Students from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering presented their research as part of the competitive symposium this past October. Three students from the department were recognized as awardees.

Michael Bibbey

Michael “Griff” Bibbey is a senior chemical and biological engineering student working as an undergraduate researcher in the Cha Group. Bibbey presented his research on engineering novel photoactive protein therapeutics for improved chemotherapy efficiency and the inhibition of tumor growth.

“I was heavily involved in demonstrating the ability of our protein to slow the growth and spread of breast cancer,” Bibbey said. “This research is a big step in evaluating the efficacy of our modality, but more broadly it gives some important insight to the way bioconjugates may be able to induce cellular quiescence — a state of reversible growth arrest — in cancers.”

As an attendee of the symposium, Bibbey enjoyed the opportunity to connect with his fellow undergraduate researchers and established faculty leaders in the fields of colloids, protein and pharmaceutical engineering and soft matter physics.

“I got to meet the brilliant young researchers who will be my colleagues for the rest of my career and made some great connections,” he said.

Bibbey plans on continuing his research with the Cha Group on a tissue engineering project for his senior thesis. He is working alongside Sanheli Ganguly, a postdoctoral researcher, to develop a rapid, facile method for the DNA-mediated assembly of tissues. He recently co-authored a .

Bibbey will pursue a PhD in chemical engineering to enter a career in nanomedicine.

"Griff has shown tremendous potential as both a researcher and educator," said David Clough Professor Jennifer Cha. “Over the past year or so, he has not only been doing experiments in my group which has led to him being a coauthor on a recently published article, he has been awarded several prestigious fellowships to intern at places such as Proctor and Gamble. Griff has been helping extensively in the classroom as a course assistant and TA. I see a very bright future for him in graduate school and beyond.”

Shambojit Roy, a graduate student in the Cha Group, also shared praise for Bibbey. 

“I have been mentoring Griff for the past year, and he is extremely enthusiastic and has a great attitude towards research,” Roy said. “He's a quick learner and has always shown interest in learning new things. I think he will do exceedingly well in graduate studies and research in general.”

Carrie Bishop

Carrie Bishop is a senior chemical and biological engineering student working in the Anseth Research Group, which focuses on using biomaterial scaffolds in cell and tissue engineering.

For her presentation, she described the lab’s research into the cardiac disease Aortic Valve Stenosis (AVS) that causes abnormal blood flow through the heart.

“A main part of the disease progression of AVS is that cells on the aortic valve undergo a phenotypic change that results in the valve becoming more stiff and calcific, but it is not fully understood why these changes occur,” Bishop said. “The Anseth Group has previously shown that we can use hydrogels — a type of biomaterial with a controllable stiffness — to better mimic healthy and diseased cellular environments.”

Bishop said that this causes cells to undergo phenotypic change. The group investigated the epigenetic mechanics that appeared to control how the cells changed.

“I analyzed genomic sequencing data for RNA expression and the accessibility of distinct regions of chromatin to narrow down what genes might be causing the changes in cell expression based on changes in the mechanical environment,” Bishop said. “As a result of the overlaps between the differential expression of genes from healthy versus disease-like cells, we found four genes and numerous transcription factors that are implicated in this cellular transition, and therefore may be implicated in AVS.”

The group is currently investigating the in vitro effects of those genes, which may result in pharmaceutical and therapeutic treatments that would obviate the need for invasive surgery procedures.

“Through more than two years in my lab, Carrie has proven herself to be relentlessly curious, independent and unafraid to tackle new challenges,” said Distinguished Professor Kristi Anseth.

“Carrie is extremely motivated about doing research,” said Dilara Batan, Bishop’s graduate student mentor. “She is very self-motivated in learning new techniques and actively seeks additional challenges. She's well on her way to becoming an independent researcher.”

Bishop greatly enjoyed the symposium experience.

“The symposium was fantastic. I was able to learn about a variety of other areas in chemical engineering research outside of CU Boulder,” Bishop said. “In addition to strengthening my presentation skills, it was great to be at an in-person poster session again, although it took a little getting used to.”

Bishop thanked her mentors for their guidance, including Benjamin Carberry, Cierra Walker, Dilara Batan and Kristi Anseth.

Bishop is working on a senior thesis project with the Anseth Research Group, as well as applying to graduate schools and exploring employment opportunities in the bioengineering and computational biology sectors.

Cyrus Haas

Cyrus Haas is a senior chemical and biological engineering student working in the Whitehead Research Group. Haas presented research on a new method to identify SARS-CoV-2 escape mutations.

