Events from the AJ Clark School of Engineering http://eng.umd.edu/events/ Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:35:07 EDT http://eng.umd.edu/images/clark_logo_4email.gif http://eng.umd.edu/events/ Wednesday, July 15, 2026 2:00 PM, USMSM SMART Building, You are invited to the UMD MATRIX Lab’s Industry Open House on Wednesday July 15 in Southern Maryland! This free event is a unique opportunity to connect with small businesses, major defense primes (including lead sponsor HII Mission Technologies), and federal organizations looking to partner on university research and student recruiting. Register here Throughout the day, sessions including fireside chats, keynotes, and panels will highlight how industry, academia, and government can collaborate through UMD and the MATRIX Lab. This is a high-value opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to: Secure collaborative funding through SBIR/STTR grants, MIPS, and state-level initiatives that require university research partnerships Learn how to position your work to align with federal R&D priorities Connect with senior Navy leadership, including Mr. Stephen Cricchi, Deputy Commander of NAVAIR, for firsthand insight into upcoming DoD priorities and acquisition pathways Expand student pipelines and explore corporate and government sponsorships for capstone projects === Industry Open House Wednesday, July 159:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. USMSM SMART Building44219 Airport RoadBuilding 3California, MD 20619 Registration: https://go.umd.edu/open-house http://www.bioe.umd.edu/events/index.php?mode=4&id=20710 http://www.bioe.umd.edu/events/index.php?mode=4&id=20710 Monday, July 20, 2026 8:00 PM, AJC 4104 (4th floor conference room), Title: Engineering Photoimmunoconjugates and Light Delivery Methods for Locoregional Cancer Treatment Committee members:Dr. Huang Chiao Huang, ChairDr. Dana RoqueDr. Giuliano ScarcelliDr. Nariman NezamiDr. Srinivasa Raghavan Abstract: Frequent chemoresistance and metastasis in ovarian cancer present significant barriers to effective treatment. Typical disease presentation includes peritoneal dissemination, locoregional spread of cancer cells throughout the peritoneal cavity. The typical treatment regimen includes chemotherapy and tumor debulking surgery, but treatment efficacy is frequently undermined by the development of multidrug resistance (MDR) and residual disease following resection. The overexpression of the ABC transporter P-gp is a main contributor to MDR through chemotherapy efflux, conferring aggressive and recurrent disease. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) can overcome MDR by sensitizing cells to chemotherapy and is a promising approach for treating residual disease after surgical resection to improve patient outcomes and reduce recurrence. PDT is achieved through systemic delivery of a light-activatable drug (photosensitizer) and laser light to produce a cytotoxic effect, but it has two key limitations: systemic administration of photosensitizer leads to non-specific treatment, and delivery of light via an open surgical approach limits clinical applicability for minimally invasive surgery. Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) utilizes tumor-selective photoimmunoconjugates (antibody-photosensitizer conjugates), overcoming the limitation of targeted delivery, but is still limited by low uptake, requiring innovative strategies to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of light-activated therapy. This work uses the contrast agent Lipiodol to create a Lipiodol-based delivery platform for photoimmunoconjugates, enabling local injection for increased delivery and uptake. This strategy is demonstrated in transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) to locally deliver high doses of chemotherapy into tumor-feeding vessels for hepatic tumors.  The overall goal of this dissertation is to advance the clinical compatibility of photoimmunoconjugate formulations and light-activation methods by targeted strategies for photoimmunotherapy delivery and activation for locoregional cancer therapy. This is achieved by 1) demonstrating PIT’s potential to overcome multidrug resistance, 2) establishing compatibility with a Lipiodol-based delivery platform, and 3) validating light delivery strategies, including balloon light applicators and minimally invasive delivery to the peritoneal cavity. http://www.bioe.umd.edu/events/index.php?mode=4&id=20734 http://www.bioe.umd.edu/events/index.php?mode=4&id=20734 Wednesday, July 29, 2026 6:00 PM, AJC 5104 (5th floor conference room), Title: Exploiting redox for sensing and controlling antibody-based biomanufacturingCommittee members:Dr. William E. Bentley, ChairDr. Gregory F. PayneDr. Yang TaoDr. Ian M. WhiteDr. Amy J. Karlsson, Dean's RepresentativeAbstract:Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are an important class of therapeutics that are safe, effective, and made in large quantities. These proteins are comprised of the assembly of two large chains and two smaller chains, pieced together by disulfide bonds. They are predominantly synthesized by engineered Chinese Hamster Ovary cells (CHO) and secreted into large, 2000L+ bioreactors. Cells grown in these reactors often experience stress from their manufacturing environments and these stresses can influence antibody yield, quality, and integrity.  One key stressor to mAbs during production is oxidative damage, wherein specific amino acid residues of mAbs can be irreversibly oxidized leading to diminished function. In other cases, the disulfide bonds of mAbs can be reduced, also leading to dysfunctional fragments and decreased titer. Maintaining the appropriate redox (oxidation and reduction) balance is key to maintaining the quality of the antibody products and the growth of the antibody-producing CHO cells. It is therefore very important to monitor and control the redox state of the cell cultures. Process analytical technologies are employed to monitor critical redox influencing parameters enabling their adjustment as needed. A major influencer of redox state and mAb integrity is cysteine and its dimer cystine, regulating disulfide formation between antibody chains. Typical cysteine monitoring occurs off-line through highly specialized equipment such as liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, which are not well suited for monitoring bioreactors. Even when extra effort is placed on real-time monitoring and adjusting for redox balance, up to 12% of antibodies can become fragmented. In the absence of tight control, complete fragmentation can occur. Recently, we discovered that we can use a simple protocol and a relatively inexpensive potentiostat, electrodes, and sulfhydryl-specific mediator Ferrocene dimethanol (Fcn) to detect and quantify free cysteine as well as cysteine thiols of reduced fragmented mAb. We referred to this as Fcn mediated electrochemical probing (Fcn MEP). Fcn MEP was developed to rapidly quantify cysteine and mAb fragments in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and Dulbecco’s modified eagle medium (DMEM).  In this dissertation, we build upon this work to explore the development of novel, low-cost, and rapid technologies to better control antibody quality and yield. Firstly, Fcn MEP is evaluated in the biologically relevant environments to understand its applicability in monitoring cysteine in CHO medium. Secondly, a new technology leveraging Fcn access to thiol residues is investigated for reformation of mAb fragment disulfide bonds. Specifically, for the first time, the use of Fcn for electrochemical regeneration (ECR) of intact mAb from reduced mAb fragments is quantitatively demonstrated. This methodology could be applied in a variety of production stages, including in bioreactors, purification, and perhaps even post formulation. We believe this establishes a basic understanding of MEP and ECR that can be integrated into biomanufacturing environments as a means for (i) ensuring the mAb critical quality attributes (CQA) needed for FDA clearance and use and (ii) correcting dysfunctional mAb fragmentation thereby maintaining high product titer.  http://www.bioe.umd.edu/events/index.php?mode=4&id=20739 http://www.bioe.umd.edu/events/index.php?mode=4&id=20739