Group News & Events
2023
  • 8/1/23. The group welcomes our new senior Research Scientist Dr. John Leman, who brings a wealth of experience and encylopedic knowledge of all things industrial chemistry, following 21 years at GE Corporate R&D, and several years as a consultant and research scientist at RPI. 
  • 6/29/23. Yang Lou's latest paper on polymer coatings that kill bacteria and shed biofilm on-demand is posted on the archives! Check it out here: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2023-mkdkx
  • 5/14/23. Ed and Nikita Waskiewicz present their research on polyprodrug materials at the ACS Northeast Regional meeting (NERM) in Boston.
  • 5/4/23. In collaboration with Gilbert (BME), our labs have won a grant from the NYS Dept of Health to work on materials for spinal cord injury! We are looking to hire a new postdoc in polymer chemistry! Check out the details here.
  • 5/1/23.  In collaboration with Gilbert (BME) and Ullal (MSE), our lab has received our first ever grant from the NIH BMBI ! This small scale R03 seed fund will be used to start a new direction in our polyprodrug materials for applications in the central nervous system.
  • 3/8/23. Our latest work on polymerized curcumin coatings on intracortical microelectrodes is published in ACS Applied Bio Materials. Congrats to lead author Dr. Alexis Ziemba, a former PhD student who is now on the faculty at Smith College.   https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsabm.2c00969
  • 1/24/23. Yang Lou's first paper from RPI is accepted for publication in ACS Macro Letters!  In collaboration with Kevin Noonan's lab at CMU, she showed that polymers with bulky cations (which the Noonan group made for exchange membrane applications) exhibit remarkably potent biocidal activity!
  • ​1/19/23. In collaboration with Dr. Mustafa Siddiq at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and Prof Ryan Gilbert, we have been awarded a seed grant from the newly formed RPI/MSSM Center for Engineering Precision Medicine (CEPM) entitled “Functional Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury Using Curcumin-releasing Biomaterials." 
  • 2/3/23. The group welcomes our new postdoc Dr. Jay Saksena, coming to us fresh off a PhD in Bioengineering at Tulane!
  • 1/8/23. We bid farewell to our amazing postdoc Dr. Ruiwen Chen, who pioneered the development of polymerized curcumin materials in our group. She is starting her independent career now at AffinityChem!
2022
  • 12/13/22. Dr. Ruiwen Chen's paper on polymerized curcumin materials synthesis, self-assembly, and neuroprotective bioactivity in vitro is published in Biomacromolecules! This work is a collaboration with Ryan Gilbert in RPI's BME dept and Jeff Capadona's lab at CWRU - funded by a VA I01 grant [link]
  • 7/18/2022. Our laboratory was awarded a new NSF grant in DMR-Biomaterials! We will use polymerized estrogen materials to control astrocytes, which then in turn control neuron behavior in vitro. [link]
  • 5/25/2022. Our work with Prof. Helen Zha, and many other collaborators nationwide, on Antiviral N95s has been published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces! [link]
  • 2/16/2022.  Job opening!  We are hiring a lab tech on our VA project related to poly(pro-drug) coatings for intracortical microelectrodes with the Gilbert Lab  https://usajobs.gov/job/636896300
2021
  • 12/21/2021. Our United States Patent #11,202,834 entitled "Synthesis and processing of poly (pro-drug) materials for extended drug release and uses thereof" has been granted!! Check it out
  • 11/22/2021. Group alum Alex Hsu M.S. '21 has landed a job at Warner-Babcock institute. Congrats Alex!
  • 9/1/2021. The group Welcomes new Ph.D. student Nikita Waskiewicz, coming to RPI from Mt Holyoke!
  • 4/27/2021. Group alumnus Dr. Zhe Zhou is transitioning from his current role at Advanced Materials to Intel as a packaging R&D engineer in materials technology development group. Bets of luck to Dr. Zhou in this next phase of his career!