“An escape mutation occurs when SARS-CoV-2 mutates, preventing the immune defenses that humans have developed from fighting back against the virus,” Haas said. “This can have a significant impact on vaccine and monoclonal antibody treatment efficacy. The rise of new SARS-CoV-2 variants like Delta show that variants with escape mutants are already seen in circulation.”

Haas said these variants can lead to higher infection rates and more severe cases of COVID-19.

“The research provides a complete experimental pipeline for identifying potential escape mutations before they are seen in circulation,” Haas said. “My specific work focused on that could be used to compile experimental DNA sequencing data and run a statistical analysis to identify the potential escape mutations.”

“Cyrus is an incredibly bright and talented undergraduate,” said Associate Professor Timothy Whitehead. “He has already been a co-author on two published papers, which is an outstanding achievement for an undergraduate researcher. He has been able to make contributions in my lab both computationally as well as experimentally.”

Haas credited Irene Francino-Urdaniz for leading the research project and developing the experimental pipeline. He also thanked postdoctoral associate P.J. Steiner for help with writing the software and Whitehead for his guidance and mentorship.

“This was the first in-person setting where I was able to share the research I worked on with other peers, graduate students and faculty,” Haas said.

“There were many other students from the symposium that were presenting important research and it was a great place to meet other chemical engineers from around the country. I’m excited for the opportunity to stay connected with these peers and potentially work with them in the future.”

Haas is applying to graduate school to pursue a PhD in chemical and biological engineering, with a focus on protein engineering and synthetic biology.

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The Shields Lab has received an to develop a specialized pipette to isolate and prepare fungal biomarkers for study.

“We aim to create a pipette that is functional and ergonomic to isolate multiple fungal biomarkers—including antibodies and antigens—from blood and prepare them for downstream analysis,” said Assistant Professor C. Wyatt Shields IV. “Our hope is that this technology will improve the convenience and value of serodiagnoses—diagnoses derived from blood serum and other bodily fluids.”

The grant was made through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the group’s project “Acoustofluidic Pipette for Rapid Serodiagnosis of Candida Infection.”

There is a growing need for technology that can assist researchers and medical professionals studying invasive fungal diseases present in the blood, as current methods of diagnosis require up to three days. This process often involves giving patients antibiotics as a precaution, which is ineffective against fungal infections and can cause additional complications.

“Making a user-friendly pipette to capture and purify these biomarkers could shorten the timeline required for a positive readout and add value to current clinical practices for detecting invasive fungal diseases,” Shields said.

The NIH grant is expected to catalyze new developments in the project, which the group has been working on for about a year.

“My group has a deep interest in biointerfacing and responsive particles,” Shields said. “The technology we are developing leverages a class of silicone particles that binds to specific biomarkers and compresses when exposed to an acoustic standing wave. Together, these features allow our particles to undergo efficient trapping in an acoustic standing wave, which is central to our core innovation.”

Shields hopes to leverage the pipette technology to target difficult-to-study and deadly pathogens, both fungal and non-fungal. He also hopes to extend the technology to include an in-line fluorescence inspection module to create a point-of-care device that can be used in clinical settings.

“This project combines topics in colloid and interface science, biorecognition, immunology and medical device engineering,” Shields said. “Our department has abundant resources and expertise in each of these areas, which will greatly benefit our efforts.”

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[video:https://vimeo.com/540396286]

Researchers from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Materials Science and Engineering Program are among the authors of which appeared in the April issue of the highly prestigious science journal .

Dynamic windows that feature adjustable tint controls provide the ability to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings by regulating the flow of light and heat passing through the glass. These windows can be of benefit to the environment, reduce heating and cooling costs and provide an increased level of comfort for building occupants.

The primary roadblock to the widespread implementation of this technology has been developing an affordable, scalable and fast-acting color-neutral tinting. The researchers behind the new paper believe their method of depositing responsive metal films may overcome this obstacle.

"These windows have the widest range of light transmission and most neutral color of any dynamic window technology,” said Professor Michael McGehee. “With their potential for low cost, I think they are destined to have a huge impact on the window industry.  They will save energy and make building spaces much more pleasant."

Their findings demonstrate that reversible metal electrodeposition—using polymer inhibitors—can effectively deposit responsive metal films in dynamic windows to reduce and reflect the passage of heat and light in under three minutes. This process increases the efficiency, uniformity, affordability and durability of the windows.

“There’s been tremendous activity around dynamic windows for decades but the existing technology has yet to really impact people’s lives,” said Michael Strand, one of the paper’s authors, who also wrote a . “Our latest work is validation that what we have is truly exciting. It’s been a long road to get to where we are today with an even greater journey ahead, but we are eager to bring this technology to people all over the world."

