BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Department of Chemical Engineering - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Department of Chemical Engineering
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://che.northeastern.edu
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Department of Chemical Engineering
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20250309T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20251102T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20260308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20261101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20270314T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20271107T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260311T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260311T133000
DTSTAMP:20260421T143138
CREATED:20260227T205922Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T205922Z
UID:5971-1773226800-1773235800@che.northeastern.edu
SUMMARY:ChE PhD Dissertation Defense: Justin Hayes
DESCRIPTION:Name:\nJustin Hayes \nTitle:\nLeveraging Synthetic Biology and Gut-on-chip Systems to Interrogate and Modulate Intestinal H₂S \nDate:\n03/11/2026 \nTime:\n11:00:00 AM \nCommittee Members:\nProf. Benjamin Woolston (Advisor)\nProf. Ryan Koppes (Advisor)\nProf. Abigail Koppes\nPhilip Strandwitz \nLocation:\nCabral Center \nAbstract: \nHydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a gaseous and reactive molecule fundamental to human biology. The gut microbiota is a major producer of sulfide\, yet our understanding of how it impacts intestinal diseases is poorly understood. Many studies are contradicting\, some suggesting it drives diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer\, while others suggest it has anti-inflammatory properties and can promote wound healing. Emerging research suggests its role in health is concentration dependent. Contributing to this confusion is the difficulty in controlling sulfide concentration in vitro and in vivo due to its gaseous and reactive nature. Thus\, studying the molecule has been a bottleneck in understanding its fundamental role in human health and translating these findings as treatments. The goal of this thesis is to use engineered bacteria as systems for controlling sulfide concentration in intestinal environments. Metabolic engineering of bacteria offers a method for continuous and tunable production and degradation of sulfide in intestinal environments. These engineered bacteria hold promise as tools for investigating its dose-dependent roles in human health and for therapeutic uses. \nWithin the thesis\, a panel of engineered bacteria was developed to titrate the level of H2S across the putative gut physiological concentration range. To do so\, sulfur metabolism of Escherichia coli (E. coli) was engineered via gene knockouts\, overexpression of putative L-cysteine desulfidases and transporters\, and use of different strength promoters to drive gene expression. In an in vitro setting\, these strains titrated H2S across a 53-fold range\, spanning the putative gut concentration range. The work also contributed to the general knowledge of E. coli sulfide biology and the role of these desulfidases and transporters in its production. \nThese strains were used in human gut-on-chip systems to explore the concentration dependent impacts of H2S on human gut epithelial cell biology. The engineered bacteria titrated sulfide across a 16-fold range on chip\, and the effects on gut permeability\, metabolism\, and gene expression were investigated. The data show the engineered bacteria are superior to sodium sulfide at maintaining specific H2S levels on chip\, critical for studying the impacts on epithelial biology. Increasing sulfide levels significantly elevated gene expression associated with DNA damage and an increase in thiosulfate levels\, and a non-significant trend towards higher gut permeability. Broadly\, the platform represents a new method to investigate the fundamental role of volatile and reactive molecules on the gut environment. \nBeyond in vitro studies\, the thesis aimed to develop strains for functionality in vivo\, which would enable exploring the impacts of sulfide in animals. The intestinal tract is a complex organ\, with strong longitudinal differences in pH\, metabolic environment\, oxygen tension\, microbiota abundance\, secreted host factors\, and more. Considering these variables in engineered strain design is critical. For design inspiration\, human fecal microbiota communities were used to probe how the human gut microbiota degrade and produce sulfide. E. coli was engineered to produce and consume H2S under several complex in vitro environments\, including in the presence of human fecal microbiota\, under different oxygen tensions\, and diverse nutrient environments. \nThe strains that successfully modified H2S in these in vitro screens were tested in vivo to demonstrate proof-of-concept data. The H2S-producing engineered bacteria successfully delivered and elevated H2S in the mouse upper gut. The engineered strain