Achievement

Trainee Kristin Gilida is working with Dr. Nina Shapley, Chem. & Biochem. Engineering to develop methods for protecting therapeutic biomolecules from photo-oxidation by encapsulation in polymeric particles. Using model therapeutic molecule beta carotene, Kristin found that significantly enhanced protection from photobleaching in a uniform polymer microparticle is provided by co-encapsulation with a combination of protective molecules consisting of an ultraviolet radiation absorber (oxybenzone) and an antioxidant (alpha-tocopherol). Kristin summarized her results in a talk at the AIChE 2010 annual meeting. In collaboration with two other laboratories at Brown University and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, she is a co-author on a review article in press in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science and a research article submitted to Dyes and Pigments. In addition, Kristin has a first-author journal article in preparation, to be submitted in Spring 2011.