The faculty from CU Boulder collaborated with researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Nevada - Reno and Stanford University.

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Cierra Walker, a PhD candidate in the both the Materials Science and Engineering Program and Interdisciplinary Quantitative Biology Program at CU Boulder is the first author on a new paper in Nature that explores what happens to cells after a heart attack.

Titled and appearing in Nature Biomedical Engineering, Walker said the paper will help doctors and researchers better understand and treat damage after cardiac fibrosis develops.

“After a heart attack, your heart cells gets stiffer. This is known as cardiac fibrosis and it reduces the heart’s ability to function properly,” she said. “Fibrosis impacts the cell operation within your heart, causing the cells to further promote fibrosis progression or ‘activation.’ So a major goal for doctors and researchers is to reverse the cell's activation and help the cells return to normal.”

Walker added that – in the paper – the team was able to show that the cells in question are “stuck” in an activated state through changes in their DNA accessibility (epigenetics). “We identified that we could reverse these activated cells to normal cells by treating them with particular small molecules,” she said.

Walker is part of the Anseth Lab in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Leinwand Lab in the BioFrontiers Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. She said she has always been interested in heart biology and research, making this a fun project to work on.

“Heart disease is the number one cause of death in developed countries, so it is amazing to me that there are still no treatments for cardiac fibrosis. I think this type of research is incredibly important for improving treatment options for people with heart disease,” said.

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As millions of people around the world receive vaccines to halt the spread of COVID-19, mutated variants of the virus continue to appear, challenging the efficacy of mass vaccination programs and social distancing.

New research from the Sprenger and Whitehead groups aims to identify and map common mutations in “Spike” proteins—the proteins that allow the virus to enter and infect cells. This  would provide researchers with a roadmap to anticipate and counteract the development of future SARS-CoV-2 strains with effective vaccines and vaccine boosters.

The collaborative research combined the Sprenger group’s expertise in computational methods to study how antibodies interact with viral proteins with the unique technological capabilities of the Whitehead group.

“We identified common Spike mutations for certain antibodies that are elicited during natural infection from the virus,” said Associate Professor Timothy Whitehead. “These mutations may emerge in lineages after population vaccination, and a prospective knowledge of these mutations may allow us to develop better vaccine boosters and therapies against SARS-CoV-2.”

The researchers utilized a genetically engineered strain of yeast, which expressed portions of the viral Spike proteins along its surface. They created mutant variations of the Spike proteins and studied their ability to go unrecognized by antibodies—essentially modeling the potential mutations of SARS-CoV-2.

"Molecular simulations can provide unique insight into the mechanisms by which the identified Spike mutations allow SARS-CoV-2 to escape pressure by the immune system,” said Assistant Professor Kayla Sprenger. “We observed common escape mechanisms from multiple neutralizing antibodies with the same germline gene origins, which may have important implications for future SARS-CoV-2 immunotherapeutics."

Whitehead credits one of his graduate students, Irene Francino Urdaniz, with leading the effort in his lab.

“When the pandemic started, we saw the opportunity to apply techniques mastered by the Whitehead lab to make a contribution,” Francino Urdaniz said.

“We set up a system to test how well antibodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2 by displaying the S RBD on the yeast cell’s surface. Early in the process, we had the extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with and the to characterize a newly discovered neutralizing antibody with our platform.”

“Francino Urdaniz developed the genetically engineered yeast strain and discovered how to screen for mutations on the Spike protein that result in loss of antibody efficacy,” Whitehead said. “She is a Balsells fellow and represents the fantastic students we are able to recruit from the best universities in Europe.”

Other institutions involved in the work include University of Kansas, The Scripps Research Institute, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Columbia University and the NIH Vaccine Research Center.

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Cross-sectional SEM image of the spin-coated MAPbI₃ film processed from DMF precursor solution (annealed for 5 s at 100 °C) on a PTAA-covered ITO glass substrate.

While solar panels have traditionally used silicon-based cells, researchers are increasingly looking to perovskite-based solar cells to create panels that are more efficient, less expensive to produce and can be manufactured at the scale needed to power the world.

Perovskite materials have properties that indicate they may be well-suited for energy applications like batteries and solar cells. They are synthetically “grown” in films for such applications. One of the fundamental questions related to their production, however, is whether they can be grown from the top down or bottom up. Each has significant impacts on how the films function.

In published in Science Advances in January, Professor Michael F. Toney and his research partners describe a process of top-down growth, leading to a broader understanding of how to produce cells that are more efficient and stable while being less expensive than traditional silicon-based cells.

