Achievement

IGERT Associate, Soumitra Choudhary, developed a novel synthesis method for hydrophobically-modified alginate in consultation with the Thayumanavan group. Soumitra showed that gels formed from these hydrophobically-modified alginates possess unique mechanical properties and drug release characteristics. His expertise with these systems led to successful collaborations with two cellular engineering groups off-campus, Prof. Ravi Kane (RPI) and Prof. David Schaffer (Berkeley), as well as interest from a drug delivery group at Abbott Laboratories and a collaboration with a group at Baystate Medical Center on use of alginate-based materials for wound healing. This work made use of the ICE IGERT-funded ultra-low-torque rheometry facility.