Spring 2025: Hydrogel Platforms for Local and Sustained Release of Antibiotics

Affiliations:

STEM Research Leadership

Project Leader:

Joseph Duran

josephd@tamu.edu

Biomedical Engineering

Faculty Mentor:

Daniel Alge, Ph.D

Meeting Times:

TBA

Team Size:

Open Spots:

Special Opportunities:

I personally take interest in mentoring students and sharing knowledge where I can. I plan to invest time in team members by teaching them how to perform several types of material characterization such as rheology, ATR-FTIR, DLS, SEM, UV-vis Spectroscopy, etc. While this will be done to gather data for the project, students will benefit from the addition of tangible skills that can transfer to future work experiences. I will provide lessons on hydrogel chemistry and how different polymers can be utilized to form hydrogels. Students will also get experience working in a team-based engineering project. This will help members further develop critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving skills as it pertains to engineering

Team Needs:

Some previous laboratory experience, intermediate knowledge of organic chemistry, or familiarity with polymeric materials are sought after but not required. Team members should be willing to participate in a collaborative environment with other members.
Preferably seeking applicants majoring in biomedical engineering, biomedical sciences, materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, or chemistry. This is not required and students from other departments who are interested in the research are still encouraged to reach out.

Description:

Many side effects to medications are often associated with the necessity to administer higher doses of a drug due to its route of delivery. Oral drugs often require high doses because much of the drug will get destroyed while traversing the gastrointestinal tract, while intravenous delivery systemically administers the drug throughout our entire body. Both of these delivery methods can produce “off-target” effects that negatively impact the tissues and organs not intended for drug delivery. My research is centered around leveraging hydrogel chemistries for local drug delivery to minimize these adverse effects and improve treatment efficiency. The project is primarily focused on finding different strategies for incorporating therapeutics into hydrogels to create implantable reservoirs capable of local and sustained drug release. I am currently investigating various materials such as chitosan, alginate, and poly(ethylene glycol) for the delivery of antibiotics to improve wound healing outcomes