“The potential exists for the perovskite family to supplant silicon as the primary material involved in solar energy production,” Toney said. “We’re attempting to understand how to make good, quality films for perovskite solar cells. But it was unclear whether starting at the top and going down or starting at the bottom and going up was the best method.”

Toney credits his collaborator on this project Professor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as one of the key researchers behind this effort. This collaboration was made possible from the Department of Energy-funded Center for Hybrid Organic Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy (CHOISE).

Perovskite solar cells are on the way to commercialization after tremendous demonstration of excellent efficiencies and stabilities, Huang said.

“One critical question to be answered next is whether the lab-scale, nail-sized cells can be scaled up to one-to-two-square-meter modules while still keeping their efficiency and stability,” he said. “To answer this, the critical step to take is to understand how perovskite films are grown so that its uniformity can be well controlled, which results in better module efficiency and stability.”

Huang believes this research will help engineers refine the process to increase efficiency and drive down costs of perovskite modules.

Toney’s interest in the subject began about a decade ago, over lunch with CU Boulder Professor Michael McGehee. McGehee convinced Toney to investigate the perovskite class of materials as a possible replacement for silicon in solar cell production.

Toney describes the study of compound metal halide perovskites as being in its infancy, as opposed to silicon, which has been under study and in use for decades.

“For metal halide perovskite, the properties are quite different from silicon, so at a high level we’re trying to understand, what are these properties?” Toney said. “We’re learning more about the constituent atoms and molecules that control those properties. We’re asking: how do we tune the properties to create something that is useful for society?”

This research was completed in collaboration with researchers at CU Boulder, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Department of Energy’s CHOISE program and at Stanford University.

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J. Will Medlin

New research from Professor J. Will Medlin and collaborators at three other institutions points to a new, inexpensive and sustainable method of synthesizing hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide has many industrial uses, and is often used as a remediation agent when toxic chemicals contaminate a site, helping to neutralize harmful chemicals by breaking them down into harmless oxygen and water.

Unfortunately, the current commercial process used by chemical manufacturers to produce hydrogen peroxide creates environmentally harmful byproducts. Researchers have been searching for an efficient, direct and sustainable process to combine H₂ with O₂ to create H₂O₂, or hydrogen peroxide, at scale.

Medlin and his research partners recently published in ACS Catalysis, outlining a sustainable method for hydrogen peroxide synthesis.

“We found that palladium catalysts modified with certain organic groups could be used to efficiently produce hydrogen peroxide directly from hydrogen and oxygen gases,” Medlin said.

Synthesizing hydrogen peroxide is a new application for the Medlin and Daniel Schwartz groups, which have been collaborating for almost 10 years on using organic ligands to modify catalysts. The group recently decided to focus on hydrogen peroxide and began to collaborate with Professor Javier ��é�����-�鲹��í����� at ETH-Zurich, who discovered that certain organic groups produced alongside the catalyst unexpectedly improved that catalyst’s performance.

“We asked the question of whether these organic groups could be intentionally designed to be effective for the reaction,” Medlin said. “In the ACS Catalysis work, we systematically varied the chemical functionality of the organic ligands to identify high-performing catalysts. To take this even further, we are currently working with a group specializing in computational design of catalysts to better understand how these organic catalyst modifiers can be designed based on molecular-scale insight to maximize catalyst activity and selectivity for hydrogen peroxide.”

Medlin’s interest in this topic began as a PhD candidate.“I have always been fascinated by extremely ‘sensitive’ reactions like direct hydrogen peroxide synthesis,” he said. “The problem in reactions of this type is that the compound you’d like to produce is itself quite prone to further reaction, so it is very difficult to stop at that desired product. This difficulty is what has led in many cases to the use of indirect processes with sacrificial reagents that are not very sustainable to practice at large scales.

“I enjoy the challenge of designing catalysts for such processes, because they can have a major impact on industry, and they require creativity to achieve delicate control over the catalyst surface to ‘protect’ the target product.”

This project involved researchers from four institutions. ’s group at Wayne State has partnered with Medlin’s group for several years, and provided a focus on synthesizing novel catalyst structures—including core-shell materials—while the Medlin group sought out further functionalization of those structures. Together, they prepared and characterized the catalysts.

at ETH-Zurich carried out the hydrogen peroxide synthesis studies. ’s group at the Stanford Linear Accelerator facility is world-renowned  for their work characterizing the surfaces of catalysts with X-rays. Here, they helped determine which types of organic functionalization could maintain the active phase of the catalyst.

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