As a 麻豆原创 Pegasus Professor and chair of materials science and engineering department, Seal takes his research down to the nanoscale.

He focuses on cerium oxide nanoparticles known as nanoceria. These specialized nanoparticles are versatile and can be tailored for a variety of medical applications.

Since arriving at 麻豆原创 in 1997, Seal has 92 麻豆原创 patents to his credit, with more than 450 journal papers. A pioneer in nanoceria research for the biomedical sector, his work focuses on the nanoscience of advanced materials processing and materials science and engineering.

Nanoceria and Biomedical Applications

As Seal continued his research, he realized nanoceria was being used for microelectronic processing, but not yet in the biomedical sector. 鈥淲e at 麻豆原创 are the first ones to show that this has wonderful properties,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淲e filed a patent and were the very first to show nano cerium cell survivability,鈥� he says 鈥淭hen of course, after that, the field has really blossomed. There is a wide range of applications in biomedical sciences 鈥� from cancer research to bone regeneration, tissue regeneration and radiation protection. All from this almost accidental discovery made at 麻豆原创.鈥�

Since then, Seal and his research team have found that nanoceria are non-toxic and great carriers for delivering therapeutic agents and have regenerative oxidative properties.

Seal says that the nanoceria structure can be tweaked depending on the application.

鈥淚n layman’s terms, I would say I create openings in that crystal structure that I can tinker with,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his is where the functional materials come in. I can take one opening and use it to send something, maybe I can load a drug on it. I can take another opening and keep it open to destroy nasty radicals produced by cells that are not needed.鈥�

Seal says that nanoceria鈥檚 versatility enables companies to put them in pills or injectables. 鈥淭he sky’s the limit,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also recent data that when combined with drugs, the nanoceria material actually protects the good cells, while the drug kills cancer cells even more potently.鈥�

Seal鈥檚 cerium oxide research has led to four technologies that he co-developed with Kenneth Liechty, division chief of pediatric surgery and vice chair of surgery research at the University of Arizona. Liechty was previously at the University of Colorado鈥檚 Anschutz Medical Campus, which is where he and Seal had collaborated.

Seal and Liechty combined 麻豆原创鈥檚 nanoceria platform with the University of Colorado鈥檚 experience in microRNA (miRNA) to engineer a specialized miRNA that can assist with diabetic wound healing. Found in all human cells, miRNA plays important roles in many biological processes such as cell proliferation or development of specific cell functions and characteristics.

Wound Healing for Diabetic Patients

Seal and collaborators leveraged the cerium oxide molecules to deliver specialized miRNA to an enflamed wound site in patients with diabetes to correct the inflammatory response at the molecular level. Once there, the molecules shorten the time of diabetic wound closure and help avoid the complications associated with impaired diabetic wound healing as those with diabetes often experience slower wound healing.

The molecules specifically combat excess reactive oxygen species molecules, which may build up as a result of prolonged inflammation and ultimately delay proper wound closure and healing. With that kind of inflammatory response, the body can produce a build-up of excess reactive oxygen species molecules, which then leads to increased oxidative stress inside cells.

Nanosilk Fibers to Protect Skin and Treat Injuries

Nanosilk fibers created from silkworms or spiders is another unique healing invention developed by 麻豆原创 and the University of Colorado.

The patented invention includes biocompatible and hypoallergenic compositions to heal, protect and strengthen skin. It also employs a combined nanoceria-miRNA specialized composition.

Silk comprises two proteins: fibroin and sericin. The silk core is fibroin, often used to make surgical sutures because it is non-toxic and biocompatible with human tissues. Fibroin solution converts to many forms, including films, sponges, gels and powders.

During their research, the inventors found that applying a layered system of silk fibroin fibers in solution and spun mat formats can effectively protect and strengthen skin, especially in weak areas that are injury-prone or stressed repetitively.

Also, they found that when integrated with cerium oxide molecules conjugated with the miRNA, the silk fibroin fiber solution and mat enhanced wound healing.

鈥淲e are now using biodegradable material to deliver therapeutics in disease sites,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淪ilk ceria composite is one of them 鈥� it鈥檚 green and sustainable technology.鈥�

The solution of silk fibroin fibers may be applied as a spray, liquid, form or gel, and the fibroin mat can be applied as a mat, sheet, gel or fiber.

