Hosted by Dr. Jiangeng Xue
Department of Materials Science and Engineering Seminar Series
Tuesday, September 20, 2016 4:05 – 4:55 p.m. Rhines Hall, 125
Speaker:
Dr. Jennifer S. Andrew
Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Florida
Title:
Nanostructured Composites for Biomedical and Multiferroic Applications
Abstract:
Nanostructured composite materials have the potential to overcome challenges in many areas of materials research, which cannot be addressed by more conventional single-phase materials. From these new materials a number of novel applications ranging from electronics to biomedical devices are being developed and realized. For example, ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials can be combined to form composites with enhanced multiferroic properties. These composite materials are prepared using the electrospinning technique, generating materials with both a high permittivity and permeability. For biomedical applications, nanocomposites provide a means to effectively and locally diagnose a disease or to deliver drugs, protecting the therapeutic molecule from degradation in vivo, while also limiting its toxicity. Here, I will present our work in developing enzyme-responsive hydrogel microparticles, and their potential to serve as drug delivery vectors as well as diagnostic agents.
Bio-Sketch:
Jennifer Andrew is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Florida. She was awarded the NSF CAREER Award. Before coming to UF she was a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Michael J. Sailor’s lab in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. She received her B.S. in Materials Science from Northwestern University in 2002, and her Ph.D. in Materials Engineering in 2008 from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests include the development of nanocomposite materials with novel multifunctional electronic and biomedical applications.