Dr. Euguenia Kharmlampieva, CNMB Co-director, is among 3 UAB chemists fighting cancer. Kharlampieva and Veronika Kozlovskaya, Ph.D., research associate in Kharlampieva’s lab and her longtime collaborator, have created a cloaking device for fragile anti-cancer drugs. Their nanocapsules can be 60 times smaller than a red blood cell and produced at industrial scale. And they are smart; that is, they can release their cargo at precise locations when triggered by a burst of ultrasound energy, a specified temperature or the acidic environment around cancer cells. Click here to see original article in it’s entirety as published in the UAB Reporter.
2022 REU Jayden Ratcliffe Attends Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS)
Submitted by 2022 REU Jayden Ratcliffe
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program enabled me to participate in computational high-entropy materials research with Dr. Cheng-Chien Chen, where I learned a great deal about machine learning methods and high-entropy borides. He invited me to present our research at a poster expo at the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS) conference in Oxford, MS. Taking part in the conference was a fantastic opportunity for me to attend talks about physics research across the country, support my mentor and colleagues from UAB, and present my own research.
Dr. Chen and his Ph.D. students gave highly informative talks about their specific research topics. I was also able to attend lectures given by several of my professors from my home college, Mississippi State University. There were so many various categories of physics lectures I could choose to attend, and I really appreciated that diversity. I was very fascinated in the astrophysics lecture session, where they discussed research on black holes and exoplanets.
At the poster expo I was able to discuss my research with students and professors. It was a wonderful way for me to become more comfortable talking about my research to people of diverse backgrounds. During my REU at UAB I presented at the poster expo, and this thoroughly prepared me for my presentation at the SESAPS convention. I want to thank UAB for their continuous support and Dr. Chen for all his challenging work in helping me succeed. I have learned so much from these experiences, and they will aid me in furthering my career in physics.
Dr. Wenli Bi Receives NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant
Congratulations to Dr. Wenli Bi, UAB Department of Physics and Member of Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointergration. The award is in the amount of $419,614. The grant, led by Bi, is titled “MRI: Acquisition of a Quantum Design Physical Properties Measurement System for Materials Research and Education.”
The MRI grant supports the acquisition of a Physical Properties Measurement System from Quantum Design, which is a state-of-the-art, highly automated and multifunctional system capable of measuring a multitude of material properties at cryogenic temperature, high magnetic field and high pressure.
Continue reading here as originally reported in UAB News.
Dr. Aaron Catledge Awarded NSF Grant
Congratulations are in order for Dr. Aaron Catledge. He has been awarded a new NSF DMR award as a PI starting a new area of research in UAB physics. The Project is titled: New frontiers in synthesis of high-entropy transition metal borides enabled by microwave-induced plasma.
The significance of this project is that it addresses the need for advanced ceramics as a key enabling technology for many applications in aerospace, defense, power generation, and processing industries having significant national impact. The study of materials designed for operation under harsh conditions is essential to meet a range of challenges—from creating better turbines, reactors, and batteries to developing future energy systems.
You can read the full technical and non-technical summary here.
Best wishes to Dr. Catledge the very best in the execution of this award!
CNMB Partners in $20 Million Statewide Effort Funded by NSF
Nine Alabama universities and one private firm are partnered in a new $20 million, five-year effort led by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to develop transformative technologies in plasma science and engineering (PSE) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
The grant is entitled “Future Technologies enabled by Plasma Processes” (FTPP) and will be for a five-year duration (2022-2027) to explore plasma synthesized novel materials, surface modified biomaterials, food safety and sterilization, and space weather prediction.
Yogesh Vohra, Ph.D., associate dean for University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and professor university scholar in the Department of Physics, serves as a co-principal investigator and UAB’s Institutional (continue reading here).
Dr. Yogesh Vohra Receives $540k DOE NNSA Grant
Congratulations to Dr. Yogesh K. Vohra for being the recipient of a $540k grant from U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
Yogesh Vohra, Ph.D., associate dean in the University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Arts and Sciences and professor university scholar in the Department of Physics, has been awarded a three-year, $540,000 grant from the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration as part of the department’s Stewardship Science Academic Alliances Program.
Vohra’s grant is one of 36 awards totaling $21 million allocated to supporting research activities in areas of physical sciences and engineering. The goal of the grants is to provide opportunities for scientific collaboration between the academic community and scientists at the national labs.
You can read the full UAB News story here.
