Dr. Andrew Goodwin

Dr. Andrew Goodwin's talk will be on "Rational Engineering of Colloids, Interfaces, and Assemblies for Stimulus-Responsive Biosensors and Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy."

This talk will address Dr. Goodwin's lab's efforts to develop technologies capable of in situ biosensing and imaging based on controlling the properties of colloidal interfaces. In the first part of the talk, he will show how tuning interactions between colloids – forming in situ “sandwich structures” – can be implemented for sensitive detection of biomolecules both inside and outside the body. Here, they have utilized the nucleic acid-driven formation of colloidal dimers for both fluorogenic and acoustic detection of biomolecules. In the second part of the talk, Dr. Goodwin will discuss their recent work on engineering interfaces to facilitate transient liquid vaporization by acoustic pulses. They have developed two strategies to formulate nanoscale structures that can produce detectable gas bodies on demand upon exposure to High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). In one case, they studied the effect of lipid lateral phase separation on the surface of perfluorohexane nanodroplets, which created surface roughness that could stabilize nascent bubble nuclei and promote vaporization. In a second approach, they engineered superhydrophobic surfaces using colloidal mesoporous silica with hydrophobic, nanoscale pores. Finally, they are utilizing these same vaporization schemes for remotely-controlled “active transport” through dense matrix and tumor tissue.

Dr. Andrew Goodwin is an Assistant Professor in the University of Colorado Boulder's Chemical and Biological Engineering department. He has been honored with the NIH Director's New Innovator Award, the NIH K99 Pathway to Independence Award in Cancer Nanotechnology, the DOD Breast Cancer Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, the AACR Scholar-in-Training Award, and the NIH T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship.Dr. Goodwin recieved his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Columbia University, and his doctorate in chemistry from University of California Berkeley.

His research is focused on the interplay between chemical properties at the molecular scale and materials properties at the nano- and microscale. Through careful design of interfacial structure and function, his group is creating "smart" colloids and materials - such as polymeric architectures, organic/inorganic hybrids, and multiphase composites - that can sense their surroundings and react accordingly. This reaction results in transmission of information, release of encapsulated contents, or change of local surface and material properties, and applications for such systems include imaging, drug delivery, catalysis, sensing, and renewable materials, among others. They are also interested in how interfaces organize themselves when sensing chemical stimuli, as well as how they respond to external forces. We are exploring these phenomena in both natural and synthetic systems through a combination of chemical design, colloid and surface engineering, and microscopy. 

For more information about Dr. Goodwin's research, visit the website of the Goodwin Research Group.

Dr. Andrew Goodwin will be coming to speak to us on Wednesday, October 4, from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. The presentation will be held in Duane Physics, Room G125.