Undergraduate Research Training Opportunities

UNH Durham - 2 undergraduate positions

Lead Researcher: Aylin Aykanat

Project Description:

Poly fluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are used in many industrial processes, consumer products and fire suppressant foams due to their resistance to oxidation processes. Due to their prolific utilization in our society, PFAs have contaminated groundwater and drinking water sources, along with other natural resources, which is a concern as they are associated with many negative health outcomes, such as thyroid disease and cancer. Recently, materials, such as activated carbon (AC), functionalized polymers, metal nanoparticles and coordination networks have been used as porous adsorbents for PFAS remediation. However, these materials, mainly AC, demonstrate low affinity for PFAS and are difficult to regenerate efficiently. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently been utilized as effective adsorbents in water remediation purposes due to their high porosity, tunable surface and pore chemistry and stability for regeneration purposes. Additionally, β-cyclodextrin-based materials have shown exceptional selectivity for PFAS materials through the design of specific host-guest and electrostatic interactions within the macrocycle. We aim to leverage these interactions and design novel and build on previous cyclodextrin-based MOFs for PFAS remediation.

Prerequisites: General Chemistry is required, and Organic Chemistry/inorganic chemistry is preferred.

UNH Durham- 2 undergraduate positions

Lead Researcher/Primary Mentor: Kyung Jae Jeong

Project Description:

The student will participate in developing novel bioinks for 3D bio-printing. Mesenchymal stem cells will be embedded in the bioinks and differentiated into various linages (osteoblasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes) within the printed microstructures. The students will learn rheology, 3D printing, basic cell culture and several biological assays throughout the project.

Prerequisites: None

Desirable: None

UNH Durham - 1 undergraduate position

Lead Researcher(s)/Primary Mentor: Jinjin Ha, Brad Kinsey, Abrar Ebrahim

Project Description:

This project is to characterize twinning kinetics for CP-Ti material, which is used for the trauma fixation hardware, using in-plane biaxial testing machine. The student will perform the experiment in John Olson Advanced Manufacturing Center in UNH (Durham) and report the post-processing result for stress/strain analysis and martensite volume fraction measurement.

Prerequisites: None

Desirable: Lab experience. Coursework in mechanics and materials science

UNH Durham - 2 undergraduate positions

Lead Researcher/Primary Research Mentor: Nathan Oldenhuis

Project Description:

Students will isolate pDNA and proteins from bioreactor based fermentation processes and then chemically alter them to make precursors for materials. These materials will be used for applications in drug delivery, gene production, and cellular scaffolding.

Prerequisite: Organic Chemistry

Desirable: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology

UNH Durham - 4 undergraduate positions

Lead Researcher/Primary Research Mentor: Linqing Li

Project Description:

The research project aims to develop a processing protocol to generate microstructured pro-angiogenic hydrogels via capturing thermodynamically driven liquid-liquid phase separation process. The students will learn to fabricate various types of phase-separated biomaterials, characterize mechanical properties of these hydrogels, learn how to encapsulate cells in 3D matrix, maintain general cell culture, process tissue samples, and familiarize fluorescent staining protocols and imaging processing, some of the key techniques in the field of biomedical and tissue engineering.

Prerequisite: Basic materials science and engineering & some general chemistry are preferred but not required.

UNH Manchester- 5 undergraduate positions

Lead Researcher/Primary Mentor: Won Hyuk Suh

Project Description:

Students will learn how to work with mammalian cells (e.g., neural stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells), naturally occurring polymers, and synthetic polymers to formulate new bioink formulations to three-dimensionally print human stem cells and perform needed physicochemical and biological characterization experiments. Depending on specific student interest and background, students can focus on two or more of the following topics: (1) 3D printing of protein-based bioinks, (2) bioink chemical synthesis, (3) rheology, (4) 2D/3D cell culture, (5) protein techniques, (6) molecular biology techniques, (7) fluorescence microscopy, (8) electron microscopy, (9) RT-qPCR, (10) numerical/statistical analysis.

Prerequisites: General Chemistry or General Biology or Calculus or Statistics

Dartmouth College – 1 undergraduate position 

Lead Researcher: Katie Hixon 

Primary Research Mentor: Adelaide Cagle 

Project Description:  

Osseointegration offers an innovative solution for regaining functionality following limb loss through direct integration of prosthetic devices with the skeletal system. This direct attachment to the hard tissue provides enhanced stability, improved load distribution, and better sensory feedback compared to traditional prostheses. However, long-term dermal adhesion remains a significant issue for transcutaneous devices, leading to complications such as infection, soft tissue breakdown, and implant loosening. Achieving permanent implant/dermal interface adhesion has the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes, where the incorporation of keratin in tissue scaffolds has demonstrated enhanced cellular adhesion and proliferation. To expand the application of keratin to osseointegrated environments, multiple tissue scaffold fabrication methods should be combined to create clinically relevant scaffold geometries. For this study, the combination construct being tested is composed of electrospun fibers (ESF) and 3-dimensionally printed (3DP) frameworks. Through the combination of these two methods, a modular scaffold can be fabricated that supports cellular adhesion/ingrowth while maintaining 3-dimensional complexity. The student will be assisting with the development of 3DP structures with keratin-doped ESF scaffolds, as well as quantification of cellular adhesion when cultured at complex angles.  

Prerequisites: SolidWorks, 3D Printing  

Desirable: Cell culture experience 

In-person only 

Dartmouth College – 1 undergraduate position

Lead Researcher: Katie Hixon

Primary Mentor: Peter Bertone

Project Description:

A segmental bone defect is defined as a gap in bone tissue that is approximately two times larger than the diameter of the tissue. In general, a bone defect of this size—most commonly the result of acute high-energy trauma or bone tumor resection—will not heal on its own and requires surgical intervention. A major challenge during reconstruction is securing bone grafts in place while providing support and stability. Surgeons have adopted a novel method of reconstructing these defects with 3D printed cages. Cages, printed from material: or polycaprolactone (PCL), are engineered to encapsulate patient bone graft material; however, standard bone graft materials possess limitations including donor site morbidity, reduced tissue supply (major bone loss), and potential graft rejection. Tissue-engineered scaffolds have been shown to promote cellular adhesion, proliferation, and tissue regeneration at implant sites. We hypothesize that a cryogel formed with a 3D printed mineral cage will exhibit a significant increase in mechanical stiffness and mineralization potential, with improved adhesion, infiltration, and viability of osteoblast-like cells. The student will be assisting with the fabrication of mineral 3D printed cages and assessment of bone-like structural changes based on material distribution.

Prerequisites: 3D Printing, SolidWorks

Desirable: Cell culture experience