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FACULTY
RISE
Research and Innovation for Scholarly Excellence Grant Program
TABLE OF
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Message from the Vice President Magesh Rajan, PhD., PE., MBA
Thiamin and Thiamin Analogues as Carriers for Drug Delivery to Cancer Cells Sameh Abdelwahed, Ph.D.
Develop Novel Tissue Engineering Materials for Regenerative Medicine, Cancer and Radiobiology Research via Interdepartmental Collaborations Yunxiang Gao, Ph.D. Impact of an External Vascular Access Device on Arteriovenous Fistula Patency Rates April Lovelady, Ph.D.
High-Pressure Combustion of Liquid Fuels in Microgravity Yuhao Xu, Ph.D.
FACULTY
RISE
MAGESH T. RAJAN, PH.D., P.E., MBA VICE PRESIDENT DIVISION OF RESEARCH & INNOVATION
As Vice President of the Division of Research & Innovation (R&I), it is an honor to share a glimpse into the scholarly endeavors being pursued through the Faculty-Research and Innovation Success and Excellence (Faculty-RISE) program. When you consider the Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) motto “Prairie View Produces Productive People,” one cannot help but honor the driving force behind those outstanding students: our exemplary faculty. PVAMU is indeed home to some of the most intellectually curious and experimentally fearless faculty in the world. I launched the Faculty-RISE Program initiative as an avenue to invest in high-priority areas of research and innovation clusters in the university. Through Faculty-RISE, faculty are provided needed support to conduct extensive research within their discipline that could bring about radical change or revolutionize treatment or industry practice. This Faculty-RISE Program will serve as a platform to showcase dynamic faculty-led research and innovations. The benefits of their exploratory study or experiential process improvements are many. From enriching the learning experience of graduate students and inspiring colleagues to expand and explore additional research in their respective disciplines, to increases the global awareness of the exceptional research agenda that is burgeoning at PVAMU and the administrative support that is made available to each researcher through every step of their project. The following projects are just some of the many Faculty-RISE initiatives underway on “The Hill.” Research is on the rise. Innovation is on the rise. The greatest of PVAMU research is not just on the horizon, it is on the rise, through the Faculty-RISE!
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THIAMIN AND THIAMIN ANALOGUES AS CARRIERS FOR DRUG DELIVERY TO CANCER CELLS
Thiamin is an essential cofactor in all cell types. It is critical for the activity of many key enzymes in cellular metabolism, pyruvate dehydrogenase, alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, transketolase. Cancer cells require metabolism to tolerate their survival. A corresponding two-fold increase in thiamin transport was observed in the tumor cell, suggesting a significantly increased requirement for thiamin during hypoxic stress. Their toxicity limits most anticancer drugs in clinical. Many of these compounds still lack tumor selectivity and have not been therapeutically useful. For example, although dichloroacetic acid (DCA) has been studied as a potential anticancer drug because it inhibits the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, an enzyme which plays an important role in carbohydrate metabolism. DCA is limited by its toxicity to normal rapidly growing cells.
SAMEH ABDELWAHED, PH.D. Assistant Professor Department of Chemistry College of Arts & Sciences Graduate Research Assistant
My approach to enhance the specificity of DCA may be to exploit the upregulation of thiamin transport via the conjugation of DCA with thiamin molecules affording enhanced cancer cell-specific uptake. Our studies will not be limited to DCA, but it will include different anticancer small molecules, and use thiamin as a drug delivery vehicle.
Julien Dubois Graduate Research Assistant Department of Chemistry College of Arts & Sciences
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DEVELOP NOVEL TISSUE ENGINEERING MATERIALS FOR REGENERATIVE MEDICINE, CANCER AND RADIOBIOLOGY RESEARCH VIA INTERDEPARTMENTAL COLLABORATIONS This project aims at developing novel soft materials for several frontier applications in modern smart materials engineering and tissue engineering fields. Deeply merged macromolecular science and nanotechnology will be the core of this research. Liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) — the macromolecular part of the merged field—is a type of novel soft matter formed by aligning and crosslinking one-dimensional rigid liquidcrystal molecules using elastic segments. LCEs have two unique features (compared to other traditional soft matter): 1. Programmable shape-memory transitions under controlled 2. Stimuli and crystalline-structure-induced anisotropic properties.
