Biomedical and chemical engineering graduate student Natalie Petryk ’21, G ’22 won first place in the student pitch competition at the BioInterface Symposia 2021. Petryk is a part of biomedical and chemical engineering Professor Mary Beth Monroe’s research team and submitted a short pitch on tuning pore structure of polyurethane shape memory polymer (SMP) foams using EPA recommended foaming agents and characterizing the effects of pore structure on blood and cell interactions. Continue Reading
News
Professor Ivany Featured in Exhibition Highlighting Work of Women Paleontologists
As a young girl, Linda Ivany ’88 was fascinated by the natural sciences. Flipping through the pages of National Geographic magazine, she would learn about the work of noted female scientists Eugenie Clark, known for her pioneering research with sharks and fish, and Jane Goodall, one of the world’s leading experts on chimpanzee behavior. While she drew inspiration from those trailblazing researchers, she often wondered why there weren’t more women making headlines in other branches of the sciences, such as geology. Continue Reading
BioInspired Physicist and Chemist Awarded NIH MIRA Grants
Researchers from the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Physics and Department of Chemistry have been awarded Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health. The funding, awarded to Alison Patteson, assistant professor of physics, and Davoud Mozhdehi, assistant professor of chemistry, supports research which increases understanding of biological processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Continue Reading
BioInspired Physicists Develop One of the First Models Capturing Dynamics of Confined Cell Movement
The process of normal cell division in the human body is quite simple: start dividing in response to a signal, such as a wound, and stop when enough cells have been produced and the skin is healed. But cancerous cells ignore the stop signs. They grow and spread rapidly, proliferating even in cramped locations. Similar to navigating through a large crowd of people, moving through dense tissue is no easy task. Any normal cell would die during the process, but many cancerous cells have a cage-like protein that helps them protect their nucleus and DNA. That protein, called vimentin, is often expressed in intermediate filaments (one of the three structural elements of the cell) during cell movement. And now, BioInspired researchers are finding out more about this protein, which could eventually help with cancer treatment or wound healing. Continue Reading
Professor Shikha Nangia Selected as Rising Star by American Chemical Society
Biomedical and chemical engineering Professor Shikha Nangia has been selected as a recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Women Chemist Committee 2022 Rising Star Award. The award recognizes nine women scientists who have demonstrated excellence in the scientific enterprise and outstanding promise for contributions to their respective fields. Professor Nangia serves on the Executive Committee of the BioInspired Institute. Continue Reading
BioInspired Institute Partners With Historically Black Colleges and Universities
The BioInspired Institute focuses on leading-edge research in materials and living systems and trains students at the undergraduate and graduate level. When the United States faced a reckoning on racism and structural inequities, BioInspired’s faculty and staff asked, “How can we support diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics?” In a town hall meeting, consensus was built around a recommendation that the Institute create a research experience for undergraduates that could help diverse young scientists progress through their education and training. Continue Reading
BioInspired Physicist Part of a Five-University Team Programming Biological Cells to Design Futuristic Materials
Jennifer Ross, professor and department chair of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), is among a team of researchers who was recently awarded a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to design and create next-generation materials inspired and empowered by biological cells.
BioInspired Professors Use Machine Learning to Guide the Design of Stable Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles are tiny particles, made of only a few hundred atoms, that are helping to create the world’s newest “smart” surfaces and systems. Nanoparticles are playing a key role in the development of such cutting-edge consumer products as transparent sunscreens and stain repellent fabrics. They are also being designed for biomedical applications like drug delivery inside the body.
Sounds like a miracle substance, right? The hurdle is that identifying one in the lab is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Out of a potential pool of hundreds of thousands of nanoparticles, only a few may actually be viable—meaning they are the right size and will work within a specific temperature range (e.g., body temperature). So how can researchers facilitate the process? Machine learning. Continue Reading
Syracuse Biomaterials Innovation Facility Faculty among 29 Small Equipment Grant Awardees
The Office of Research has announced the Small Equipment Grants Program has funded 29 proposals for 2021. Among the awardees were four proposals from the Syracuse Biomaterials Innovation Facility (SBI), the BioInspired Institute’s materials characterization and synthesis core facility. These were:
- James Henderson, for a microcentrifuge
- Era Jain, for an automated histology and thin-sectioning workspace
- Zhen Ma, for a hypoxia tissue culture cabinet
- Mary Beth Monroe, for a multifunctional electrospinning system
After installation, the equipment will be available to Syracuse University and external users in the SBI facility. Continue Reading
Teng Zhang Develops Model to Shape the Future of Pasta and Sustainability
Like pasta, the pursuit of global environmental sustainability takes many shapes. In a paper titled “Morphing Pasta and Beyond” published as the cover story in the May 2021 issues of Science Advances, researchers found a way to redesign noodles as flat structures that transform into three-dimensional shapes when cooked. Considering humanity’s appetite, it is a breakthrough that could move us toward a green future. Continue Reading