was superior to the gold-standard sulfide delivery molecule\, GYY4137\, at elevating intestinal levels. This highlights the value of this microbe as a tool for probing H2S hypotheses and as a translational tool for precise H2S delivery. The H2S-consuming strains were also tested in vivo but failed to demonstrate significant reductions in sulfide levels. Testing in ex vivo small intestinal extracts demonstrated significant sulfide reduction by the microbe\, underscoring the challenges of creating in vivo models for H2S elevation and degradation. \nOverall\, the thesis represents several contributions to scientific knowledge and the development of new research tools. These include a deeper understanding of E. coli sulfur metabolism and the development of microbial tools as novel H2S delivery vehicles. Further\, this thesis developed a gut-chip workflow for probing how gaseous molecules impact the gut\, generated insights into human gut microbiota sulfide metabolism\, and a general framework for designing and evaluating engineered bacteria destined for in vivo use. \n\nAfter receiving a BS in chemical engineering and BA in Spanish from the University of Rhode Island\, Justin Hayes\, PhD’26\, chemical engineering\, began his PhD program at Northeastern in 2020 and is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. He is advised by Ryan Koppes\, associate professor of chemical engineering\, and Benjamin Woolston\, assistant professor of chemical engineering. Hayes’ research focuses on understanding how gut microbial metabolism impacts human health. Insights from his research are being leveraged to develop probiotic therapeutics and medical foods for individuals suffering from gastrointestinal disease.
URL:https://che.northeastern.edu/event/che-phd-dissertation-defense-justin-hayes/
LOCATION:The Cabral Center\, 40 Leon Street\, Boston\, MA\, 02115\, United States
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260316T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260316T140000
DTSTAMP:20260421T143138
CREATED:20260310T213217Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260310T213217Z
UID:5997-1773662400-1773669600@che.northeastern.edu
SUMMARY:ChE PhD Dissertation Defense: Bryan Schellberg
DESCRIPTION:Name:\nBryan Schellberg \nTitle:\nA Robust\, Scalable\, and User-Friendly Organ-Chip Platform for Automated\, Spatiotemporal Characterization of Living Cell Culture Conditions \nDate:\n03/16/2026 \nTime:\n12:00:00 PM \nCommittee Members:\nProf. Abigail Koppes (Advisor)\nProf. Ryan Koppes (Advisor)\nProf. Allison Dennis\nProf. Samuel Chung \nLocation:\nHastings 113 \nAbstract:\nOrgan-chips\, or microphysiological devices (MPSs) are an emergent technology that bridges the gap between current in vitro and in vivo models used in biomedical research. To address the technological gaps associated with current options\, MPS models have been engineered to integrate three-dimensional tissue architectures in vitro to recapitulate organ-specific function. These systems offer improved bio-relevance and controlled complexity via integration induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines\, physical and chemical stimulation\, and biomimetic extracellular matrices. Although significant advancements have been made toward recreating organ-specific physiology on-chip\, the methods available to study the structure and function of the cell microenvironment are still limited. This work developed\, validated\, and applied a technology platform for characterizing the state of the cellular microenvironment on chip. \nA fiber-optic-based sensing platform was engineered and validated to non­invasively sense luminescence from MPS devices. The optical setup delivered excitation light via fiber-coupled LEDs and recorded luminophore emission to a monochrome camera. Linking a microcontroller enabled automated image capture for remote data acquisition and characterization of the on-chip cellular microenvironment. Addition of multi-fiber bundles permitted spatiotemporal data acquisition for whole-chip monitoring. This fiber-optic-based sensing platform provides a starting point for significant improvements to real-time interrogation of on-chip structure and function. \nWe applied our sensing platform to a previously validated MPS model of intestinal barrier function to confirm efficacy and reliability. Caco-2 epithelial cells were cultured in our established MPS and subjected to a cocktail of pro-inflammatory cytokines to disrupt barrier function. MPSs dosed with the cytokines showed significantly decreased barrier function\, as monitored by our fiber optic sensing platform. \nIntegration of MPS sensing with automation tools is essential to bridge the academic-industrial gap for broad use of these devices. Here\, we coupled our fiber­optic-based sensing system with a fluid handling robot and motorized programmable microscope stage. With these tools\, we demonstrated automated culture and monitoring of iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte beat rate\, providing a blueprint for high-throughput MPS sensing. \nIn summary\, this