The invention can be used as a protective layer to improve the skin鈥檚 elasticity, thus preventing or reducing injury, even minor blisters and skin ulcers. It can also treat a variety of wounds, and it can be used to treat injuries to subcutaneous tissue.

Nanoceria and miRNA for Tissue Regeneration

麻豆原创 and the University of Colorado collaborated with the University of Pennsylvania to develop a nanoceria-miRNA conjugate that not only assists with wound healing, but with tissue regeneration and angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels).

鈥淵ou need angiogenesis, and you need blood vessels to grow,鈥� Seal says.

For instance, after a heart attack, the invention aids recovery by reducing the body鈥檚 inflammatory response and helping it to generate new tissue for blood vessels.

As with diabetic wounds, heart attacks can cause the body to produce excess reactive oxygen species, increase oxidative stress and inflammation.

Offering both treatment and prevention, the patented invention can significantly mitigate heart damage and prevent adverse ventricular remodeling during recovery.

Treating and Preventing Lung Injury

Seal says that his earlier work 10-15 years ago on lung injury and cancer therapy radiation helped to develop new technology with the University of Colorado to promote lung repair, reduce lung inflammation and help treat or prevent pulmonary diseases or conditions.

鈥淲hen you treat the lungs with nanoceria, the good cells around the lungs are protected from the radiotherapy while the radiotherapy is killing the cancer cells,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淭he cerium oxide has this bifunctionality to protect the good cells from the radiation.鈥�

He explained that the nanocerium oxide has multivalent states, meaning the invention鈥檚 nanoparticles can stay silent when they want to and stay active when needed.

鈥淲hat we have seen in nanoscale depends on the microenvironment in the cell,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t can switch back and forth.鈥�

The cerium oxide and miRNA compositions of the invention can be administered in different forms as a spray or a pump.

Seal says he plans to continue promoting the commercialization aspect of technology developed within his department.

鈥淚’m really a proponent of people creating new IPs and taking them to the next level,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he world of nanomaterials is quite intriguing and the potential benefit of the nanomaterials, nanotechnology is immense.鈥�

Researcher鈥檚 Credentials
Seal is a 麻豆原创 Pegasus Professor, 麻豆原创 trustee chair, and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Seal joined the department and the Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center, which is part of, in 1997. He has an appointment at and is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 prosthetics Biionix faculty cluster initiative. He is a past director of 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. Seal received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

Technology Available for License
To learn more about Seal鈥檚 work and potential licensing of these 麻豆原创 technologies or for more information about sponsored research opportunities, contact Andrea White (andrea.white@ucf.edu) at (407) 823-0138.

This new method can be beneficial in accelerating the development of life-saving medicines that otherwise take billions of dollars and decades of time to produce.

The results were published recently in the journal Briefings in Bioinformatics.

Their new model, BindingSite-AugmentedDTA, uses their previously reported model, AttentionsiteDTI, as the first step of a two-step prediction approach.

鈥淎 unique aspect of our approach is that it can be easily integrated with any deep learning-based prediction model, which allows for improved performance compared to using the prediction models alone,鈥� says study co-author Ozlem Garibay ’01MS ’08PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems.

鈥淏y integrating our approach with other state-of-the-art deep learning-based drug-target-affinity prediction models, we have shown significant improvement in prediction performance across multiple metrics,鈥� Garibay says. 鈥淭his integration makes it a powerful tool for drug discovery research.鈥�

How it Works

The researcher鈥檚 AttentionsiteDTI model is a classification model specifically designed to determine two key aspects. First, it identifies whether a drug compound binds with a target protein, and second, it determines the specific binding site on the protein where the drug compound interacts.

Their improved BindingSite-AugmentedDTA model follows a two-step prediction approach in which the first step uses the AttentionsiteDTI model to identify the specific binding site on the protein.

In the second step, a regression prediction model is integrated to estimate the binding strength, or affinity, between the drug molecule and the identified protein binding site.

Garibay says that this combined approach enhances the accuracy of drug target affinity predictions by reducing the search space of potential-binding sites of the protein in the first step, thus making the binding affinity prediction more efficient and accurate.

