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Melvin Research Group

News Archives

2022

August

  1. Anowar's paper on using a thiol-acrylate hydrogel scaffold to generate 3D spheroids was accepted for publication at ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering
  2. Laurel Fishburn and Mohamad Habib joined the group as undergraduate researchers. Welcome!
  3. Josie Ostrowe (1st place) and Veda Devireddy (3rd place) were awarded top honors at the LSU HSSR Internship Final Poster Competition. Great job!

July

  1. Bhaavana Oruganty takes 1st place and Stephanie Price takes 2nd place in the LSU CHE REU poster competition. Great job!
  2. Dr. Melvin presents a workshop at the AIChE/ASEE Summer School on creating a culture of academic integrity

June

  1. Dr. Melvin received a pilot grant from the LSU COBRE entitled "Design of a 3D co-culture platform to investigate breast cancer and stromal cell interactions"
  2. Dr. Melvin presents at the 2022 Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer (TREC) training workshop

May

  1. Anowar (Ph.D), Trevor (BS), and Nick (BS) graduated from LSU. Congrats!
  2. Trevor was recognized as an LSU Distinguished Researcher
  3. Trevor was chosen as the Ogden Honors College Outstanding Honors Thesis in the Math, Physical Science, and Engineering category. Well done Trevor!
  4. Dr. Melvin was awarded the Dow Chemical Excellence in Teaching Award
  5. Stephanie Price (U. Florida) and Bhaavana Oruganty (Swarthmore College) joined the lab as undergrad researchers as part of the LSU CHE REU Program

April

  1. Veda Devireddy (BRMS), Josephine Ostrowe (SJA), and Rocio Larena Bustos (SJA) joined the lab as high school researchers as part of the LSU HSSR Program
  2. Nick, Blake, and Trevor were all recognized a top individual presenters in the College of Engineering at the 2022 LSU Discover Day
  3. Emmaline, Nick, Blake, and Trevor presented their work at the 2022 LSU Discover Day. Dr. Melvin presented Sebastian's work in memoriam
  4. Dr. Melvin had a great two weeks at St. Joseph's Academy working with the Physical Science Honors class with the Bioengineering 101 demo
  5. Trevor successfully defended his honors thesis. Great job Trevor!
  6. Trevor and Nick present their work at the virtual 2022 AIChE Southern Regional Conference. Trevor took 3rd place in the student poster competition
  7. Hannah and Ali's paper on the effect of cargo charge and length on CPP uptake was published in Cells

March 

  1. Anowar successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations Dr. Khan!
  2. Dr. Melvin, Ali, Hannah, Stephanie, Emmaline, and Andrew participated in the 2022 ENGage LSU. We hosted  188 middle school students from 6 Louisiana schools
  3. Margaret Moe finished first place overall (and first in her category) at the Louisiana State Science Fair competition. She is the top scientist in Louisiana this year!

February 

  1. Margaret Moe finishes first place overall (and first in her category) at the Louisiana Region VII Science Fair and qualifies to compete at ISEF. Great job Margaret!

January 

  1. Kacie Francois joins the lab as an undergraduate researcher

2021

November 

  1. Sophia Zhou (REU Summer 2022) takes 1st place in the Food, Pharmaceutical, and Biotech Division at the 2022 AIChE Annual Student Poster Competition. Great job Sophia!
  2. Ali, Emmaline, and Sophia present their work at the 2021 AIChE Annual Meeting in Boston, MA
  3. Monica Rocha joins the lab and Jourdan Cheek returns to the lab LSU Haliburton scholars. They will be working on microbial-enhanced oil recovery (MEOR)

October 

  1. LSU COE highlights the lab's ongoing work examining the role of fluid shear stress on drug resistance in ER+ breast cancer
  2. LSU President William Tate IV visits the lab to learn more about the ongoing breast cancer research the group is doing in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Martin in BAE
  3. Anowar and Ali present their work at the 2021 MicroTAS conference in Palm Springs
  4. Adam Fontenot joins the lab as an undergraduate researcher
  5. Anowar passes his data defense

September 

  1. Khashi's paper on the simultaneous generation of droplets from in-series T-junctions was accepted for publication in Micromachines
  2. Khashi and Hannah's paper on the fluorescent visualization of oil recovery in a microfluidic device was accepted for publication in Analyst
  3.  Jack Bedell, Jaeb Byrd, and Ariana Nguyen joined the lab as undergraduate researchers

August 

  1. Stephanie Lofton was awarded a wage stipend grant from LSU Discover Day for the fall semester. Congrats Stephanie!
  2. Alireza Rahnama successfully passed his General Exam. Great job!
  3. Dr. Melvin was awarded an NIH/NCI R03 grant (as co-PI)  along with Dr. Elizabeth Martin (BAE) to study how fluid shear stress (FSS) alters ER+ breast cancer cells

July 

  1. Sophia Zhou won first place in the REU poster competition. Great work Sophia!
  2. Hannah Hymel successfully passed her General Exam. Great job!