thesis outlines tools and techniques that may be used to design\, build\, validate\, and apply optical sensing approaches for rich\, real-time\, and high­throughput data acquisition from MPS devices. \n\nBryan Schellberg is a 5th year PhD Candidate in Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University. He will graduate in March 2026 with his thesis defense titled “A Robust\, Scalable\, and User-Friendly Organ-Chip Platform for Automated\, Spatiotemporal Characterization of Living Cell Culture Conditions.” Bryan’s work focuses on the intersection of biology and technology to build improved sensing approaches for applications in human pathophysiology and novel drug development. Throughout his time at Northeastern\, Bryan has engineered\, validated\, and applied a fiber-optic-based sensing platform for real-time\, high-throughput data collection from organ-on-a-chip systems. As a result from this work\, he has submitted a patent application for the technology developed\, two first-author publications\, and submitted an additional co-first author manuscript for review. In the short-term\, Bryan looks forward to applying his expertise to the private sector to aid in the development of disruptive technologies to overhaul the current drug discovery pipeline.
URL:https://che.northeastern.edu/event/che-phd-dissertation-defense-bryan-schellberg/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260317T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260317T120000
DTSTAMP:20260421T143138
CREATED:20260310T213142Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260310T213142Z
UID:5990-1773741600-1773748800@che.northeastern.edu
SUMMARY:ChE PhD Dissertation Defense: Alexandra Nukovic
DESCRIPTION:Name:\nAlexandra Nukovic \nTitle:\nOptimizing the Immunogenicity of an Oxygen-Generating Cryogel Vaccine Platform Against Prostate Cancer \nDate:\n03/17/2026 \nTime:\n10:00:00 AM \nCommittee Members:\nProf. Stephen Hatfield (Advisor)\nProf. Sidi Bencherif\nProf. Kara Spiller\nProf. Rebecca Carrier\nProf. Allison Dennis \nLocation:\nHastings 209 \nAbstract:\nTherapeutic cancer vaccines have been a promising avenue of research to boost patients’ own immune system to fight cancer\, targeting tumor eradication and inducing long-term immunological memory. However\, promising vaccine candidates have had limited success in clinical trials due to immunosuppressive mechanisms and insufficient delivery methods to overcome tolerance to tumor antigens.  Cryogel delivery scaffolds have already been established as a promising delivery vehicle for cancer vaccines\, due to their biocompatibility and macroporous nature\, which allow effective delivery to infiltrating cells; however\, cryogel-based vaccines are limited by rapid\, diffusion-mediated burst release of encapsulated recombinant proteins and local immunosuppressive hypoxia within the scaffold. Herein\, biochemical strategies are explored to improve hyaluronic acid-glycidyl methacrylate (HAGM) cryogels as effective delivery vehicles for a therapeutic prostate cancer vaccine. \nFirst\, the degradation of cryogels via polymer oxidation was investigated as a potential strategy to control in vivo degradation and cargo delivery. Degradation of HAGM is hindered by the slow hydrolysis of the polymer after free-radical polymerization\, yielding dense polymer networks that endow cryogels with mechanical robustness. Ideally\, the degradation and resorption of HAGM cryogels should align with the timing of their application. Oxidation of the polymer facilitates degradation through alkaline hydrolysis. This work emphasizes the complexities involved in modeling degradation kinetics\, demonstrates that polymer degradation enhances the in vivo delivery of the model antigen ovalbumin\, and highlights the potential of cryogels as biocompatible\, degradable\, and injectable scaffolds for biomedical uses\, reducing long-term side effects and removing the need for surgical removal. \nNext\, a cryogel-based vaccine platform was explored to improve immunological memory to an anti-cancer vaccine for prostate cancer. Click conjugation of a tumor-associated protein within the cryogel improved antigen delivery\, supporting strong cellular memory responses. Meanwhile\, the inclusion of oxygen generation within the cryogel serves as a powerful co-adjuvant to boost humoral immunity. Cryogel-based vaccination elicited a robust anti-cancer response\, inhibiting tumor growth. Together\, these biochemical strategies prove to be key improvements that could help tailor cryogel-based delivery of immunological agents to improve patient responses \n\nAlexandra (Alex) Nukovic is currently a PhD candidate in her 5th year of study in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University. She has previously graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Bioengineering from Clemson University. Alex has been a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society\, the Society of Biomaterials\, and the American Association for Cancer Research. She is currently a member of the Association for Women in Science.