The researchers validated the prediction power of their model through in-vitro experiments and used it to successfully predict binding affinity values between FDA-approved drugs and key proteins of SARS-CoV-2.

They also showed improved performance of state-of-the-art predictive models, such as GraphDTA, DGraphtDTA and DepGS, in finding the most probable binding sites of proteins when AttentionSiteDTI was included in the models compared to when it wasn鈥檛.

Next Steps

The researchers are working on a Python package that includes most of the drug-target interaction and drug-target affinity models and datasets, which is highly customizable.

鈥淭his will enable further high-quality research in the community by providing a convenient tool for researchers to develop and evaluate their models,鈥� Garibay says.

They also plan to make their largest model available online for inference.

鈥淭his will facilitate fast drug screening for biology and pharmaceutical researchers with limited computer science knowledge 鈥� allowing them to easily predict drug-target binding affinities and identify potential drug candidates,鈥� Garibay says. 鈥淭his can potentially accelerate the drug discovery process and lead to the development of new treatments for various diseases.鈥�

About the Team

Ozlem Garibay is an assistant professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Engineering and Computer Science, where she directs the Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Research Lab. Prior to that, she served as the director of research technology. Her areas of research are big data, social media analysis, social cybersecurity, artificial social intelligence, human-machine teams, social and economic networks, network science, STEM education analytics, higher education economic impact and engagement, artificial intelligence, evolutionary computation and complex systems. She earned her master’s and doctorate in computer science from 麻豆原创.

Mehdi Yazdan-Jahromi is a third-year doctoral student in computer science at 麻豆原创. His current research interests include computer vision, drug鈥搕arget interaction and algorithmic fairness.

Niloofar Yousefi鈥�17PhD is a postdoctoral research associate at 麻豆原创鈥檚 Complex Adaptive Systems Laboratory in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Her research areas include machine learning, artificial intelligence and statistical learning theory to develop data analytics solutions with more transparency and explainability.

Collaborators:

Aida Tayebi is a third-year doctoral student at 麻豆原创. Her current research interests include algorithmic fairness and bias mitigation techniques in DTI.

Elayaraja Kolanthai is a postdoctoral research associate at the 麻豆原创聽Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His current research interests include the development of nanoparticles, layer-by-layer antimicrobial/antiviral nanoparticle coatings, polymer composites for tissue engineering, and gene/drug delivery methodologies.

Craig Neal鈥�14 鈥�16MS 鈥�21PhD is a postdoctoral research associate at the 麻豆原创 Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His current research interests include wet chemical synthesis and surface engineering of nanoparticles for biomedical applications and electrochemical devices, and electroanalysis of nanomaterials and bio-nano interactions.

Sudipta Seal is currently the chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at 麻豆原创 as well as a Pegasus Professor and a University Distinguished Professor. He joined the Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center (AMPAC) at 麻豆原创 in 1997. He has been consistently productive in research, instruction and service to 麻豆原创 since 1998. He has served as the nano initiative coordinator for the vice president of research and commercialization. He served as the director of AMPAC and the NanoScience Technology Center from 2009 to 2017.

Research Study: BindingSite-AugmentedDTA: enabling a next-generation pipeline for interpretable prediction models in drug repurposing

The Pegasus Professor and chair of the says this patent was awarded much faster than most, which demonstrates the importance of the disinfectant.

鈥淲e are very excited to get this patent accepted so quickly, and we鈥檙e glad that the work is of great value for combatting viruses and pathogen-born infections,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淭hanks to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for recognizing this work and to the 麻豆原创 Office of Technology Transfer for its support.鈥�

Co-recipients of the patent include Seal鈥檚 postdoctoral researcher, Craig Neal 鈥�14 鈥�16MS 鈥�21PhD, and his former research assistant, Udit Kumar 鈥�22PhD.

How the Disinfectant Works

The COVID-killing coating is made with a nanomaterial that activates under white light, such as sunlight or LED light. As long as the nanomaterial is exposed to a continuous light source, it can regenerate its antiviral properties, creating a self-cleaning effect.

The efficacy of the disinfectant was tested and proven through a study that was published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces this past year. The study found that the coating can not only destroy the COVID-19 virus, but it can also combat the spread of Zika virus, SARS, parainfluenza, rhinovirus and vesicular stomatitis.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation鈥檚 RAPID program and conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, including Griff Parks, a professor in the 麻豆原创 and the co-principal investigator of the grant.