June 

  1. Dr. Melvin participates as a fellow in the 2021 Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer (TREC) workshop
  2. Nick Gonsoulin joins the lab as an undergraduate researcher

May 

  1. Stephanie Lofton was awarded a wage stipend grant from LSU Discover Day for the summer. Congrats Stephanie!
  2. Dr. Melvin's teaching tips on the use of 'Zoom Helpers' in a hybrid classroom were accepted for publication in Chemical Engineering Education
  3. Anowar's paper on the thiol-acrylate microfluidic resin/hydrogel (TAMR/H) hybrid system was accepted for publication in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
  4. Dr. Melvin was awarded the LSU COE Longwell Award for Instructor Excellence
  5. Khashi and Sharif graduated from LSU with their Ph.D. degrees. Haley and Alexis graduated from LSU with their BS degrees. Congratulations graduates!
  6. Kalena Nichol and Sophia Zhou joined the research group as part of the LSU CHE Summer REU Program. Welcome!

April 

  • Emmaline Miller and Alexis Booe presented at the 2021 LSU Discovery Day. Emmaline was named one of the top 10 presenters from the College of Engineering
  • Emmaline Miller took 2nd place in the LSU J. Terrell Brown Venture Challenge and won $10,000 to continue to develop the start-up Split Culture
  • Dr. Melvin's paper on the effect of academic integrity videos on student perceptions was accepted for publication in Chemical Engineering Education
  • Nicole Nguyen joins the research group as an undergraduate researcher

March 

  • Margaret Moe took 1st place in the Louisiana State Science Fair Competition in the Materials Division
  • Braulio Ortega Quesada joins the research group as a first year Ph.D. student. Welcome Braulio!
  • Khashi successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations Dr. Bajgiran!
  • Margaret Moe took 2nd place in the Louisiana Regional Science Fair competition in the Materials Division and qualified to compete at the Louisiana State Science Fair

February 

  • A tour of Dr. Melvin's lab was made by the COE.
  • Dr. Melvin and Dr. Elizabeth Martin (LSU BAE) have been awarded a $50,000 LIFT2 grant for a project entitled "A microscale approach to investigate secreted biomolecules during cell-to-cell communication"
  • Dr. Melvin gave a seminar in the Robert Courter Seminar Series hosted by LSU's Department of Mechanical Engineering

January 

  • Vincenza Vendetto, Ella Benjamin, and Eliska McMillen join the research group as part of the HSSR Program
  • Emmaline presented her work at the Harvard College Undergraduate Research Association
  • Mani Vaithiyanathan was selected for an Outstanding Dissertation Award from the College of Engineering. Great job Mani!

2020

December 

  • Sharif successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations Dr. Rahman!
  • Noah Lott and Olivia Sanchez graduated from LSU with BS degrees in Chemical Engineering

November 

  • Khashi, Sharif, and Dr. Melvin presented their work at the 2020 AIChE Virtual Annual Meeting
  • Stephanie Lofton and Jourdan Creek join the group as undergraduate researchers

October 

September 

  • Dr. Melvin is promoted to Associate Professor with tenure
  • Dr. Melvin helps to launch year 2 of the High School Summer Research (HSSR) Program
  • Brennan Hagan, Cale Locicero, and Blake Nassar join the lab as undergraduate research assistants

June 

  • Alexis Booe is awarded a summer research stipend from LSU Discover Day
  • Shelly Hoover joined the lab for the summer as part of the BRCC ASPIRE program
  • Research activities expand as part of the Phase 2 opening of LSU

May 

  • Noah Lott and Trevor Thrasher are awarded top presenters in the COE for LSU Discovery Day
  • Dr. Melvin is awarded the Dow Chemical Excellence in Teaching Award
  • Dr. Melvin is awarded a TAF Undergraduate Teaching Award through the Ogden Honors College
  • Mani Vaithiyanathan graduates from LSU with her Ph.D.. She will be starting a postdoc at the University of Washington in June
  • Yusef Kana, David Quiring, and Jordan Remont graduated from LSU with BS degrees
  • Research resumes as part of the Phase 1 opening of LSU

April 

  • Sharif's microfluidic co-culture paper was accepted for publication in Lab on a Chip
  • Noah Lott, Trevor Thrasher, Emmaline Miller, Emily Marionneaux, and Jay Iyer present their work at the virtual LSU Discover Day
  • Khashi was awarded a dissertation year fellowship to support his final year of graduate school Congrats Khashi!
  • Emily Marionneaux took first place in the material science and engineering category at the Louisiana State Science Fair and qualified for ISEF. Great job Emily!

