Photo credit: Dr. Ghosh. 

Alt Description: Ph.D. student, Mandar Bokare, preparing to analyze a passive sampler in the laboratory.

His talk, titled "Disruptive Innovation to Reduce Health Care Costs", described emerging technologies that are designed to empower people to take charge of their own health and presented several critical technology platform. 

The production of synthetic zeolites for use as catalysts and adsorbents is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Zeolites are materials having molecule-scale pores that enable catalytic applications in petroleum refining, automotive emissions treatment, and biomass processing. Zeolites frequently catalyze chemical reactions in water, as is the case when producing renewable fuels and chemicals from biomass. The interactions of water molecules with the zeolite catalysts are incredibly complex, but it is important to understand how these systems behave so that zeolites can be optimized for application-based performance. Unfortunately, existing computational modeling tools struggle to both accurately and efficiently predict how complex chemical mixtures interact with zeolite catalytic active sites. This project will develop simulation techniques that will enable orders-of-magnitude improvements over current approaches, thereby generating fundamental knowledge of how water interacts with zeolite catalyst active sites. Symbolic regression, a machine learning tool for identifying equations that represent a given dataset, will also be explored for describing fundamental interactions between acids and bases. Community-based learning and outreach activities are planned to engage high school students in symbolic regression for math, science, and machine learning.

This project will advance Monte Carlo simulation methods to enable efficient sampling of water adsorption in acidic zeolites. Specific aims include 1) introducing Monte Carlo moves for directly sampling protonation states of water clusters in zeolites, 2) demonstrating simulations of competitive adsorption of water and alkanes using literature force fields, and 3) generating interatomic potentials for acid-base interactions by using symbolic regression to learn equations from quantum chemistry calculations. The anticipated outcomes will lay the groundwork for simulations of competitive chemisorption in porous materials with active sites, as well as discover new equations for simply characterizing potential energy surfaces of acid-base interactions.

The move to Bioprocessing 4.0 depends heavily on advancing sensor technology. Only then can one accurately monitor and control biochemical reactions occurring in living cells. At the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Govind Rao, PhD, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, and director of the center for advanced sensor technology (CAST), and his colleagues develop new sensors that help bioprocessors move from batch to continuous processing. One of the key elements to monitor is oxygen.

“Oxygen is the critical metabolic requirement for aerobic cells in culture and is the hardest to supply to cells due to its low solubility,” Rao explained. “Consequently, monitoring its presence is critical.”

Optical sensors offer promise in this area for oxygen and more. When asked about the most important recent advance in optical sensors that can be used in bioprocessing, Rao said that it’s “the ability to monitor multiple parameters in a non-invasive manner.”

Although research on optical sensors plays a fundamental role in their development, bioprocessors look for technology that can go into manufacturing facilities. That’s just what Rao develops. “All our sensors are designed for commercial application and in fact several are on the market,” he said

When a person experiences a trauma that leads to significant bleeding, the first few minutes are critical. It’s important that they receive intravenous medication quickly to control the bleeding, but delivering the medication at the right rate can prove challenging. Slower infusions can cause fewer negative reactions, but the medication might not work fast enough, particularly in the case of a serious trauma. 

Four UMBC researchers have developed a unique way of modifying the surfaces of nanoparticles within these life-saving medications to provide infusions that can be delivered more quickly, but with a reduced risk of negative reactions. Infusion reactions can cause a range of symptoms, such as rashes and inflammatory responses. This can include anaphylaxis, a life-threatening respiratory failure. Up until this point, the seriousness of these reactions has limited the use of promising nanomedicines, and reducing the likelihood of adverse reactions could be game-changing. 

In a paper recently published in Nano Letters, Erin Lavik, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering; Chuck Bieberich, professor of biological sciences; Nuzhat Maisha, Ph.D. ‘21, chemical engineering; and Michael Rubenstein, M.S. ‘14, Ph.D. ‘22, biological sciences, discuss their novel approach to the research. They focused on the core material of the nanoparticles delivered to patients. 

“We found that using a polyurethane core reduced the markers associated with infusion reactions,” explains Lavik, who is also the associate dean for research and faculty development in UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology. 

Currently, 7% of people experience infusion reactions, the authors note in their paper. “These reactions…limit the treatments available in a substantial portion of patients,” they explain.

“We, like most of the field, have spent a lot of time trying to modify the surfaces of nanoparticles to modulate the reaction,” says Lavik. She shares that while that approach does help to a degree, going a step further by changing the core material appears to have a greater impact. 

The research conducted by Lavik, Bieberich, and their colleagues lays the groundwork for future testing of preclinical models using nanocapsules to stop internal bleeding. Lavik explains that collaboration was an important element of this work, especially being able to conduct the research in UMBC’s Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building.

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Amid calls for safer, more successful cancer treatments, Pan inspected toad, scorpion and bee venom for answers. “The philosophy of my research is biomimetics, or bringing inspiration from Mother Nature,” he says. 

These animal poisons include toxins like melittin, which is considered a host defense peptide. Most multicellular organisms have these peptides to ward off disease, including humans, but only some creatures weaponize them in the form of powerful venom. Funnily enough, this toxin could end up saving human lives. 

And it isn’t particularly difficult to create synthetic melittin in a lab, Pan says, which is optimal for drug development due to its convenience, quality control, and relative safety compared to crude natural sources. 

The real challenge: designing an effective delivery method that squashes cancer growth but leaves surrounding cells healthy. Chemotherapy, for example, commonly causes patients to lose their hair because it damages follicles in the process. “That has been the key bottleneck in targeted [cancer] therapy,” he adds. “It boils down to: How can we make these venom peptides more selective and targeted to the cancer cell? It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.”

Photo credit: David Hablützel from Pexels

Non-Exempt Staff 

Victor Fulda, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

A 27-year veteran of UMBC, Victor Fulda is among the most highly respected staff members in the university’s Department of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering. He is regarded as the expert on all issues related to equipment, chemistry, and processes. He never shies away from a challenge while he supports faculty in the department. The labs he serves are essentially running 24 hours a day, seven days per week. He is readily available to troubleshoot and provide support as needed. As President Freeman Hrabowski observes, Victor is a more than a team member, he is also a mentor, colleague, and teacher—and his contributions have been truly exceptional