Cristina Hirschbiegel Wins Three Minute Thesis
Cristina Hirschbiegel (Rotello group) writes: I am incredibly honored to have won both the First Place and People’s Choice Award in this year’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) at UMass Amherst, as well as the First Place in the Northeastern Regional 3MT Competition. Distilling years of research into a compelling and easily understandable story was challenging and pushed me to think differently about how I communicate science.
My research focuses on developing localized treatment strategies using bioorthogonal catalysis for potential applications in cancer treatment and bacterial wound infections. In the lab, I perform everything from bench work to animal studies, but in the 3MT, I had to convey the impact of my research in a way that anyone could understand, regardless of their background. The 3MT reminded me that research doesn’t exist in a bubble and we, as scientists, owe it to everyone to share what we are researching in a way that can be understood by a broad audience. I encourage every graduate student to step out of their comfort zone and give science communication a try—it’s incredibly rewarding!
I want to thank the Chemistry Department, the Graduate School, and particularly the Rotello Lab for fostering an environment for research, innovation, and inspiration. Special thanks to the Chemistry Office. I will be moving on to the 3MT Finals at the Annual Meeting of the Council of Graduate Schools in December, held in Washington, DC. Thank you so much for all of your support!
Rainboth Awarded CBI Traineeship
The Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) Traineeship is a distinguished program that offers two years of financial support while fostering numerous opportunities within the Chemistry and Biology communities. It provides a strong foundation for scientific development through interdisciplinary engagement.
Derek Rainboth's (Rotello group) current research focuses on the design of polymer-based delivery systems for localized therapeutic applications. This includes both the generation of therapeutics via bioorthogonal catalysis and the delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA).
IALS Translational Graduate Student Assistantships
The Institute for Applied Life Science (IALS) Translational Graduate Student Assistants awards provide funding earmarked for the most successful, relevant translational research projects. Four chemistry graduate students, Yagiz Anil Cicek, Daniil Ivanov, Sparsh Makhaik, and Jingyi Qui, have received the translational awards.
Yagiz Anil Cicek (Rotello group): Targeted polymer nanovectors are being developed for siRNA delivery to combat Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). These nanovectors aim to optimize tumor localization and cytosolic delivery, providing enhanced efficacy and reduced side effects, targeting critical pathways in TNBC. This innovative approach holds significant potential to overcome barriers in current cancer therapies.
Daniil Ivanov (Kaltashov group): My project focuses on developing therapeutic candidates to treat thrombotic events linked to adenoviral-based COVID-19 vaccines. In our lab, we have determined the primary structure of antibodies responsible for these events, and I am investigating methods to redesign these harmful antibodies into therapeutic agents. Development of these therapies is a crucial step toward ensuring the safety of novel vaccines that are based on adenoviral platform.
Sparsh Makhaik (Hardy group): Our research aims to investigate the druggability of Chikungunya virus protease non-structural protein 2 (CHIKVP) using biomolecular NMR and small molecule high throughput screening to develop an effective inhibitor for its treatment. We have identified a GTP binding site in one of the domains of CHIKVP, which also has the properties of a potential druggable site, and our future aim is to explore the function of this site and hence develop potent drug molecules for the treatment of this infection.
Jingyi Qui (Thayumanavan group): We are developing a membrane-fusion-based delivery platform using artificial vesicles which enable direct programming of cancer cell surfaces to inhibit tumor growth and activate immune responses, offering a non-genetic strategy for targeted cancer therapy.
Cicek Receives Paul Hatheway Terry Scholarship
Yagiz Anil Cicek (Rotello group): Small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics offer a powerful approach for targeted gene silencing, providing solutions for diseases that are difficult to treat with conventional therapies. However, clinical translation is limiting by challenges such as instability, off-target effects, and inefficient intracellular delivery. My research focuses on developing engineered polymeric delivery vehicles for precise and effective siRNA treatments of cancer, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and wound biofilm infections. These vehicles self-assemble with the siRNA to form polyplexes and are engineered to provide stability in biological environments, efficient cellular delivery, and high therapeutic efficacy. In our work, we demonstrated the effectiveness of these polyplexes in animal models of triple-negative breast cancer, ARDS, and wound biofilm infections. These polyplexes not only enhanced the stability and bioavailability of the siRNA but also minimized adverse effects commonly associated with conventional therapies. Our findings highlight the potential of engineered polymer-siRNA systems as a transformative platform to address different disease pathways, paving the way for more precise and efficient therapeutic solutions.
Mi Receives SLAS Fellowship Grant
Lan Mi (You group) was awarded the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) Graduate Education Fellowship Grant. The SLAS funds will support Mi's research on the synthesis and application of fluorogenic RNA aptamers for comprehensive in vitro and in vivo studies, as well as her efforts in developing and evaluating fluorogenic RNA-based sensors using high-throughput techniques.
