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Zach Wallace
Biomedical Engineering, Graduate Student
John Wilson Research Group

“An Optimized Cancer Nanovaccine for Universal Co-Delivery of Peptide Neoantigens and RIG-I Agonist”

With over two million expected diagnoses and approximately 600,000 projected deaths in 2026, cancer remains one of the most pressing global health challenges. In recent years, immunotherapy has emerged as a promising strategy, leveraging the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. Particularly, vaccines represent a powerful strategy for eliciting and amplifying antitumor immune responses while minimizing the risk of off-target autoimmune effects. However, the effectiveness of current vaccine platforms is often limited by weak immunogenicity and require optimal delivery systems and adjuvant selection. Peptide-based neoantigen vaccines have emerged as a promising approach due to their capacity for precise personalization. However, the diversity of peptide sequences can significantly influence their stability, delivery efficiency, and overall immunogenicity. These challenges point to the critical need for a rapid and on-demand formulation strategy capable of accommodating a wide range of peptide properties while maintaining robust immune activation. Herein, the goal is to optimize a "plug and play" nanoparticle vaccine platform capable of efficiently co-loading neoantigen peptides and adjuvants to stimulate antitumor responses. To accomplish this goal, flash nanoprecipitation (FNP) is employed for loading an anionically charged peptide sequence and adjuvant combinations into polymeric nanoparticles hypothesized to be capable of eliciting robust anti-tumor responses. Through polymer and peptide synthesis and characterization, in vitro and in vivo studies, the effectiveness of this platform will be tested. Expected outcomes include the elicitation of strong immune responses and the reduction of tumors in animal models. These findings will support the development of a universal strategy for co-delivery of varying neoantigen peptide sequences and adjuvants to enhance antitumor responses.

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Stephen Hiles
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Kane Jennings Research Group

“Bulk Air Nanobubbles as a Flocculation Enhancer for the Agglomeration of Nanoplastics”

The increasing observance of nanoplastics (NPs) in the human body and their developing classification as environmental toxicants gives urgency to the need for improved removal methods from consumables, specifically drinking water. Sweep flocculation is a vital mechanism for drinking water treatment, where precipitates formed from multi-valent cations envelop contaminants, enabling their separation via sedimentation. The unique physical properties of bulk air nanobubbles (NBs)—such as long lifetime and large surface-to-volume ratio—give potential to their use as a flocculation enhancer. This poster presents how NBs can be retrofitted into existing processes as an effective flocculation enhancer to improve water treatment.

Huijin An
Interdisciplinary Materials Science��
Sharon Weiss Research Group

“Control of fluid in paper-based porous silicon biosensor for enhanced sensor performance”

Paper-based microfluidic analytical devices (µPADs) are a promising technology capable of high-sensitivity quantitative analysis and point-of-care (POC) diagnostics without the need for external pumps. This study introduces a hybrid paper-based microfluidic analytical device (µPAD) combining vertical and lateral flow to regulate analyte incubation within biofunctionalized porous silicon (PSi). Computational fluid dynamics simulations and experiments demonstrate that paper-channel width controls volumetric flow rate and analyte interaction time within the sensing matrix. In a biotin–streptavidin assay, a 2-mm-wide channel provided 20 minutes of incubation and more than doubled the binding-induced optical signal relative to wider channels or purely vertical-flow designs. Compared with narrower channels, it achieved comparable signal changes with shorter response times. This pump-free platform offers a scalable flow-modulation strategy for sensitive, quantitative, field-deployable point-of-care biosensing.

Angelina Yang Gong
Biomedical Engineering & Electrical and Computer Engineering, Undergraduate Student
Craig Duvall Research Group

“Biological-Fluid Degradation of Chemically Modified CRISPR Guide RNAs Revealed by Fragment-Resolved LC–MS and Linked to Rational Redesign and Function”

Chemical modifications improve CRISPR guide RNA stability, yet degradation patterns in biological fluids remain insufficiently characterized. Fragment-resolved LC–MS and computational assignment were used to analyze 2′-O-methyl, 2′-fluoro, and phosphorothioate (PS)-modified crRNA and tracrRNA variants in human synovial fluid and mouse plasma. Modification-dependent fragmentation revealed recurrent patterns linked to candidate cleavage regions. Chemical modifications altered RNA persistence and fragmentation, while biochemical stability did not necessarily predict editing activity. CrRNA with a single additional PS linkage at the candidate cleavage site retained a substantial intact RNA population; pairing with similarly modified tracrRNA yielded the strongest functional response in Ai9 reporter cells. These findings guide site-specific RNA redesign for CRISPR-Cas9 delivery.

Seyed Saman Banarooei
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Carlos Alberto Silvera Batista Research Group

“Controlling defect density in two-dimensional colloidal crystals using low-frequency AC electric fields”

Structural coloration from grating diffraction in two-dimensional microparticle arrays offers a promising route to photonic materials, but assembly driven by DC electric fields limits structural reconfigurability and tunability. In this work, AC electric fields are explored as an alternative means of directing particle assembly. Small-angle light scattering, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and image analysis are used to quantify the kinetics of assembly and melting across a range of field conditions. Melting rates are independent of the prior assembly pathway, whereas assembly rates depend strongly on field parameters: increasing frequency slows assembly, while increasing voltage accelerates assembly but increases formation of structural defects. Density-matched suspension experiments reveal an additional long-range force that drives particles toward the electrodes, consistent with a mechanism distinct from electrohydrodynamic flow. Leveraging these insights on kinetics, time-modulated electric fields with controlled duty cycles are used to promote annealing, producing arrays with larger crystalline grains and lower defect densities. These findings demonstrate a versatile approach for engineering reconfigurable and defect-controlled colloidal photonic structures. .

Katherine Young
Biomedical Engineering
John Wilson Research Group

“Engineering novel ionizable lipids for nucleic acid cancer therapies”

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, with two million expected cases this year and over a quarter of those resulting death. Therapeutic cancer vaccines offer an alternative option to traditional treatments like chemotherapy and radiation, by directing cellular immunity to find and eliminate tumors. Personalized vaccines, like those in clinic for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (Autogene Cevumeran), rely on an mRNA that encodes tumor specific antigens and a delivery vector that localizes the mRNA in antigen-presenting cells within the spleen. My project seeks to overcome challenges faced by current delivery vectors by bridging material science and immunology to reduce off target delivery to tolerizing organs like the liver and increase duration of protein expression and antigen presentation in secondary lymphoid tissues like the spleen and lymph nodes.��

Vivian Nwosu-Madueke
Interdisciplinary Materials Science
Carlos A. Silvera Batista Research Group

“Surface Chemistry Drives the Propulsion of Metal Free Janus Microswimmers under AC Electric Field”

AC-driven Janus particles typically rely on metal coatings or geometric asymmetry for propulsion. Here, we demonstrate that spherical particles made entirely of insulating materials can propel in a uniform AC electric field through differences in surface chemistry alone. Their speed scales quadratically with field strength, decreases inversely with frequency, and declines as surface conduction becomes less dominant, consistent with concentration polarization. Tracer mapping and surface modification reveal that propulsion depends on differences in field-induced interfacial response rather than equilibrium surface charge, with maximum speed near pH 6. These findings establish surface chemistry as a design tool for metal-free micromotors and field-driven transport technologies.

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