January 

  • Khashi's nanoparticle biosensor paper was accepted for publication in ACS Sensors
  • Anowar's thiol-acrylate hydrogel paper was accepted for publication in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials
  • High school students Emily Marionneaux, Evelyn Carley, and Jay Iyer qualify for the Louisiana Regional Science Fair Competition
  • Mallory Caro, Kennan Mashon, and Margaret Moe join the lab as part of the COE High School Student Research (HSSR) intern program

2019

December 

  • Mani successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation. Congrats Dr. Vaithiyanathan!
  • Jeff Anderson and Chrolos Sedky graduated from LSU with BS degrees
  • Trevor Thrasher joins the lab as an undergraduate research assistant

November 

  • Noah Smith took 1st place in the Materials Science and Engineering division and Jacy Busboom (REU 2019) took 2nd place in the Food, Pharmaceutical, and Biotech Division 
  • Four students from the group presented their work at the 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL. Khashi and Hannah presented both oral and poster presentations during the meeting while Noah Smith and Jacy presented posters at the Annual Student Conference. Dr. Melvin presented work performed by Chrolos, Alexis, and Andrew.
  • Sebastian Cordova and Nathalie Dante joined the lab as undergraduate research assistants

September 

  • Gavin's paper in collaboration with Prof. Kidong Park was accepted for publication in Analytical Biochemistry
  • Rachael Coates, Noah Lott, Joel Folse, Natalie Bourgeois, Jane Villerman, Andrew Vu, Kyle Elee, and Jordan Remont joined the lab as undergraduate research assistants

July 

  • Nora's DUB reporter paper was accepted for publication in Biochemical Engineering Journal
  • Jacy Busboom took first place in the REU poster competition. She will be presenting her work at the annual AIChE meeting this fall
  • Dr. Melvin and Dr. Elizabeth Martin (LSU BAE) received a LIFT2 grant to further develop a novel approach a cellular co-culture.

June 

  • Dr. Melvin and Dr. John Pojman (LSU Chemistry) received at LA Board of Regents PoCP (Proof of Concept/Principle) grant to investigate a new approach to generating 3D spheroids.

May 

  • Jacy Busboom (University of Wyoming) and Jameson Orvis (Georgia Tech) join the lab as summer REU students.
  • Evelyn Carley (SJA), Corinne Carnaggio (SJA), Emily Marionneaux (SJA), John Pojman Jr (Episcopal), and Jay Iyer (Baton Rouge High) join the lab as summer high school interns working on science fair projects.
  • Josh Campbell, Joey, Jacob, Amy, and Josh Clavin all graduate from LSU with their BS degrees.
  • Josh Campbell received an Ogden Honors College Outstanding Thesis Award.
  • Khashi's paper on the effects of weak electric fields on photoluminescent behavior was accepted for publication in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C.

April 

  • Dr. Melvin received the Dow Chemical Excellence in Teaching Award from the Cain Department of Chemical Engineering.
  • Mani's paper on FluoroCellTrack was published in PLOS One.
  • Dr. Melvin hosts the third annual ENGage LSU event.
  • Dr. Melvin received the Tiger Athletic Foundation/LSU Discovery Day Undergraduate Research Mentor Award.
  • Jacob, Kelly, and Amy take home cash prizes for scoring in the top 12 individual presentations at Discover Day from the LSU COE.
  • Jacob takes 2nd place in the STEM category at 2018 LSU Discover Day.
  • Kelly, Jacob, Amy, Alexis, Noah, Olivia, Haley, Emmaline, and Josh present their work at LSU Discover Day.
  • Sharif successfully passed his general exam.
  • Joey successfully defended his undergraduate honors thesis.
  • Dr. Melvin presents at the NSF ENG CAREER proposal writing workshop in Arlington, VA.

March 

  • Nora's paper using droplet microfluidics to analyze CPP uptake was published in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.
  • Josh Campbell successfully defended his undergraduate honors thesis.
  • Noah takes 2nd place in the research poster competition at the AIChE SRC.
  • Chrolos and Noah present their work at the AIChE Southern Student Regional Conference (SRC) in Starkville, MS.
  • Khashi presents his work at the ACS Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL.

2018

December 

  • Dr. Melvin received the prestigious NSF CAREER award.
  • Nora graduated from LSU with her Ph.D. Congratulations Dr. Safa!
  • Grant and Riad graduated from LSU with their BS degrees.