URL:https://che.northeastern.edu/event/che-phd-dissertation-defense-alexandra-nukovic/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T130000
DTSTAMP:20260421T143138
CREATED:20260312T174810Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260312T174810Z
UID:6006-1773835200-1773838800@che.northeastern.edu
SUMMARY:Chemical Engineering Spring Seminar Series: Andrew D. Jones
DESCRIPTION:Come to my window: Porosity and binding distribution provide better predictors for biofilm penetration \nLocation: 108 Snell Engineering Center \nAbstract: The Jones Systems for Engaging the Environment Lab builds novel tools to study biofilm dynamics. In this presentation we will discuss two such tools: a mechanical tool and a mathematical tool describing Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 interaction with antibiotics. Biofilms are the common mode of life for bacteria in infections and in the environment. Biofilm infections have been shown to be more recalcitrant to antibiotic treatment than planktonic bacteria. This recalcitrance has been partially attributed to periphery sequestration\, where antibiotics fail to penetrate biofilm cell clusters. Biofilms have also been identified as the primary environmental sink of engineered nanomaterials. However\, there have been results attributing charge as the main predictor of biofilm uptake of these nano-sized materials. We developed a model for antibiotic accumulation in bacterial biofilm microcolonies using heterogenous porosity and attachment site profiles replicating the periphery sequestration reported in prior experimental studies on Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm cell clusters. We account for periphery sequestration using two physical phenomena: biofilm matrix attachment and volume-exclusion due to variable biofilm porosity. The antibiotic accumulation model which incorporated both phenomena better fit observed periphery sequestration data compared to previous models that leveraged charge. We propose a novel tool for being able to conduct medium throughput screens with microscopy measurements on these biofilms and validate it against existing standards. We show quantifiable effects of antibiotics on biofilm streamers and propose that this may be useful for quantifying the attachment site density and porosity. \n\n \nAkhenaton-Andrew (Andrew) D. Jones\, III is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering and affiliate faculty in the Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science Department\, Duke Materials Initiative\, and Integrated Toxicology & Environmental Health Program at Duke University. His research uses engineering and policy analysis to help solve global challenges related to water and health. He is a 2021 recipient of the NIH R35 Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award to develop new models and tools for studying biofilms and a 2019 Sloan SEED fund award to develop new tools for point of use water quality monitoring systems. He was recognized as Young Investigator by the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State\, the premier center for biofilm research in the US. He received a BS in Mathematics and BS\, MS\, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT where he was a Lemelson Presidential Fellow and Alfred P. Sloan UCEM Scholar. He completed post-doctoral training as a Future Faculty Fellow at Northeastern University. He has directly supervised 2 high school students\, over 20 undergraduates\, 5 MS\, 6 PhD\, and 2 post-doctoral trainees including 12 from underrepresented backgrounds and 24 women. He and his team have presented at over 50 conferences and seminars. He is the 2023 Recipient of the Duke Outstanding Postdoctoral Mentor Award.
