid-based biomolecular condensates, the effect of the mechanical properties of nucleic acids on tuning condensate properties, and the role of phase separation of DNA-binding proteins such as histones in chromatin organization in the cell nucleus.

Bio: My research program seeks to understand how the multitude of biochemical processes occurring inside a cell are organized in absence of lipid membranes, and how the mis-regulation of such membraneless organization lead to diseases. To achieve this, my program employs a range of interdisciplinary skills such as thermodynamic analysis, database mining and computation, novel optical imaging methods along with in-vitro reconstitution assays and cell biological techniques.

I was born and raised in Nepal, a small beautiful landlocked nation with some of the tallest mountains in the world. I have a B.Sc. in microbiology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal and a B.Sc. in chemistry from McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA. I obtained my Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI and did postdoctoral trainings at the Institute for Basic Science, South Korea and Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

At UNM, I am assembling a team of passionate scientists from diverse backgrounds to help expand our knowledge of chemistry and solve some of the challenging problems in human health and diseases.

Currently, outside of science, I love to spend time with my 11-month-old and two Korean cats.

January 29, 2025

High Throughput Free Energy Methods in Drug Discovery

Xiaorong Liu, UNM

4:00 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center

Abstract: Computational tools have become increasingly indispensable in drug discovery. In particular, physics-based free energy methods have become increasingly practical and effective in structure-based drug design. However, a major bottleneck for current free energy approaches is the computational cost and thus limited throughput, especially when substantial conformational flexibility exists for the receptor and/or the ligand. To address this bottleneck, we have developed multisite lambda dynamics (MSLD)-based methods for rigorous, high-throughput free energy predictions. In this talk, I will discuss the principles of MSLD, and share one of our recent works demonstrating that MSLD is an effective strategy for large-scale free energy calculations to guide the optimization of TSSK1B kinase inhibitors. Furthermore, I will present our recent development to more efficiently sample conformational dynamics and greatly improve the efficiency and robustness of MSLD free energy calculations. Continual development of enhanced sampling in MSLD will be critical for further extending its applicability to traditionally challenging cases in the design of drug molecules, biologics, and functional proteins.

Bio: I grew up in Hubei, China, and obtained my B.Sc. degree in Applied Chemistry from Wuhan University. In 2019, I obtained a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and my Ph.D. study was focused on developing and applying advanced computational methods to study intrinsically disordered proteins, which play important roles in cellular signaling and regulation and are associated with many human diseases. I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan before joining UNM, and my main effort was to develop highly accurate and high-throughput computational methods to design drug molecules. I have been an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at UNM since August 2024.

January 22, 2025

Innovations in microfluidic systems and nanotechnology for biomedical applications

Xiujun James Li, University of Texas at El Paso

4:00 p.m., Larrañaga Engineering Auditorium, Centennial Engineering Center

Abstract: Recently, fast-growing microfluidic lab-on-a-chip and nanotechnology have caused significant impacts on various disciplines including modern analytical chemistry. Herein, I will highlight several paper/polymer hybrid microfluidic devices and nano-biosensing technology that we recently developed for biochemical and environmental analysis, with a focus on low-cost disease diagnosis, especially for resource-poor settings. Difference chip substrates have different advantages as well as limitations. Paper/polymer hybrid microfluidic devices can draw more benefits from both substrates. We for the first time developed a low-cost photothermal biosensing method for quantitative biochemical analysis using a common thermometer. Integrated graphene oxide nano-biosensors, on-chip DNA amplification, and nanoparticle-mediated photothermal immunosensing will also be introduced toward their applications in point-of-care infectious disease diagnosis and cancer biomarker detection.

Bio: XiuJun (James) Li, Ph.D., is a Full Professor with early tenure in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), USA. He is also the Director of Forensic Science Program at UTEP. After he obtained his Ph.D. degree in microfluidic lab-on-a-chip bioanalysis from Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Canada in 2008, he pursued his postdoctoral research with Prof. Richard Mathies at University of California Berkeley and Prof. George Whitesides at Harvard University, while holding a Postdoctoral Fellowship from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. Dr. Li’s current research interest is centered on the development of innovative microfluidic lab-on-a-chip and nanotechnology for bioanalysis, biomaterial, biomedical engineering, and environmental applications, including but not limited to low-cost diagnosis, pathogen detection, nano-biosensing, genetic analysis, 3D cell culture, tissue engineering, and single-cell analysis, supported by NIH, NSF, CPRIT, DOT, UT System, Philadelphia Foundation, AAFS, and MCA Foundation multiple funding agencies. His lab has extensive experience in point-of-care detection. He pioneered the novel concept of paper/polymer hybrid microfluidic devices; he, for the first time, developed photothermal biosensors for low-cost quantitative analysis using a common thermometer.

Dr. Li has coauthored about 123 scientific publications and 24 patents, including three books from Elsevier on microfluidic devices for biomedical applications. He is an Editorial Board member of multiple journals including Microsystems & Nanoengineering and Scientific Reports from the Nature Publishing Group, Micromachines, Future Science OA, Journal of Analysis and Testing, etc, and an Advisory Board member of Lab on a Chip, Analyst and Sensors & Diagnostics. He is the recipient of the “Bioanalysis New Investigator Award” in 2014, UT STARS Award in 2012, NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow Award in 2009, Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Graduate Student Abroad (2004), Outstanding Faculty Dissertation Research Mentoring Award (2016 & 2018, twice), NIH BUILDING Scholar Mentoring Award for Excellence in Student Research Mentoring in 2017, and so on.