We are very happy to welcome a young and talented Asst. Prof. Thanh Duc Nguyen who is invited to speak in the second inspirational seminar. Not only will he share his innovative research but also his path to success on building up a strong research group and achieving funding and awards.

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Biography: Dr. Nguyen joined the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at UConn since 2016. His research is highly interdisciplinary and at the interface of biomedicine, materials and nano/micro technology. He developed a platform technology which can create 3D microstructures of biodegradable polymers for applications in single-administration vaccines. His research group at UConn has also studied a new biodegradable piezoelectric polymer which can be used for monitoring vital biophysiological forces, stimulating tissue growth and transporting drugs through physiological barriers inside the body. Dr. Nguyen’s works have been published in prestigious journals (e.g. Science, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Biomedical Engineering, PNAS etc.) and highlighted in major media (e.g. The NewYork Times, the Gaurdian, BBC News, National Public Radio etc.). He received several government- and industry-funded grants and highly-regarded academic awards and honors including the CRS Transdermal and Mucosal Delivery Focus Group Young Investigator Award (2020), ACell Young Investigator Faculty Award for Regenerative Medicine (2020), MIT Technology Review Top Innovator under 35 for Asia Pacific (2019), the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (2018), and NIH Trailblazer Award for Young and Early Investigators (2017) etc.

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Title

Building an interdisciplinary lab for biomedical engineering

 

Abstract: My group’s research is focused on the study and development of technologies and science to transform medical polymers, commonly used for resorbable surgical sutures, into desired 3D forms/shapes/structures at nano and micro scales with “smart” functions for diverse applications in different biomedical fields, ranging from tissue engineering and controlled drug/vaccine delivery to medical devices. The research is highly interdisciplinary and carried out by a team which has different backgrounds. Here, I will discuss on how to build such a research team and experience to do biomedical engineering research which is very different from the education background I received at undergraduate and PhD schools.

 

 

Acknowledgements: Nguyen research group is supposed by NIH (R21EB024787, R21AR075196, R21AR074645, R21NS116095, R21AR075133, R21AR076646), BARDA, MERCK and USAID etc.

 

Reference (Not more than 5).

 

• Curry, E. J.; Ke, K.; Chorsi, M. T.; Wrobel, K. S.; Miller, A. N.; Patel, A.; Kim, I.; Feng, J.; Yue, L.; Wu, Q.; Kuo, C-L; Lo, K. W.-H.; Laurencin, C.; Ilies, H.; Purohit, P.; Nguyen, T. D.+, PNAS, 2018, 115 (5):909-914.

• 2.  Curry, E. J.; Le, T. T.; Das, R.; Ke, K.; Santorella, E. M.; Paul, D.; Chorsi, M. T.; Tran, K. T. M.; Baroody, J.; Borges, E. R.; Ko, B.; Golabchi, A.; Xin, X.; Rowe, D.; Yue, L.; Feng, J.; Morales-Acosta, M. D.; Wu, Q.; Chen, I. P.; Cui, X. T.; Pachter, J.; Nguyen, T. D.+, PNAS 2020, 117, (1), 214

• 3. Ritopa Das, Eli J. Curry, Thinh T. Le, Guleid Awale, Yang Liu, Shunyi Li, Joemart Contreras, Casey Bednarz, Jayla Millender, Xiaonan Xin, David Rowe, Sharareh Emadi, Kevin W.-H. Lo, Thanh D. Nguyen+, Nano Energy 76, 2020.

• 4. Nguyen, T. D.*, McHugh, K. J.*; Linehan, A. R.; Yang, D.; Behrens, A. M.; Rose, S.; Tochka, Z. L.; Tzeng, S. Y.; Norman, J. J.; Anselmo, A. C.; Xu, X.; Tomasic, S.; Taylor, M. A.; Lu, J.; Guarecuco, R.; Langer, R.; Jaklenec, A., Science 2017, 357, (6356), 1138. (*co-first authors).

• 5. Khanh T.M. Tran, Tyler D. Gavitt, Nicholas J. Farrell, Eli J. Curry, Arlind B. Mara, Avi Patel, Lindsey Brown, Shawn Kilpatrick, Roxana Piotrowska, Neha Mishra, Steven M. Szczepanek, and Thanh D. Nguyen, Nature BME, 2020. (PMID: 33230304)

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Time: 15:00 - 17:00, Friday, December 24th 2021 (Time zone UTC+1) 

Zoom link: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/66804732319

Chairman: Prof. Manh-Huong Phan