URL:https://che.northeastern.edu/event/chemical-engineering-spring-seminar-series-andrew-d-jones/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T160000
DTSTAMP:20260421T143138
CREATED:20260316T182439Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T182439Z
UID:6014-1774364400-1774368000@che.northeastern.edu
SUMMARY:ChE PhD Dissertation Defense: Victus Kordorwu
DESCRIPTION:Name:\nVictus Kordorwu \nTitle:\nUnderstanding the role of mucus in supersaturated drug delivery \nDate:\n03/24/2026 \nTime:\n03:00:00 PM \nCommittee Members:\nProf. Rebecca Carrier (Advisor)\nProf. Steve Lustig (Co-Advisor)\nProf. Mansoor Amiji\nSteven Castleberry\, PhD\nDennis Leung\, PhD \nLocation:\nCSC 333 \nAbstract:\nMany drugs entering clinical trials today are poorly water-soluble and rely on supersaturating formulations such as amorphous solid dispersions (ASD) to generate transient supersaturated states in the gastrointestinal tract to enhance the bioavailability. However\, correlating the rate and extent of drug precipitation observed in vitro to in vivo performance of supersaturating formulations has proven to be very difficult with limited success in establishing predictive relationships. This difficulty suggests that some aspects of the relevant in vivo environment which impact the performance of supersaturating formulations is possibly overlooked by current biorelevant dissolution methods used to evaluate the in vivo performance of these formulations. Mucus and mucins are key components of the in vivo environment and can undergo numerous types of interactions with different molecules and solutes (e.g.\, drugs\, polymers\, additives). Yet\, many in vitro biorelevant dissolution testing methods used to evaluate the performance of metastable formulations do not incorporate mucins\, leading to potential discrepancies between in vitro and in vivo drug performance prediction. \nDetailed in this work are mechanistic\, thermodynamic\, and translational investigations into the role of intestinal mucin as an active modulator of drug supersaturation stability and formulation performance. Mucin is shown to mimic and impact the ability of ASD polymers to stabilize supersaturated drug solutions. Mucin-mediated supersaturation translated to increased drug absorption through transport studies using Caco-2/HT29-MTX-E12 co-culture. Importantly\, mucin is found to alter the apparent performance of classical polymeric precipitation inhibitors\, either synergistically enhancing or antagonistically diminishing polymer effectiveness depending on the drug system\, thereby reshaping excipient rankings under physiologically relevant conditions. \nThe thermodynamics of drug-mucin interactions were explored using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and ATR-FTIR 2D dimensional correlation spectroscopy. Small molecule binding exhibits two-event association behavior and is predominantly enthalpy driven\, consistent with hydrogen bonding and conformational ordering within the mucin network. Spectroscopic analyses reveal coordinated perturbations across hydroxyl\, amide\, carboxylate\, hydrophobic\, and saccharide associated domains\, confirming heterogeneous interaction environments and diffusion coupled structural rearrangements. \nBuilding on these mechanistic understanding\, a thermo-statistical Gibbs energy framework is developed to quantitatively predict the rank ordering and impact of mucin and excipients on drug precipitation across diverse compounds. The framework employs Gibbs energy curvature\, described as the second derivative of the Gibbs energy with respect to composition\, as a predictive descriptor of resistance to concentration fluctuations. Extension of this framework to the hydrophobic macrocyclic peptide\, cyclosporine A\, demonstrates that mucin also stabilizes peptide supersaturation through distinct entropy driven interaction pathways involving solvent restructuring. Curvature based predictions correlate with experimental precipitation outcomes and enable rational comparison of mucin and polymeric excipients as stabilizing agents. Overall\, this work demonstrates that intestinal mucus is an active modulator of supersaturation\, precipitation risk\, and formulation performance across both small molecule and peptide systems. Thus\, biorelevant dissolution testing should include appropriate mucus activity to enhance the predictive assessment of drug precipitation risk in supersaturated drug delivery systems. \n\nVictus Kordorwu is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston\, Massachusetts\, where he will graduate in April 2026. His doctoral research focuses on understanding the role of mucus in supersaturated drug delivery to improve formulation performance prediction. Victus holds a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Technology from Dalian University of Technology in China and a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. \nDuring his doctoral studies\, he completed a 6-months research internship at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company\, where he gained expertise in RNA-lipid nanoparticle and oral solid dosage formulation and process development. His research contributions have resulted in peer-reviewed publications and presentations at conferences including the AIChE Annual Meeting\, Controlled Release Society \, the American Chemical Society and the Society for Biomaterials. \nHis research interests span formulation and process development\, biomaterials and soft matter systems and the development of predictive tools for complex chemical and biological systems. He is particularly interested applying chemical engineering expertise to solve problems across pharmaceutical development\, biotechnology\, energy related materials\, and other complex chemical systems. In the short term\, he looks forward to working as chemical engineer and formulation scientist in the pharmaceutical industry to deepen his expertise in pharmaceutical development. Outside of academics\, Victus enjoys playing bass and publishing bass tutorials\, kayaking and swimming.