  • 3/22/2021. Dr. Ao Chen's latest paper on antimicrobial dendrons, with Master's student Elliot Chen, has been accepted for publication in Polymer Chemistry [link] as part of the 2021 Pioneering Investigators Issue.
  • 3/2/2021. In collaboration with Prof Ryan Gilbert's lab in BME and Prof Popovich at OSU, we report on the in vivo activity of implanted polymerized estrogen materials in a spinal cord injury model. Manoj's paper is published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience. [link]
  • 2/1/2021. The group welcomes our new postdoc Dr. Ruiwen Chen and new graduate student Yang Lou!
​
2020
  • 12/16/2020. Ed was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure, effective January 1st 2021. Thanks to RPI, all my former advisers and mentors, and especially all the amazing RPI students who made it possible!
  • 10/7/2020. In collaboration with Prof Ryan Gilbert's lab in BME, and Prof Jeff Capadona at CWRU, our grant proposal on Polyprodrug coatings for intracortical microelectrodes has been selected for $1.2M funding by the Dept of Veteran's Affairs (VA) as an I01. We're hiring a postdoc! Check out the job opening at this link.
  • 5/12/20. In collaboration with Prof. Chaitanya Ullal, our renewal grant "Super-Resolution Photochromic Switching for Bicontinuous Nanostructures" has been funded by the National Science Foundation
  • 4/17/20. Newly minted Dr. Zhe Zhou has officially accepted a job offer from Applied Materials in sunny CA. Best of luck ZZ!!
  • 4/15/20. In collaboration with Prof. Helen Zha, we are starting a RAPID project on antiviral coatings for N95 mask materials with funding from the National Science Foundation. In these unprecedented times, we are doing our best to bring forth engineering/materials/chemistry solutions.
  • 3/19/20. Congratulations to Philip Falcone who passed his MS thesis defense! He was our second student to defend via WebEx due to the covid19 outbreak, but it was a great success anyway. Looking forward to celebrate with him in person sometime in the future.
  • 3/17/20. Congratulations to Dr. Zhe Zhou who passed his PhD defense! He was one of the first to defend via WebEx due to the covid19 outbreak, but it was a great success anyway. Looking forward to celebrate with him in person sometime in the future.
  • 3/17/20. Campus is closing for the rest of the semester due to the covid19 pandemic outbreak. I very hastily threw together a virtual tour of our department for prospective students. Check it out: RPI Virtual Tour
  • 3/9/20. The group bids farewell to Dr. Ao Chen who completed his 2 year postdoc appointment and is moving on to Shanghai Jiaotong University!

2019
  • 12/30/19. Ao Chen's paper on cationic "molecular umbrellas" has been accepted for publication in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Congrats to Ao! [link]
  • 12/05/19. Dr. Alexis Ziemba has successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis in BME! Congratulations!! Alexis will embark on the next phase as a postdoc at her alma mater, Smith College.
  • 10/30/19. Anthony's paper is featured in Chemical & Engineering News!
  • 10/18/19. ZZ's recent paper in Polymer Chemistry has been selected for the inside front cover art.
  • 10/3/19. Dr. Anthony D'Amato's seminal paper on poly(pro-drug) fibers for neuron guidance is accepted for publication in Nature Communications! Congrats to Anthony and co-authors Devan Puhl, Sam Ellman, Bailey Balouch. This work is part of the ongoing collaborations between our group and Prof. Ryan Gilbert's team in BME. [link]
  • 10/1/19. Our paper on antimicrobial macrocyclic oligomers made by templated metathesis has been accepted for publication in Polymer Chemistry. Congrats ZZ and Cansu!
  • 9/13/19. Zhe Zhou's latest work on photodynamic oligomers is accepted for publication in MRS Advances. Congrats ZZ! This new journal publishes research "snapshots" of ongoing work presented at MRS meetings. The article is based on some results Ed presented at the XXVIII International Materials Research Congress (IMRC) in Cancun this past August.