"With the support of the SLAS grant, I look forward to conquering these challenges and advancing my research to propel progress within this field," says Mi. “I am fascinated by the prospect of innovating versatile sensing platforms utilizing fluorogenic RNAs. These genetically encodable RNA sensors offer the advantage of on-site synthesis and function as fluorescent markers for real-time intracellular visualization. And this capability enables a deeper understanding of cellular substance quantities, distribution, and dynamics, thereby playing a crucial role in advancing our understanding of the biological realm.
"Attending SLAS conferences and workshops presents an invaluable opportunity to delve into diverse research areas, as well as deepen my understanding of automation and screening techniques. The insights gleaned from SLAS resources are likely to inspire new directions in my research and shape my aspirations for my future career."
Patamia Receives Kuhn Graduate Fellowship Award
Evan Patamia (Andrew group): As climate change raises the global surface temperature of the planet, weather swings and heat waves will become increasingly more common not only in equatorial regions but also in temperate zones with high population densities. Conventional cooling techniques like HVAC focus on cooling the air around us to provide protection from the environment, but are incredibly energy intensive, and only become more so the higher the temperature gets. In the Wearable Electronics Lab, I developed a method by which a radiative cooler could be applied to conventional textiles, providing energy free cooling of up to 6 C below an untreated control. Radiative coolers will be an essential part of life-saving cooling strategies in the near future and the ability to make them on conventional textiles opens the possibility to use the already prolific textile industry to supply large areas of cooling material to those who need it most.
Bhattacharyya Selected to Attend Microscopy Training
Priyanka Bhattacharyya (You lab) was selected to attend Quantitative Flourescence Microscopy 2025 held on the Mt. Desert Island Biological Laboratory. IALS research centers and the Light Microscopy core facility sponsor trainees to attend the week-long, intensive light microscopy training.
Priyakna was chosen from a highly competitive pool of interdisciplinary applicants from the UMass Amherst campus to take part in the international course in fluorescence microscopy and imaging for advanced graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, imaging core managers and researchers at all levels who are incorporating the technology into their laboratories. Priyanka will be offer workshops, meetings, and other venues to share the new cutting-edge microscopic methods she has learned.
Ambassador Program
The Chemistry Department Ambassador program provides support for graduate students to visit their alma mater institution to deliver special seminars. The ambassadors will present on not only their research accomplishments, but also on their experiences as a chemistry graduate student at UMass Amherst. The program aims to strengthen our ties with other departments by showcasing the excellence achieved by the students in our program, and will hopefully inspire the next generation to follow in their footsteps.
This year's awardees are Trisha Brady (University of New Haven), Arnab Das (University of Calcutta), and Isabella Jankowski (College of the Holy Cross.)
Dutta Receives Paul Hatheway Terry Scholarship
Ranit Dutta (Thayumanavan group): Many diseases are driven by overexpression of aberrant proteins, and conventional therapies mainly use occupancy-based inhibitors to block their function. Emerging degraders like PROTACs (proteolysis targeting chimeras) and LYTACs (lysosome-targeting chimeras) have garnered attention for their wide applicability, potential to overcome drug resistance, and unique mechanisms. Unlike occupancy-based drugs that temporarily inhibit, degraders bind to target proteins and direct them to waste disposal systems such as the ubiquitin-proteasome or lysosome, resulting in complete elimination. Despite their effectiveness, off-target toxicity due to non-specific accumulation in healthy tissues is a significant challenge. To address this, we engineer PROTACs as prodrugs that activate selectively in response to tumor-specific stimuli, enhancing safety by reducing toxicity in healthy cells while maintaining potent tumor-targeted activity. This is confirmed through cell viability and protein degradation assays. Additionally, we develop antibody-polymer conjugate-based LYTACs, which we named PolyTACs (polymeric lysosome-targeting chimeras), that are designed for selective multivalent interaction with target proteins overexpressed in cancer cells, thereby degraded in lysosome without co-opting lysosome-targeting receptors. The design ensures both safety in non-cancerous tissues and adaptability for targeting diverse proteins.
Hirschbiegel Receives PPG Fellowship
Cristina Hirschbiegel (Rotello group): Bioorthogonal catalysis enables the targeted activation of therapeutic agents at specific disease sites, such as areas affected by cancer, bacterial infections, or inflammation. Transition metal catalysts (TMCs) can initiate these bioorthogonal reactions in a way that natural enzymes in the body cannot. However, in water-based environments, TMCs face challenges like poor solubility, instability, toxicity, and reduced effectiveness. Encapsulating TMCs within nanomaterial scaffolds helps to address these issues, forming bioorthogonal 'nanozymes' that function as artificial enzymes to enhance the stability and efficiency of the catalysts. Various materials, such as nanoparticles or specialized polymers, can serve as scaffolds. In particular, polymers that self-assemble in water mimic the structure and function of natural enzymes. My research focuses on understanding the factors that determine the effectiveness of polymer-based nanozymes to design improved nanozymes for cancer treatment and bacterial infection control.