URL:https://che.northeastern.edu/event/che-phd-dissertation-defense-victus-kordorwu/
LOCATION:333 CSC\, 360 Huntington Ave\, 333 CSC\, Boston\, MA\, 02115\, United States
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260325T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260325T130000
DTSTAMP:20260421T143138
CREATED:20260210T210617Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T210617Z
UID:5950-1774440000-1774443600@che.northeastern.edu
SUMMARY:Chemical Engineering Spring Seminar Series: Steven Wrenn
DESCRIPTION:Realizing emergent properties in functional composite from directed assembly at the micro-scale \nLocation: 108 Snell Engineering Center \nAbstract: This talk will describe fundamental studies and practical applications of biological colloids in the context of human disease. The talk will begin with endogeneous colloids and how they contribute to disease pathogenesis\, including the important roles that microstructural transitions and particle aggregation dynamics play. Specifically\, it will be shown how an incomplete transition from hepatic vesicles to bile salt micelles leads to enhanced vesicle aggregation and faster rates of cholesterol nucleation to produce gallstones and how aggregation of low density lipoproteins within the intima contributes to foam cell formation and subsequent atherosclerotic plaques. \nThe talk will then focus on how exogenous biological colloids can be designed to diagnose diseases or treat diseases\, or both. Specifically\, interactions between ultrasound\, phospholipid monolayer-coated gas bubbles\, phospholipid bilayer vesicles\, and cells will be reviewed with an eye toward diagnostic ultrasonic imaging and ultrasound-induced controlled drug delivery. Microbubble physics\, including inertial cavitation and the influence of membrane properties will be reviewed\, and a comparison between model predictions and experimental measurements will be made. Noteworthy is the predicted dependence\, or lack thereof\, of inertial cavitation on area expansion modulus through the variation of PEG molecular weight and mole fraction in the microbubble monolayer coating. \nThe talk will also involve a discussion of nesting microbubbles inside the aqueous core of vesicles and how this significantly increases the inertial cavitation threshold. The talk will conclude with an examination of the role that triglycerides play during the nesting process\, how this contributes to encapsulation efficiency\, and how this could give rise to novel microbubble architectures going forward. \n\nSteven Wrenn earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1991. While an under-graduate\, he worked as a co-op for G.E. Plastics (formerly Borg Warner) in Parkersburg\, WV. After graduating he worked for three years as a process engineer for Zeneca\, Inc. (formerly ICI Americas\, Inc.) in New Castle\, DE. He then returned to school\, earning his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware in 1999. After graduating from Delaware\, he joined the chemical engineering faculty at Drexel University in Phil-adelphia. In 2006 he became an Alexander von Humboldt research fellow and spent a year at Ruhr University in Bochum\, Germany. In 2021 he returned to Virginia Tech to serve his alma mater as Department Head of Chemical Engineering.