  • 9/10/19. Check out the Macromolecules Virtual Issue on "Next Generation Smart Materials". Zhe Zhou's 2018 paper was selected for this collection. Congrats ZZ! Ed will present on this work at the NextGen Conference later this year in Savannah, GA.
  • 9/5/19. Hari's latest work on super-resolution optical lithography is accepted for publication in RSC Advances. Congrats Hari!
  • 4/9/19. Alex Yepikhin is awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship!
  • 4/5/19. Our symposium at ACS Orlando was a huge success! The session attendance was packed with standing-room-only for the full two days of 30+ talks. This event collected a diverse array of experts in the field for an in-depth examination of the state of the field of antimicrobial polymers and closely related technologies. Many thanks to our sponsors: NSF, MDPI, RSC, and TOSOH!
  • 3/18/19. Dr. Cansu Ergene has successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis in MSE! Congratulations!! Cansu will embark on the next phase as a Process Engineer at Intel.
  • 2/26/19. Hari's paper is accepted for publication in Langmuir. Congrats to Hari Vijayamohanan and co-authors Parth Bide, Dante Boyd, and Zhe Zhou!
  • 2/20/19. The upcoming ACS PMSE Symposium on Antimicrobial and Cell-Penetrating Polymers has been awarded funding by the National Science Foundation (DMR-BMAT)! The award will help defray costs of travel and registration for invited speakers. Thanks to NSF and to all our generous sponsors, including TOSOH, Polymers (MDPI), Biomaterials Science (RSC), and Polymer Chemistry (RSC).
  • ​1/17/19. A "viewpoint" article on Antibacterial Polymers co-authored by Ed, Karen Lienkamp, Beth Gillies, and Paul Ragogna has been accepted for publication in Angewandte Chemie. Congrats all!
  • 1/16/19. The group welcomes our new undergraduate researchers: Elliot Chen, Tashin Islam, Dongyu Yang, and Anqian Sun. Welcome all! More details to follow on the people page. ​
​2018
  • 12/21/18. Our paper on photodynamic antibacterial oligothiophenes is accepted for publication in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces [link]. Congrats to co-authors Zhe Zhou and Cansu Ergene as well as our collaborators at Rowan University, Greg Caputo and Ben Carone and their undergraduate students Joshua Lee and David Shirley!
  • 11/14/18. Congratulations to Dr. Anthony D'Amato on successfully defending his thesis!! Having completed the Ph.D. in BME, he will move to Cornell as a PostDoc for Yadong Wang.
  • 10/17/18. Ed and Abraham Joy will co-organize a symposium on "Antimicrobial and Cell-Penetrating Polymers" at the 257th ACS National Meeting in Orlando, FL (March 31st - April 4th, 2019). Abstract submission via MAPS is now open! https://callforpapers.acs.org/orlando2019/PMSE.​
  • 8/3/18. Zhe Zhou's first paper is published in Macromolecules [link]. Congrats to ZZ!​
  • 7/17/18. Ed is a guest instructor at Nanjing University in China, where he is teaching a 2 week summer course on Polymer Science to undergraduates. 
  • 7/11/18. Cansu's paper is accepted for publication in J. Mater. Chem. B [link]. This article was selected for two themed issue collections: HOT Papers and Emerging Investigators. Congrats Cansu!
  • ​3/7/18. Our invited review article on antibacterial polymers is published in Polymer Chemistry.   [link] Congrats to coauthors Cansu Ergene and Kazuma Yasuhara (NAIST, Japan)! The article was published as Open Access under a CC BY-NC license - free to use for any non-commercial purpose with attribution.
  • 2/12/18. The lab welcomes a new Postdoctoral Researcher, Dr. Ao Chen, from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at the University of Queensland. Ao earned his PhD in 2017 under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Whittaker.