Next Steps

Now that the disinfectant has been patented, the research team will continue testing the product and 麻豆原创 will seek a commercial partner to manufacture and sell it to a wide range of customers within the next few years.

鈥淲e plan to carry on the work in larger samples and also to test in vivo models and other means of infection control,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淭he process is well defined, and we plan to work with an industry partner to bring it to the mass market.鈥�

Seal joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the , which is part of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 1997. He has an appointment at the聽College of Medicine聽and is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 prosthetics cluster听叠颈颈辞苍颈虫. He is the former director of 麻豆原创鈥檚 and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

鈥淚t is always a delight to have our research work featured in a reputed journal,鈥� said Udit Kumar, a doctoral student in the (MSE) and the lead author of the journal article. 鈥淕iven the theme and possible impact of antiviral research in current times, our article will definitely aid our fight against global pandemics.鈥�

The paper outlines the most recent study from a multidisciplinary team of researchers that includes Sudipta Seal, the chair of the MSE department, and Griff Parks, a College of Medicine virologist and director of the . They experimented with the nanomaterial yttrium silicate, which has antiviral properties that are activated by white light, such as sunlight or LED lights. As long as there is a continuous source of light, the antiviral properties regenerate, creating a self-cleaning surface disinfectant.

鈥淵ttrium silicate acts as a silent killer, with antiviral properties constantly recharged by the light,鈥� Kumar says. 鈥淚t is most effective in minimizing surface to the surface spread of many viruses.鈥�

Kumar says their test of yttrium silicate in white light disinfected surfaces with high viral loads in approximately 30 minutes. Additionally, the nanomaterial was able to combat the spread of other viruses including parainfluenza, vesicular stomatitis, rhinovirus, Zika and SARS.

鈥淭his disinfectant technology is an important achievement for both engineering and health because we all were affected during the pandemic,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淐OVID is still ongoing and who knows what other illnesses are on the horizon.鈥�

Other 麻豆原创 researchers, including , nanotechnology student Balaashwin Babu 鈥�20 and materials science and engineering student Erik Marcelo, are co-authors on the paper.

鈥淭his publication is the culmination of timely insight by the investigators as to the importance of rapid development of broad-spectrum anti-microbials, as well as hard work in the lab to show the potency of our new materials,鈥� Parks says. 鈥淭his is an outstanding example of the power of cross-discipline research 鈥� in this case, materials science and microbiology researchers from CECS and COM.鈥�

The research is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation鈥檚 RAPID program.

Seal joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center, which is part of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽College of Engineering and Computer Science, in 1997. He has an appointment at the聽College of Medicine聽and is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 prosthetics cluster听叠颈颈辞苍颈虫. He is the former director of 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

Parks is the聽College of Medicine鈥檚聽associate dean for聽Research. He came to 麻豆原创 in 2014 as director of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences after 20 years at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He earned his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin and was an American Cancer Society Fellow at Northwestern University.

Study title: Potent Inactivation of Human Respiratory Viruses Including SARS-CoV-2 by a Photoactivated Self-Cleaning Regenerative Antiviral Coating

Assistant Professor Yang Yang is doing this by making the batteries more efficient, with some of his latest work focusing on keeping an internal metal structure, the anode, from falling apart over time by applying a thin, film-like coating of copper and tin. The new technique is detailed in a recent study in the journal Advanced Materials.

An anode generates electrons that travel to a similar structure, the cathode, inside the battery, thus creating a current and power.

鈥淥ur work has shown that the rate of degradation of the anode can be reduced by more than 1,000 percent by using a copper-tin film compared to a tin film that is often used,鈥� said Yang, who is with 麻豆原创鈥檚 .

Yang is an expert in battery improvement including making them safer and able to withstand extreme temperatures.

The technique is unique because of its use of the copper-tin alloy and is an important improvement in stabilizing rechargeable battery performance, Yang says. It is also scalable for use in the smallest smartphone battery to larger batteries that power electric cars and trucks.