Phillips Receives PPG Fellowship
William Phillips (DuChene group): Environmental nitrate and nitrite are detrimental to local ecosystems and are poisonous to humans. Currently, we remove these contaminants by converting them to N2, a value-neutral product. An alternative is to electrochemically reduce nitrate and nitrite to ammonia via the nitrate reduction reaction (NitRR) providing the primary feedstock chemical for fertilizer. Copper has been demonstrated as a promising catalyst for NitRR, obtaining very high product formation rates and selectivities for ammonia with early reaction onset potentials. While the field is focused on engineering the greatest performing catalyst architecture, a deeper fundamental understanding is necessary to guide these improvements. My research investigates two separate thrusts. First, I am investigating the structure-function relationship for low-index copper surfaces to determine which surface has the greatest activity for NitRR. The second direction is to develop a microkinetic model of NitRR by pinpointing the rate-determining step using a variety of electrochemical techniques in tandem with in situ Raman spectroscopy. The understanding obtained from these two thrusts will enable improved nanoparticle catalyst design and inform catalyst predictions via computational modeling.
Zhang Receives Rausch Fellowship Award
Zhaojie Zhang (Venkataraman Group): Employing a 2D perovskite capping layer on the 3D perovskite is an effective strategy to improve the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells. However, when exposed to light, small A-site cations in 3D perovskite exchange with the bulky cations in the 2D layer and degrades of the 2D/3D interface. Therefore, to achieve long-term stability in perovskite solar cells, it is important to understand the nature of photogenerated charge carriers that cause cation migrations at the 2D/3D interface. In our recent work, we fabricated 2D/3D perovskite stacks on glass, ITO, ITO/PTAA, ITO/PTAA/CuI and ITO/SnO2. A combination of grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence studies reveals the link between the light-induced degradation and the photogenerated charge carrier dynamics. Upon illumination, the stability of the 2D layers follows this trend: ITO/PTAA/CuI≈ITO>ITO/PTAA>glass>ITO/SnO2 (from stable to unstable). This trend suggests that extracting holes efficiently from the 3D layer can improve the stability of the 2D layer. We also found that 2D/3D stacks degrade faster when illuminated from the 2D side instead of the 3D side. Our studies suggest that to achieve a stable 2D/3D interface, hole accumulation in the 3D layer should be avoided and the exciton density in the 2D layer should be reduced.
Shestoperova Receives Marvin D. Rausch Fellowship
Elizaveta 'Liza' Shestoperova (Streiter group): Ubiquitination is a protein posttranslational modification in eukaryotic cells where a single ubiquitin or polymeric ubiquitin (polyUb) chains are attached to a protein substrate. Different ubiquitin chain types modifying a protein substrate adopt distinct topologies, often resulting in diverse functional outcomes in cells. The lack of universal methods for the analytical characterization of the conjugated polyUb chain topology makes it challenging to assess the relationships between the ubiquitin chain and its function. In my work, we evaluate the capabilities of multimodal mass spectrometry-based approaches, including ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS), to analyze various free or anchored-to-protein substrate isomeric polyUb chains. Previously, we have demonstrated that IM-MS can differentiate and identify multiple Ub oligomers. To strengthen IM-MS's capabilities for Ub isomer analysis, we coupled IM-MS with collision-induced unfolding (CIU). We demonstrated that Ub isomers obtain unique CIU fingerprints that can be used as their signature. Taking this advantage, we could access the enzymatic selectivity of different deubiquitinating enzymes towards Ub conjugates, opening the potential for real-world applications of this technique in ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) biological studies.
Adams Receives the Kuhn Graduate Fellowship Award
Benjamin Adams (DuChene group): Plasmonic nanoparticles, particularly silver and gold, have shown great potential for photocatalysis due to their unique optical properties. When these plasmonic nanoparticles absorb light, they generate highly energetic, so-called “hot carriers,” that exhibit strong reducing and oxidizing potentials capable of driving a variety of photocatalytic reactions that are otherwise difficult to initiate. Unfortunately, these hot carriers suffer from kinetic limitations due to their very short lifetimes, and further research is needed to understand how to harness these hot carriers for photochemistry. Our work involves using the light-driven synthesis of metal nanoparticles, a photocatalytic reaction involving materials growth, to study the thermodynamics and kinetics of plasmon-derived hot carriers in metal nanoparticles. Recently, we have developed the first light-driven synthesis of copper nanoparticles and are comparing the details of this photochemical reaction to that of both silver and gold nanoparticles. We aim to unravel the underlying mechanisms of light-driven synthesis in these three metals by systematically varying light intensity, wavelength, redox species, oxygen levels, and nanoparticle size. The insight gained from these fundamental studies of hot carriers in copper, silver, and gold systems will pave the way for improved synthetic strategies across a broader array of materials for new photocatalytic reactions.