CBEE Seminar with Anthony J. Kim, PhD

Date: Monday, May 18th, 2015
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: UC Ballroom
Title: Nanotherapeutic Strategies to Target Invasive Brain Cancer

A major limitation in the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM) and other invasive cancers is delivery of therapeutics to invading tumor cells outside of the area that is safe for surgical removal and the source of disease progression. Therefore, effective delivery to these invading cancer cells represents a promising therapeutic approach. However, achieving broad particle distribution and selective nanoparticle targeting within the brain remains a significant challenge due to the adhesive extracellular matrix (ECM) and clearance mechanisms in the brain. In this presentation, I will discuss our group’s effort in development of different therapeutic strategies to overcome these barriers toward realizing the clinical promise of nanomedicine.

On April 30, Dr. Lee Blaney was awarded the 2015 Donald Creighton Outstanding Faculty Award. The UMBC Graduate Student Association established this award to honor an outstanding advisor, mentor, or professor who strives to aid graduate students in their academic and professional pursuits during their time at UMBC.

Congratulations to Dr. Blaney, who is pictured below with graduate research assistants Utsav Shashvatt (L) and Ke He (R).

Congratulations to the Upal Ghosh Lab for receiving two awards from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists (AAEES), the governing body that gives the board certification for Environmental Engineering. The awards were presented at their Annual Conference and Awards Luncheon on Thursday, April 23rd.

Honor awards were received in two categories:

One under University Research category submitted by Dr. Ghosh in which graduate assistants Eli Patmont and Hilda Fadaei are named participants, along with Allen Place from the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology.

Project profile: http://www.aaees.org/e3competition-winners-2015honor-universityresearch.php

A second one submitted by the Delaware Dept of Natural Resources for the remediation of Mirror Lake under small projects. UMBC is a participant in the award. This project implemented a remediation technology developed at UMBC to clean up a polluted lake.

Project profile: http://www.aaees.org/e3competition-winners-2015honor-smallprojects.php

Congratulations to Nicholas Rogers, a fourth year Chemical Engineering student, on receiving the 2015 Undergraduate Award from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Environmental Chemistry. Mr. Rogers works in Dr. Lee Blaney’s laboratory and will be presenting his research at the International Water Association’s NOM 6 conference in Malmo, Sweden (Sept. 2015).

Congratulations to CBEE Professor Govind Rao and the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) team, who won $50,000 at the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI), held February 12th at University of Maryland, College Park.

CAST presented their design for a low-cost respiration monitor for premature newborns. This innovative device, which monitors oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in preemies’ blood, is much safer than current techniques because it is completely non-invasive, removing risks associated with conventional methods that either cause burns or require so many pinpricks the tiny babies need blood transfusions. Clinical trials have shown that the device measures carbon dioxide and oxygen levels with 90 percent accuracy compared to traditional tests.

The lab plans to use the new funds to automate and miniaturize the monitor for interested markets. Dr. Rao has established relationships with potential collaborators in Ethiopia, the Philippines, India, Mexico, and Nepal, and is partnered with General Electric, who will eventually manufacture the device.

Full story here: http://my.umbc.edu/news/50147

Congratulations to Dr. Upal Ghosh, who has been named as an Editor for the SETAC journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. He will be one of several editors of the journal and will handle papers in the fields of environmental remediation and pollutant bioavailability. Dr. Ghosh is looking forward to this role, especially as SETAC is seeking to increase the engagement of engineers.

Congratulations to Hollie Adejumo from the Blaney Lab for winning the UNCF-Merck Undergraduate Science Research Scholarship Award. Hollie was one of just 15 students from across the country to receive this prestigious award, which provides up to $30,000 in academic support, as well as an internship at a Merck Facility or other research institution.

Congratulations to Nick Rogers from the Blaney Lab for taking first place in the Chemical Sciences poster competition at the 17th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Chemical and Biological Sciences. His poster was titled, “EEM Characterization of Surface Waters along a Rural-to-Urban Gradient in Baltimore.”

To highlight the growing need for more minorities to help fill energy-related jobs of the future, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited UMBC on Tuesday, December 9th. Moniz shared coffee and conversations with UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski and some the school's students enrolled in the popular Meyerhoff Scholars Program, including Chemical Engineering students Stephen Vichhio and Aida Berhane.
Both students were interviewed by WBAL TV for a news segment that can be seen here.

Congratulations to Apurva Shah, class of 2016, who was recently featured as Researcher of The Week in The Retriever. Shah has been working in the Blaney Lab, researching “pharmaceuticals and other contaminants [that] have been detected in drinking water and other water matrices.”

His feature can be found here: http://retrieverweekly.umbc.edu/?p=520