鈥淲e are motivated by our most recent research progress in alloyed materials for various applications,鈥� he says. 鈥淓ach alloy is unique in composition, structure and property.鈥�

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation through its Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems鈥� Electrochemical Systems program and through 麻豆原创鈥檚 startup funding and preeminent postdoctoral programs.

Study co-authors included Guanzhi Wang, a doctoral student in 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center, , and the paper鈥檚 first author; Megan Aubin, a doctoral student in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Abhishek Mehta, a graduate of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Materials Science and Engineering doctoral program; Huajun Tian and Jinfa Chang, postdoctoral scholars in 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center; Akihiro Kushima, an assistant professor in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center; and Yongho Sohn; a professor in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center.

Yang holds joint appointments in 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, which is part of the university鈥檚 . He is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformation (REACT) Cluster. Before joining 麻豆原创 in 2015, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany. He received his doctorate in materials science from Tsinghua University in China.

The recipients are academic leaders making an impact through their research and scholarship. From a faculty member working to disrupt the spread of terrorism to another who designed a mobile sensor to detect disease, they are all making the world a better place, according to the Office of Research and Faculty Excellence, which cosponsored the event.

鈥淎s a historian by training, I really like the term 鈥榣uminary,鈥欌�� Interim President Thad Seymour Jr. said during the celebration. 鈥淭o me it signifies people who throughout history have been at the very pinnacle of their field, shining a light on solutions for our civilization. Thank you for shining a bright light on your field and on 麻豆原创 and the incredible impact we have on our community.鈥�

Provost Elizabeth Dooley, vice provost for Faculty Excellence Jana Jasinski, and vice president for research Elizabeth Klonoff also participated in the ceremony. Recipients received a glass award and each week one faculty member will be featured on the Office of Research website through the end of this year.

This year鈥檚 recipients are:

Lori Walters, School for Modeling, Simulation and Training and the Department of History. Walters is passionate about history and uses technology to preserve it and engage the public. She develops virtual historic environments, utilizes laser scanners for digital preservation, and captures oral histories to bring the past to life. Walters enables others to understand the heritage of the U.S. space program in Florida, discover the wonders of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, and find a new appreciation of mid-century architecture.

Noemi Pinilla-Alonso, Florida Space Institute. Pinilla-Alonso is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of asteroid characterization and other small planetary bodies. She has been instrumental in creating collaborations that have elevated the work done at 麻豆原创鈥檚 Florida Space Institute, the Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Studies within the College of Sciences, and at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Researchers recognize Pinilla-Alonso because of her commitment to leadership and good science.

Deanna Sellnow, Nicholson School of Communication and Media. Sellnow is the person you want on your speed dial when a crisis is about to hit. Groups around the world ask for her advice because of her expertise in crisis communications. The U.S. Geological Service has tapped her to help the operational earthquake-forecasting arm of the organization with effective risk and crisis communication. She also serves on an international team of experts that is developing a communication protocol for combating the spread of terrorism and improving biosecurity around the world.

Madhab Neupane, College of Sciences. Neupane is a relatively new professor at 麻豆原创, arriving in 2016 after completing his postdoctoral studies at Princeton University and a stint at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He has been an active contributor pushing the frontier of quantum materials research since 2011. His research is carving out a new era of communication. Instead of using silicon to advance technology he is studying new quantum materials that will act as conductors, which use and store energy at the subatomic level. This field of research may revolutionize computing and all industries that rely on any form of electronic information processing.

Shin-Tson Wu, College of Optics and Photonics. Wu is a preeminent scholar, prolific inventor, excellent teacher, student mentor and distinguished professional in the field of optics and photonics. His work, cited more than 32,000 times, led to the display technology used on smart phones and augmented displays. He鈥檚 helped more than 32 doctoral and seven master鈥檚 students who have gone on to work at places such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and research and academic centers around the world.

Vicki Loerzel, College of Nursing. Loerzel is enhancing the lives of cancer survivors through her research. Her research focus is in developing practical and useful interventions to help people with cancer manage side effects related to their treatment. She uses technology and patient experiences to develop interventions that patients are more likely to use. Loerzel developed an avatar-based video game that patients play, which helps them better manage their nausea after chemotherapy. Another project is focused on examining risk factors for unplanned emergency room and hospital admissions during treatment for cancer so interventions can be developed to keep people at home.

