Dr. Eugenia Kharlampieva Awarded a NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award

NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER)


Eugenia Kharlampieva“CNMB member and a faculty member in the UAB Department of Chemistry Dr. Eugenia Kharlampieva
has been awarded a  National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Award entitled “CAREER:  Shape Responses of Ultrathin Hydrogel Microcapsules” for a five year period 2014-2019. This is one of the  National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations”

Dr. Eugenia Kharlampieva Awarded a NSF Biomaterials Grant

Dr. Eugenia Kharlampieva Awarded a National Science Foundation Biomaterials Grant
Immunomodulatory Ultrathin Multilayer Coatings for Pancreatic islet Transplantation NSF-DMR1306110, program of Biomaterials (BMAT)
Eugenia KharlampievaThis grant will supports the development of a novel type of cytoprotective material with controlled immunomodulatory and inflammatory responses to be used for cell-basedtransplantation therapy for diabetic recipients. This project is in collaboration between departments of Chemistry (Eugenia Kharlampieva, PI) and Microbiology (Hubert Tse, coPI).  Although transplantation of pancreatic islet cells has emerged as a promising treatment for Type 1 diabetes, its clinical application remains limited due to adverse effects of immunosuppression and declining allograft function. The awarded project will develop a preclinical approach to preserve islet viability and function during culturing and transplantation by protecting pancreatic islets (cell clusters) with a novel polymer coating. These coatings will be designed through hydrogen-bonded assembly of cytocompatible macromolecules with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics.  This project is particularly timely since current islet encapsulation systems are challenging for transplantations due to high cytotoxicity and the requirement for large injection volumes. The design of novel immunoprotective materials will open new prospects for developing biomaterials with unique characteristics having applications in various bio-related areas such as bioengineering and tissue engineering. The awarded project will develop interdisciplinary collaborative research which should stimulate awareness of the needs of the UAB biomedical research community for specialized polymer-based biomaterials as novel platforms for cell transplantation therapy.

NSF Awards CNMB Scientist Major Instrumentation Grant

NSF Awards CNMB Scientist Major Instrumentation Grant

National Science Foundation Awards Major Research Instrumentation Grant to CNMB Investigators Andrei Stanishevsky, (Principal Investigator), Sergey Vyazovkin (Co-PI), Ho-Wook Jun (Co-PI), Yogesh Vohra (Co-PI) and Derrick Dean (Co-PI).The proposed imaging microprobe X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) system is designed for spatially resolved chemical analysis of solid surfaces. This tool creates a new multi-user element of the core shared

The imaging microprobe X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) system is designed for spatially resolved chemical analysis of solid surfaces. This tool creates a new multi-user element of the core shared analytical facility in the interdisciplinary Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration (CNMB) at U of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). It serves a large team of users from CNMB, four UAB science and engineering departments, and fosters collaborations through the partnership with Alabama State U (ASU) and NSF-Materials World Network with Technical U of Lodz (Poland). XPS is critical for us due to its unique ability to discriminate between different oxidation states and chemical environments in a thin layer (<5 nm) of a material, yet capable of the depth profiling of chemical composition when using a sputtering accessory. Imaging XPS is the only tool that has a combination of features to address the challenges of microscale characterization in our projects on: (i) surface modification and functionalization of new multi-scale biomaterials; (ii) bio-active monolayers and self-assembled biomimetic

Imaging XPS is the only tool that has a combination of features to address the challenges of microscale characterization in our projects on: (i) surface modification and functionalization of new multi-scale biomaterials; (ii) bio-active monolayers and self-assembled biomimetic nanoarchitectures; (iii) novel phases formed under extreme pressures; (iv) chemistry of interfaces and thermally-induced processes in polymer and polymer-ceramic multifunctional nanocomposites; (v) surface and interface phenomena in wide band-gap semiconductor materials and structures; and (vi) nanostructured, multilayer, and gradient metal-ceramic and ceramic thin-film materials. This XPS system provides training in 3 graduate and 5 undergraduate courses with enrollment of ~135 per semester, enhances research opportunities in our interdisciplinary NSF-REU site where women and minorities account for 57% of the participants and in our partner ASU?s CREST and HBCUUP programs, and raises the awareness of surface science and engineering among K-12 students, teachers, and general public through our NSF-RET site and UAB day at McWane Science Center in Birmingham. CNMB provides necessary infrastructure and long-term support for the XPS system operation, accommodation of multiple users, and the initiation of new projects at local, national, and international levels.