  • 1/12/18. Ed was selected as a 2018 ACS PMSE Young Investigator! This distinction is meant to honor young researchers who have made significant contributions to their respective fields within Polymer Science and Engineering. Awardees will present their work in the PMSE Young Investigator Symposium at the Fall 2018 ACS National Meeting in Boston.
2017
  • 9/21/17. Based on a collaboration between the Y. Shi and Palermo labs, Binghui's paper on a course grain reactive MD model for polymer brushes was accepted to Polymer. Congrats Binghui!
  • 9/7/17. Cansu's first paper on self-immolative antibacterial polymers was accepted for publication in Biomacromolecules. Congrats Cansu!
  • 6/7/17. Ed was honored to be a guest instructor at Nanjing University in China, where he taught a 2 week summer course on Polymer Science to undergraduates. Thanks to the great faculty and students at NJU who made it such an amazing experience!
  • 5/23/17. Ed's proposal to the American Chemical Society - Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF), titled "Synthesis of Advanced Functional Self-Immolative Polymers" has been recommended for funding as a Doctoral New Investigator Award (DNI) . Thanks PRF!
  • 5/22/17. Our paper in collaboration with the Ullal Lab has been accepted for publication in Chemistry of Materials. Congratulations to first author Hari Vijayamohanan!
  • 7/10/17. Ed has won the NSF CAREER Award from the DMR-Biomaterials program for his proposal "Biomimetic Macromolecules at the Materials-Microbe Interface".  This funding will support one of our lab's key projects for the next five years. Many thanks to the NSF!

2016
  • 6/24/16. In collaboration with Chaitanya Ullal's lab, our joint proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) CHE-MSN entitled “Photochromic Switching for Nanostructured Polymer Gels” has been recommended for funding! Thanks NSF!
  • 6/8/16. Welcome to our newest graduate student research assistant Zhe Zhou!
  • 6/3/16. Welcome to our LSAMP REU summer student Sadjo Sidikou! She is visiting us from the University of Maryland - Baltimore County (Chemical Engineering)
  • 5/28/16. Graduation Day! Congratulations to Utthara Ramesbabu (BS in MSE), as she will be going to Northwestern University for her Ph.D.
  • 2/8/16. The Palermo lab was selected to receive a 3M Nontenured Faculty Award! The gift will support our project entitled "Biorepsonsive Polymer Surfaces as Antifouling Coatings" Many thanks to 3M for their support!
  • 1/1/16. Welcoming a new URP undergraduate researcher Sam Ellman (Chemistry)!

2015
  • 8/5/15. Congratulations to Cansu Ergene for receiving one of the inaugural RPI Presidential Graduate Research Fellows Program grants. This fellowship will support her research for two years.
  • 5/28/15. Congratulations to Cansu Ergene for passing her oral exam Ph.D. qualifiers! The exam tests students' knowledge of materials structure, mechanical properties, thermodynamics & kinetics, and electrical, magnetic and optical properties.
  • 5/26/15. Utthara Rameshbabu will spend the summer doing research with our collaborator, Kazuma Yasuhara, at the Nara Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (NAIST) in Nara, Japan!
  • 3/13/15. Our grant proposal to the Army Research Office, entitled "STIR: Sequence-Controlled Polymerization on Facially Amphiphilic Templates at Interfaces" has been approved for funding! This Short Term Innovative Research (STIR) grant will stimulate a new direction in our higher risk project areas. Thanks ARO!

2014
  • 12/30/14. Happy Holidays! The website is now updated with pictures of our capital equipment. See the "facilities" tab for details.
  • 11/12/14. Welcome to our newest graduate student, Cansu Ergene!
  • 9/2/14. Our first undergraduate researcher, Utthara Rameshbabu (MSE class of 2016), has joined the Palermo group. Welcome!
  • 7/31/14. The Palermo Lab has officially started today! Lab renovations and ordering of capital equipment are now underway. Check back soon for pictures of the nascent laboratory...
  • ​4/28/14. Palermo Lab @ RPI website goes live!