Martine Vanryckeghem, College of Health Professions and Sciences. Vanryckeghem literally helps people speak. Her research has impacted thousands of people who stutter and her ability to easily collaborate with other researchers has led to pioneering work with children. Vanryckeghem developed assessment tools to identify stuttering among children and adults used in more than 30 countries across four continents.

Jiyu Fang, College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Advance Materials Processing and Analysis Center. Fang鈥檚 research focuses on the interdisciplinary areas of physics, chemistry, materials and biology, to study self-organized and stimuli response soft matter. His work is highly cited by others in his field. His expertise has led him to develop liquid crystal-based optical sensors, which can be used for the simple, fast and sensitive detection of the biomarkers of diseases and the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis.

Stephen Fiore, School of Modeling, Simulation and Training. Fiore has a joint appointment in the Department of Philosophy and the School of Modeling, Simulation and Training. His expertise is focused on understanding and enhancing research on cognition and collaboration. His work in this emerging field has led agencies such as the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Advanced Research Projects Agency to ask for his counsel.

He will receive the prestigious Materials Research Society Fellow award at the end of April during the society鈥檚 spring meeting. Seal will be the first at 麻豆原创 to receive this award.

鈥淭his is unexpected, but I feel very honored.鈥� 鈥撀燬udipta Seal, 麻豆原创 professor

With his designation as an MRS Fellow, Seal joins the ranks of other top researchers in his field from around the world and the United States, including seven from the University of Florida, one from Florida State University and one from Florida International University.

The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the materials science field by individuals who exemplify the highest ideals of accomplishment, research, leadership and service.

鈥淭his is unexpected, but I feel very honored,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy to be part of the famous materials researchers who have received this before. 麻豆原创 is in good company.鈥�

In June, he will travel to China to give a series of lectures and receive the Lee Hsun Lecture award from the Chinese Academy of Sciences鈥� Institute of Metal Research.

The award honors scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of material science both in the scientist鈥檚 country and abroad.

Seal鈥檚 work blends engineering, materials science and nanotechnology for applications in medicine, space and the environment.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad to see our research on functional materials for biomedical to energy and sustainability purposes being recognized by the international community.鈥� 鈥撀燬udipta Seal, 麻豆原创 professor

These accomplishments have included creating unique nanoscale cerium oxide molecules, leading to the discovery of their antioxidant properties and applications in medicine, as well as using nanotechnology to turn a waste byproduct from coal power plants into a material to clean up oil spills and developing nano-energetics for propulsion.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad to see our research on functional materials for biomedical to energy and sustainability purposes being recognized by the international community,鈥� Seal says. 鈥淚t helps 麻豆原创 be recognized as one of the premier research institutions.鈥�

Seal has a doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Berkeley. He has a master of science degree from the University of Sheffield and a bachelor of technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur.

He is a Pegasus Professor, trustee chair and is affiliated with 麻豆原创鈥檚 Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center> and Nanoscience Technology Center, in addition to his role as chair and professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science鈥檚 Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He is also a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Prosthetic Interfaces cluster and holds a joint appointment in 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Medicine. He joined 麻豆原创 in 1997.

鈥淗igh-risk neuroblastoma can be resistant to traditional therapy, and survival can be poor. This research demonstrates a novel method of treating this tumor without the toxicity of aggressive therapy that can also have late effects on the patient鈥檚 health,鈥� said Tamarah J. Westmoreland, MD, PhD, a pediatric surgeon at Nemours Children鈥檚 Health System and senior author of the study. 鈥淯nique approaches to target tumor cells with nanoparticle delivery systems hold promise for treatment of resistant tumors, such as the high risk neuroblastoma. We are hopeful that in the future, nanoparticles can be utilized to personalize care to patients and reduce the late effects of therapy.鈥�

Neuroblastomas are cancers that start in early nerve cells and commonly form in the tissue of the adrenal glands, near the kidneys. About 700 new cases of neuroblastoma are diagnosed each year in the United States and most cases appear in children younger than 5 years old. High-risk neuroblastoma is hard to cure and is more likely to become resistant to standard therapies or recur. These cancers are also associated with late effects after treatments have ended, including developmental delays, hearing loss, or other disabilities.