November 

  • Mani and Khashi's paper on luminescent nanoparticles as droplet trackers was published in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.
  • Dr. Melvin gives a seminar at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Tulane University.
  • Mani successfully passed her general exam.
  • Dr. Melvin gives a seminar at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina.
  • Riad successfully defended his undergraduate honors thesis.
  • Grant successfully defended his undergraduate honors thesis.
  • Hannah Hymel joins the lab as a new graduate student.
  • Nathan successfully defends in MS thesis.

October 

  • Mani and Sharif present oral and poster presentations at the AIChE Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Amy and Jade present posters at the AIChE Annual Student Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Grant's paper on the effects of fluid shear stress on cell deformation was published in Biomicrofluidics.

September 

  • Nora's paper on β-hairpin sequences as cell-penetrating peptides was published in Peptide Science.
  • Dr. Melvin was a co-author of a paper using microfluidics to analyze zebrafish sperm motility in Biomedical Microdevices.
  • A review paper on microfluidic devices for diagnostic research was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. This was a combined effort by Josh, Joey, Grant, Sharif, and Mani.

August 

  • Haley Lassiter, Chris Ferrier, Emmaline Miller, Cole Delacruz, David Quiring, Raquel Domingos, and Kelly Robertson joined the lab as undergraduate researchers.
  • Nora successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation. Congrats Dr. Safa!
  • Dr. Melvin was a co-author of a paper describing the ChemE sophomore camp in Chemical Engineering Education.

July 

  • Kanoa and Rachael present their research at the LSU Summer Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF).
  • Jade won first place and Kanoa took third place in the LSU CHE REU poster competition.

June 

  • Dr. Melvin gives an oral and poster presentation at the ASEE Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City.

May 

  • Jade Young (McNeese State University) and Kanoa Cook (UC Berkeley) joined the lab as summer REU students.
  • Dr. Melvin unveils a new set of academic integrity videos. These videos were the result of a yearlong effort by >25 LSU undergraduate students.
  • Shayan successfully defends in M.S. thesis.
  • Trey, Cole, Katie, Josh, and Rachel all graduated from LSU with their BS degree.
  • Trey is awarded an outstanding honors thesis award from the LSU Honors College.

April 

  • Trey successfully defended his undergraduate honors thesis.
  • Amy takes third place in the STEM category at 2018 LSU Discover Day.
  • Amy, Josh, Joey, Riad, Katie, Jeff, Trey, and Grant present their work at the 2018 LSU Discover Day.
  • Josh is awarded first place in the student poster session at the 2017 AIChE Southern Regional Meeting hosted at LSU. Riad and Trey also presented their work at this meeting.

March 

  • Dr. Melvin hosts the 2nd annual ENGage LSU.
  • Rachael took 2nd place overall and 1st place in cellular and molecular biology at the Louisiana State Science Fair.
  • Nora and Khashi gave oral presentations at the Spring 2018 ACS National Meeting in New Orleans, LA.
  • Nora, Mani, Sharif, Josh, Grant, Riad, Trey, and Nathan gave poster presentations at the Spring 2018 ACS National Meeting in New Orleans, LA.
  • Dr. Melvin, Josh, Joey, Colleen, and Jacob give a demo at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum Engineering Day.

February 

  • Olivia Castelluccio (St. Joseph's Academy) joins the lab to work on her science fair project.

January 

  • Chrolos Sedky joins the lab as an undergraduate researcher.

2017

November 

  • Mani successfully defended her M.S. thesis.

October 

  • Dr. Melvin presents the group's research at the AIChE Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN.
  • Andrew takes 1st place and Josh takes 3rd place in the food, pharma, and bioengineering category at the undergraduate poster competition at the AIChE Annual Student Meeting in Minneapolis, MN.
  • Andrew, Josh, and Grant present their research at the AIChE Annual Student Meeting in Minneapolis, MN.
  • Andrew presents his work at the first annual Future Leaders in Chemical Engineering Symposium hosted by NC State.
  • Nora and Mani presented posters at the 2017 MicroTAS conference in Savannah, GA.
  • Nora presented two posters at the 2017 BMES Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ.

August 

  • Joey Balhoff, Noah Smith, Alexis Booe, and Yusef Kana joined the lab as undergraduate researchers.
  • Dr. Melvin gives a seminar at the Louisiana Cancer Research Center.
  • Dr. Melvin attends the ASEE Chemical Engineering Faculty Summer School at NC State.

July 

  • Andrew Kristof takes 2nd place in the LSU CHE REU poster competition.

May 

  • Andrew Kristof (NC State) joins the lab as a summer REU student.
  • David, Gavin, Devin, and Travis all graduated from LSU with their B.S. degree.
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