MSE Seminar Series: Kristi L. Kiick

Friday, May 4, 2012
1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Room 2110 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Bldg.
JoAnne Kagle
301 405 5240
jkagle@umd.edu

Multivalent Polymers in the Design of Hybrid Biomaterials

Kristi L. Kiick
Professor and Deputy Dean of Engineering
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Delaware

Macromolecular structures that are capable of selectively and efficiently engaging cellular targets offer important approaches for mediating biological events and in the development of composite materials. We have employed a combination of biosynthetic tools, bioconjugation strategies and biomimetic assembly to investigate the impact of multivalent polymer architecture on materials properties in multiple areas.

In one area, the display of ligands on polypeptide templates has permitted their useful organization. The controlled architecture of the polymers has offered unique opportunities for controlling how these macromolecules selectively interact with protein and cell-surface receptor targets. The ability to tailor the chemical composition of the macromolecules offers opportunities for the development of probes and therapeutics.

In another area, the interactions of glycopolymers with proteins have been used in the formation of hydrogels. The release of the growth factors from these materials, in response to their receptors, provides a novel mechanism for targeted delivery via delivery-mediated erosion. Interactions of various cells with these materials can be modulated on the basis of mechanical and chemical cues; these architectures may therefore be employed to understand cellular interactions with materials and to develop hydrogels with controlled properties useful for biomaterials applications. New modular polypeptides capable of binding to relevant polysaccharides have also been developed and show both excellent mechanical properties and cellular responsiveness.

About the Speaker
Kristi Kiick is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD), and has recently been named Deputy Dean of the UD College of Engineering. She joined the UD faculty in August 2001. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Delaware in 1989, and an M.S. in Chemistry as an NSF Predoctoral Fellow from the University of Georgia in 1991. In 1996, after working in industry at Kimberly Clark Corporation, she rejoined the academic ranks as a doctoral student. She received a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2001 under the direction of David Tirrell, after completing her doctoral research as an NDSEG Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Her current research programs are focused on combining biosynthetic techniques, chemical methods, and bioinspired assembly strategies for the production of novel polymer architectures with advanced multifunctional behaviors. These research programs have been funded in part by a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation New Faculty Award, a Beckman Young Investigator Award, an NSF CAREER Award, and a DuPont Young Professor Award. Kiick has delivered multiple keynote, plenary, and memorial lectureships, and serves on the editorial advisory boards of multiple journals. She has recently been inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, has published over 75 articles and book chapters, and holds over 15 US patents.

Audience: Graduate  Faculty  Post-Docs 

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