Surita R. Bhatia
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
262D Goessmann Lab, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9292
(413) 545-0096
sbhatia@ecs.umass.edu
www.ecs.umass.edu/che/faculty/bhatia.html
Complex Fluids, Polymeric Gels, and Nanostructured Biomaterials
Investigating solutions and gels of surfactants and polymers for drug delivery and cell encapsulation applications. Our research focuses on the nanostructure, rheology/mechanical properties, oxygen transport, and drug release characteristics of associative polymer gels, block copolymer solutions, emulsions, and nanoparticle-polymer solutions.
| Research Interest | Potential Application |
|---|---|
| Tuning structure and gel-liquid transitions in thermoreversible PEO-PPO-PEO systems | Delivery of injectable pharmaceuticals; formulations for ocular delivery, cell encapsulation materials |
| Nanostructured gels with oxygen carriers for enhanced oxygen supply and transport to cells (collaboration with S. C. Roberts) | Cell encapsulation materials for treatment of diabetes, liver disease, and thyroid disorders; improved materials for tissue engineering |
| PLA-PEO-PLA gels with tunable elasticity, structure, and release characteristics (collaboration with G. N. Tew) | Materials for soft tissue engineering (cartilage, liver, heart, etc.); gels for extended release of hydrophobic drugs |
| Alginate gels for extended release of hydrophilic compounds | Extended-release delivery of water-soluble vitamins, minerals, pharmaceuticals, or proteins |
Honors and Awards
- College of Engineering Outstanding Teacher Award, 2004
- National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2003
- DuPont Young Professor Award, 2002
- 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, 2002
Publications
- P. K. Sharma, J. E. Matthew, and S. R. Bhatia. "Structure and Assembly of PEO-PPO-PEO Copolymers in Mammalian Cell Culture Media." In press, Journal of Biomaterials Science Polymer Edition, 2004.
- P. K. Sharma and S. R. Bhatia. "Effect of Anti-Inflammatories on Pluronic F127: Micellar Assembly, Gelation and Partitioning." International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2004, 278, 361-377.
- K. A. Aamer, H. Sardinha, G. N. Tew, and S. R. Bhatia. "Rheological Studies of PLLA-PEO-PLLA Triblock Copolymer Hydrogels." Biomaterials, 2004, 25, 1087-1093.
- J. E. Matthew, Y. L. Nazario, S. C. Roberts, and S. R. Bhatia. "Effect of Mammalian Cell Culture Medium on the Gelation Properties of Pluronic F127." Biomaterials 2002, 23, 4615-4619.
- S. R. Bhatia, A. Mourchid, M. Joanicot. "Block Copolymer Assembly to Control Fluid Rheology." Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science 2001, 6, 471-478.
