Developing a New Platform for Neurotrauma Modeling Heading link
ERTC researchers Angela Mitevska and Citlally Santacruz, senior biomedical engineering students working in the group of Professor John Finan, have published their research results in a new paper entitled “Polyurethane Culture Substrates Enable Long-Term Neuron Monoculture in a Human in vitro Model of Neurotrauma,” in the peer-reviewed journal Neurotrauma Reports.
Mitevska and Santacruz have made a significant biomaterials advance in the field of neurotrauma modeling by replacing polydimethylsiloxane with polyurethane as a substrate for neuron stretching experiments, which model the injury sustanined by neurons in a neurotrauma event. The new substrate platform developed in this work has made it possible to maintain neurons in a monoculture for long time periods, opening up new possibilities for innovative experiments and new insights in the field of neurotrauma modeling.
Mitevska, A., Santacruz, C., et al., Polyurethane Culture Substrates Enable Long-Term Neuron Monoculture in a Human in vitro Model of Neurotrauma. Neurotrauma Reports 2023, 4, 682-692.
Read the UIC press release on Angela’s and Citlally’s outstanding acheivement!
See the new post on Angela’s LinkedIn page!
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ERTC Students Present Research at the UIC Undergraduate Research Forum Heading link
Ten students from the Educational and Research Training Collaborative presented posters on their research at the UIC Undergraduate Research Forum held on April 18, 2023 at the Dorin Forum. The nearly 300 poster presentations were organized into the areas of Arts/Design/Humanities, Business/Computer Science/Mathematics, Engineering/Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Social Sciences. Three awards were presented for each category, along with the Honors College Capstone Innovation Awards. For the second straight year, an ERTC researcher received the First Place Award in the Engineering/Physical Sciences category. This year, the recipient was David Goeckner, who received the award for his poster, Development of an Ultrasonic Testing Apparatus for Materials at High Pressures.
ERTC Researchers presenting their work were:
Assma Ali
Activation Barriers for Adenine Methylation by Methane Diazonium Ion
David Goeckner
Development of an Ultrasonic Testing Apparatus for Materials at High Pressures
George Kostopoulos
CO2 Capture and Conversion Using a Metal-Hydride Functionalized Zirconium Metal-Organic Framework
Angelica Kucinski
Transpiration Dynamics in the East River Watershed
Angela Mitevska and Citlally Santacruz
Replacing Polydimethylsiloxane Enables Long-Term Experiments in a Human in vitro Neurotrauma Model
Christian Moscosa
Synthesis of New Materials in the Form of Mg9(BO3)x(PO4)6-x and Ca9(BO3)x(PO4)6-x
Khizer Shareef
EXTRACTOR: Extracting Attack Behavior From Threat Reports
Noel Siony
The Potential of High-Throughput Screening of Alloys
Caleb Williams
Temperature Dependence of the Raman Spectrum of Strained Graphene
The UIC Undergraduate Research Forum is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Congratulations go out to all the participants on their outstanding presentations!
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Setting the Standard for Biomedical Implants Heading link
A new paper just published in Materials Today Communications by Noel Siony, Long Vuong, Otgonsuren Lundaajamts and Professor Sara Kadkhodaei reports the results of the computational modeling of new titanium-containing biocompatible implants for orthopedic applications.
The goal of the group’s research has been to optimize the composition of alloys used for applications such as joint replacements with respect to corrosion and wear resistance as well as phase stability and strength. Computational studies are extremely valuable in that they allow for the screening of proposed compositions in terms of desirable properties and the potential for synthesis, in many cases even before laboratory work begins. This approach can greatly increase the efficiency of the materials development cycle.
For more on this work, see the news item from the College of Engineering here.
Siony, N.; Vuong, L.; Lundaajamts, O.; Kadkhodaei, S., Computational Design of Corrosion-Reistant and Wear-Resistant Titanium Alloys for Orthopedic Implants. Materials Today Communications 2022, 33, 104465.
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Alejandro Perez Studies Meta-Lens Technology at the Army Research Lab Heading link
During Summer 2022, ERTC participant Alejandro Perez, a senior electrical engineering major at UIC, spent three months at the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, MD working in the RF Photonics Research Group. Alejandro’s project focused on the development and characterization of meta-lenses, which are superior to traditional lenses in their ability to eliminate the blurring of images that are caused by light passing through different thicknesses of glass during the focusing process.
As seen in the scanning electron microscope image at left, the surface of the meta-lens contains a pattern designed by computer simulation to provide a specific behavior of the light when it is focused by the lens. The pattern is imprinted on the surface of the lens by a lithographic process that results in virtually no surface imperfections.
In his ERTC project, Alejandro works with the group of Professor Mitra Dutta on the synthesis and characterization of thin films of transition metal compounds MoS2 and WS2 for potential use in electrical devices.
For more on Alejandro’s work at ARL, see the DoD-STEM Blog post at: https://dodstem.us/meet/blog/entries/creating-meta-lenses/
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Cody Arnold Wins Outstanding Poster Award Heading link
Cody Arnold, a senior chemistry major working in the group of Professor Neal Mankad, received the Outstanding Poster Award at the American Chemical Society/East Central Illinois Section Undergraduate Research Conference held at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on November 12, 2022. Cody’s poster was entitled, “Synthesis and Characterization of Redox-Active Dimolybdenum Complexes for NonAqueous Redox Flow Batteries.”
Redox flow cells have demonstrated potential as an alternative to fossil fuels for the support of grid-scale energy storage, and the unique electronic properties of quadruply-bonded bimetallic complexes provide a wide range of appropriate synthetic targets for optimizing redox behavior. Cody’s work has focused on investigating a variety of dimolybdenum complexes with sufficient solubility to support stable redox behavior in solution.
Cody plans to continue his work in this area while pursuing a PhD in chemistry, starting in the upcoming academic year.
To view Cody’s poster from the ACS/ECI Undergraduate Research Conference, follow this link:
Congratulations, Cody!
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