URL:https://che.northeastern.edu/event/chemical-engineering-spring-seminar-series-steven-wrenn/
LOCATION:108 SN
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260326T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260326T150000
DTSTAMP:20260421T143138
CREATED:20260316T182520Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T182520Z
UID:6017-1774533600-1774537200@che.northeastern.edu
SUMMARY:ChE MS Thesis Defense: Benjamin Peck
DESCRIPTION:Name: Benjamin Peck \nTitle: Generalizable Image Analysis Pipelines for Junction Fragmentation and Vascular Marker Analysis Applied to Blood-Brain Barrier Disease Models \nDate: 03/26/2026 \nTime: 02:00:00 PM \nCommittee Members:\nProf. Eno Ebong (Advisor)\nProf. Abigail Koppes\nProf. Erel Levine\nRebecca Pinals \nLocation: East Village 102 \nAbstract:\nQuantifying blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity from fluorescence microscopy remains limited by subjective scoring and categorical classification methods that lack reproducibility. This thesis addresses these limitations by developing two semi-automated pipelines that replace manual scoring with automated\, continuous-variable measurement of BBB-associated vascular markers in vitro and in vivo. \nThe in vitro pipeline\, implemented in Python\, quantifies tight junction fragmentation by measuring discrete zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) fragment objects within manually traced junction regions\, yielding continuous-variable metrics including average fragment area\, junctional fragmentation ratio\, and total junctional area. In human brain microvascular endothelial cells under glycocalyx knockdown (KD)\, the pipeline detected significantly reduced fragment area (37%\, both p < 0.015) and junctional fragmentation ratio (both p < 0.014) in both CD44- and syndecan-1-KD conditions. \nThe in vivo pipeline integrates ilastik-based machine learning classification with FIJI macro automation to quantify vascular marker colocalization and resolves vessel signal from microglial contamination within a single fluorescence channel without requiring a dedicated counterstain. Applied across four mouse cohorts [young\, aged\, Alzheimer’s disease (AD)\, and traumatic brain injury (TBI)] and three brain regions (prefrontal cortex (PFC)\, hippocampus\, and midbrain)\, the pipeline revealed concurrent ZO-1 loss and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) elevation in the PFC and hippocampus of aged and AD mice\, with no significant differences between the two groups. Total endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) was the sole marker to show an AD-specific effect\, nearly doubling in the PFC of AD mice (p = 0.0013). TBI mice showed persistent ZO-1 loss with transient changes in ICAM-1 and eNOS\, consistent with published recovery timelines. \nBoth pipelines are deterministic\, publicly available on GitHub\, and designed for adoption beyond the specific markers and systems analyzed here. \n\nBenjamin Peck is a second-year Master of Science candidate in Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University\, expected to graduate in April 2026. His graduate research is conducted in the Ebong Mechanobiology Lab\, where he investigates blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction across Alzheimer’s disease\, traumatic brain injury\, and aging mouse models. His thesis\, Generalizable Image Analysis Pipelines for Junction Fragmentation and Vascular Marker Analysis Applied to Blood-Brain Barrier Disease Models\, centers on quantification of vascular markers in vitro and in vivo by examining tight junction integrity in cultured brain endothelial cells\, and quantifying vascular marker expression across multiple brain regions and disease cohorts in mouse models\, supported by custom image analysis pipelines developed for both. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University in 2021. Prior to his graduate studies\, Benjamin worked in industry across pharmaceutical and medical device settings. At Bristol Myers Squibb\, he worked within the compound management departments at two Bay Area locations\, supporting early-stage cardiovascular drug development through compound characterization and analytical testing. Before that\, he worked at Genapsys\, Inc. during the scale-up of a next-generation genomic sequencer\, with responsibilities in quality systems and manufacturing operations. Benjamin’s industry background spans pharmaceutical\, biotech\, and medical device environments\, with demonstrated expertise in analytical method development\, quality systems\, and workflow optimization. This fall\, he will begin his doctoral studies\, where he intends to continue investigating the mechanisms underlying vascular dysfunction and neurodegeneration.
URL:https://che.northeastern.edu/event/che-ms-thesis-defense-benjamin-peck/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR