Whitney Blocher McTigue works to utilize polyelectrolyte complexes for a variety of different applications and real-world problems, particularly in the field of biomedicine. She received her PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Chemical Engineering and completed her postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Ana is investigating the use of solution blow spinning as a processing method to transform polymer coacervates into smart, biodegradable fibers. By leveraging the unique properties of coacervates, her work aims to create materials capable of sensing environmental cues such as pH. This approach has the potential to enable a range of applications, from biomedical uses like responsive bandages to broader sustainable material solutions.

Chaeyoung is working toward understanding how architecture influences complex coacervates, particularly how dismantling the polymer(s) used affects phase separation. Her work will help set the foundation for applications such as dual drug delivery and degradable bandages.

Kimia is investigating how different nucleic acids interact with polyelectrolytes to determine if and how complex coacervation can thermally stabilize these nucleic acids for biomedical applications. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimiasadat-mirlohi/

Jonah is a sophomore in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and will be working with Chaeyoung to better understand our systems for coacervate-based drug delivery.

Sarah is joining the lab as a sophomore in chemical engineering. She is working under Kimia investigating the effect of salt concentration and type of salt on peptide/peptoid polyelectrolyte complex systems.

Eddie is a senior in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering who will be working with Ana to solution blow spin complex coacervates.

Jenna is joining the lab as a sophomore in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and will be working under Kimia to further explore the peptide/peptoid space.

Stella is a sophomore in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering who will be working with Ana to map out the phase space of PDADMAC and CMC for solution blow spinning.