Junior faculty win grant funding
In December 2020, Assistant Professors Li-Chiang Lin, Katelyn Swindle-Reilly, and Xiaoxue Wang were among 12 recipients of Ohio State’s Institute for Materials Research (IMR) 2020 Kickstart Facility Grants. The biannual grants provide innovative materials-allied researchers with access to Ohio State’s world-class shared campus research facilities, enabling critical support for the final pieces of a great publication or proposal.
“Now, more than ever, it is integral that innovative research is seeded to meet the challenges of ensuring research continuity through and beyond the pandemic,” said IMR executive director Steven Ringel, Distinguished University Professor, Neal A. Smith Chair Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Associate Vice President for Research. “Our Kickstart Facility Grant Program has helped faculty access Ohio State’s world-class research facilities for 13 years, and time and again has enabled critical support for the final pieces of a great publication or proposal.”
Projects include:
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- “In Silico Screening of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Water Harvesting.” Li-Chiang Lin
- “Material Characterization of Redox-Responsive Nanoparticles.” Katelyn Swindle-Reilly
- “Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth of Channel Materials and Electrolytesfor Organic Electrochemical Transistors.” Xiaoxue Wang.
In September 2020, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Katelyn Swindle-Reilly received a $20,000 Disaster Relief Grant from the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation to further her research on ocular drug delivery. The awards runs from September 15, 2020 to September 14, 2021.
Abstract: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading causing of blindness in the US for individuals over the age of 65 and the third leading cause of blindness worldwide. The current treatment requires monthly injections of a therapeutic in the eye in order to prevent permanent blindness. Frequent injections are associated with low patient compliance, high costs, and risk of side effects including pain, infection, and elevated intraocular pressure. We have developed improved drug delivery systems to overcome these significant limitations in the current treatment of wet AMD. The overall objective of our research is to develop injectable, biodegradable, drug delivery systems to extend release of therapeutic for at least 6 months, reducing the frequency of injections. Injectable nanoparticles, microparticles, and microcapsules have been prepared and loaded with therapeutic with the potential to control release for several months to over one year. The nanoparticle drug delivery system has anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic properties that could treat both mechanisms driving AMD. This could provide better treatment options for patients suffering from AMD by slowing the release of therapeutic, reducing the frequency of injections from monthly to 1-2 times year. This has the potential to improve patient compliance and outcomes for this common disease.