Curcumin has been shown to have substantial anti-cancer ability, but its low solubility and poor stability have made its use in medicinal applications challenging. Researchers from Nemours and 麻豆原创 found that nanoparticles can be used to deliver curcumin to tumor sites.

鈥淭his shows that nanoparticles can be an effective delivery vehicle for cancer drugs,鈥� said Professor Sudipta Seal, who directs of 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center, and is a collaborator on the study. 鈥淢ore research is needed, but we are hopeful it could lead to more effective treatment of this devastating disease in the future.鈥�

In the study, researchers loaded Cerium oxide nanoparticles with curcumin and coated them with dextran to test in cell lines of a high-risk form of neuroblastoma, known as MYCN-amplified, as well as non-amplified neuroblastoma. This formulation induced substantial cell death in neuroblastoma cells while producing no or only minor toxicity in healthy cells. Overall, the nano-therapeutic treatments showed a more pronounced effect in MYCN-amplified cells, which are traditionally more resistant to drug therapies.

Nanoscience research, which explores the unusual properties of materials at the nanoscale, has led to advancements in medicine, energy, information storage, computing and other fields. At no more than 100 nanometers, nanoparticles are exceedingly small. By comparison, a sheet of paper is about 75,000 nanometers thick.

This study was conducted in a laboratory setting in Orlando, at Nemours Children鈥檚 Hospital and the 麻豆原创 in cells from children with neuroblastoma, but researchers hope to begin to use these curcumin nanoparticles with micro RNA in animal models to direct the molecule to a tumor site. This research is an excellent example of the collaboration between Nemours Children鈥檚 Hospital and the 麻豆原创.聽 Funding of this work was supported by the Nemours Foundation along with the regional economic development initiative of the Florida High Tech Corridor.

A 麻豆原创 professor is working with NASA to figure out a way to extract metals from the Martian soil 鈥� metals that could be fed into a 3-D printer to produce the components of a human habitat, ship parts, tools and electronics.

鈥淚t鈥檚 essentially using additive-manufacturing techniques to make constructible blocks. 麻豆原创 is collaborating with NASA to understand the science behind it,鈥� said Pegasus Professor Sudipta Seal, who is interim chair of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Materials Science and Engineering program, and director of the university鈥檚 Advanced Materials Processing & Analysis Center and NanoScience Technology Center.

NASA and Seal will research a process called molten regolith electrolysis, a technique similar to how metal ores are refined here on Earth. 聽Astronauts would be able to feed Martian soil 鈥� known as regolith 鈥� into a chamber. Once heated to nearly 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the electrolysis process would produce oxygen and molten metals, both of which are vital to the success of future human space exploration. 聽Seal鈥檚 expertise also will help determine the form those metals should be in that鈥檚 most suitable for commercial 3-D printers.

NASA intern Kevin Grossman, a graduate student from Seal鈥檚 group, is also working on the project, which is funded by a NASA grant. Grossman said he hopes future projects in similar areas can grow the current partnership between 麻豆原创 and the research groups at NASA鈥檚 Kennedy Space Center.

NASA is already working on sending humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s. The agency has begun developing plans for life-support systems and other technology.

NASA isn鈥檛 alone. Elon Musk, billionaire founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, is working on his own plan. Mars One, a Dutch nonprofit, is touting a plan to send dozens of volunteers from around the world on a one-way trip to colonize Mars.

They all agree that for sustainable Mars exploration to work, they must be able to use resources on Mars that would otherwise require costly transportation from Earth 鈥� a concept known as in situ resource utilization. That鈥檚 where Seal鈥檚 research comes in.

鈥淏efore you go to Mars, you have to plan it out,鈥� Seal said. 鈥淚 think this is extremely exciting.鈥�

麻豆原创 has a long relationship with NASA, dating back to the first research grant ever received by the university, then known as Florida Technological University.

Other 麻豆原创 faculty members continue researching in situ resource utilization. Phil Metzger of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Florida Space Institute, is working with commercial space mining company Deep Space Industries to figure out a way to make Martian soil pliable and useful for 3D printing. The same company has tapped Metzger and 麻豆原创 colleague Dan Britt to develop simulated asteroid regolith that will help them develop hardware for asteroid mining.