Joshua McGee '21

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Chemical engineering, Commonwealth Honors College

“People tend to think of science as black and white, that the answer is always there, but when you get into the lab that’s not always the case. There are a million different paths you could take.”

Joshua McGee got the idea for what became his Commonwealth Honors College thesis through a conversation with his UMass Amherst roommate. From his roommate, also a chemical engineering major, he became aware of the difficulties of nanoparticle synthesis. “I saw an opportunity to streamline the synthesis of protein nanoparticles by using the transport phenomena present in microfluidics, and as a result, I developed a microfluidic platform that addresses the need for fast, reproducible, and continuous production of protein nanoparticles,” Joshua explains.

What this research will lead to, he says, will be better methods of using protein nanoparticles to deliver drugs that treat cancer and other diseases.

Joshua began his research as an independent project in the summer following his first year at UMass Amherst, while working in the lab of Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Sarah Perry. “His proposal had the depth of knowledge and planning of a senior researcher, and saw success very quickly,” says Perry. “He easily grasps difficult technical concepts and understands the connections between big-picture challenges and day-to-day efforts.”

In Perry’s lab Joshua also worked on a collaborative project with a pharmaceutical company to design technology to automate protein crystallography experiments. This work could significantly speed up the drug design process; a paper detailing the technology is under review at a scientific journal.

Joshua has presented his research on protein nanoparticle synthesis at several conferences and has won awards for his work. He also serves as a research assistant in the lab of Professor of Chemical Engineering John Klier, where he is expanding on his research into microfluidic devices.

He plans to earn a doctoral degree in chemical engineering while remembering the lessons he’s learned through his UMass Amherst research: “Communicate openly and honestly with people, take their ideas under consideration, and then voice your own ideas,” he says.