YUNXIANG GAO, PH.D. Assistant Professor Department of Chemistry College of Arts & Sciences
TBy re-innovating and optimizing the synthesis of LCEs or merging LCEs with specific nanomaterials, we will endow LCEs with fascinating new functions that they never had before as conventional macromolecular materials ultra-fast actuation, radio-screening, and programmable tissue engineering control. First, we will embed photothermic and radio-screening nanomaterials in LCEs to resemble artificial muscles offering rapid actuation in soft robotics applications. Second, we will further use the material obtained above to improve tissue recovery under highdosage radio exposures during space missions. Third, we will try to develop a three-dimensional (3D) tissue engineering scaffold that can self-grow over time with the growth of live tissues. Samples can also be provided to cancer researchers as in vitro tumor culture platforms.
Chidumga Izuzu Graduate Research Assistant Department of Computer Science College of Engineering
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IMPACT OF AN EXTERNAL VASCULAR ACCESS DEVICE ON ARTERIOVENOUS FISTULA PATENCY RATES
According to the United States Renal Data System, the number of patients in need of hemodialysis is growing by 4-6% annually. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) devastation affects more than 703,000 Americans, with more than 124,000 newly diagnosed patients each year. A variety of complications have traditionally plagued vascular access methods for hemodialysis. The most common method of access is the arteriovenous fistula (AVF), which is created by using a patient's natural vasculature. While Medicare incentivizes hospitals and dialysis centers alike to utilize AVFs for venous access, more than half of fistulas never mature to become useable.Furthermore, due to blockage or narrowing, a functioning fistula fails every three years on average, rendering them useless.
APRIL LOVELADY, PH.D. Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering
These issues can be addressed through an innovative vascular access device designed to surround the vein, integrating with the nearby soft tissues to reinforce the strength of the vessel while guiding the needle to a precise location within the vessel's lumen. This project seeks to assess tissue integration into and around the vascular implant and evaluate the histologic response of an arterialized vein surrounded by an external, rigid, porous device. Further, this project will normalize the independent cannulator effect and show long-term survival (patency) of the AVF model when supported externally by the Ark.
Figure 1 | A surgically created AVF in the wrist redirects the blood flow from the artery into the vein. Figure 2 | This histological slide reveals a patent vessel within the device where black areas show the titanium Ark. Pink areas show tissue that has proliferated throughout the 600 ump pores. A clearly visible patent vessel lumen can be seen.
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HIGH-PRESSURE COMBUSTION OF LIQUID FUELS IN MICROGRAVITY
This project outlines a plan for an initial effort of developing a groundbased research program to investigate the droplet combustion of liquid fuels at elevated pressures in a microgravity environment that promotes spherical symmetry. The project's relevance stems from the fact that petroleum-based liquid fuels are currently used to power combustion engines, such as diesel engines and gas turbines. In these systems, the operating pressure (up to 60 atm) could exceed the critical pressure of the liquid fuel being injected. Consequently, droplets in the spray often evaporate and burn in ambient at pressures and temperatures well above the critical state of the fuel. However, there is truly little fundamental information available to understand the combustion of liquid fuels at these elevated pressures.
YUHAO XU, PH.D. Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering
The microgravity environment achieved in a drop tower facility provides the opportunity to reveal the fundamental information of liquid fuel combustion at high pressures that is not currently available. At low gravity, buoyancy-induced flows are eliminated. What remains is often a transport symmetry that significantly facilitates numerical modeling of the phenomena. Therefore, this project aims to develop a ground-based program to study droplet combustion of liquid fuels at elevated microgravity pressures that promote spherical symmetry.
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