GRADUATE STUDENTS

Years with Schmidt Research Group: 2002 - present

Education:

BS, Chemical Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia (2002)

MS, Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin (2004)

Research:

Materials-Cell Interfaces -- Natalia is studying two different aspects of interactions between materials and nerve cells. One of her projects is in collaboration with Dr. Brian Korgel (Chemical Engineering). As part of this project, Natalia is working on the interactions between semiconductor materials and neurons, in particular the effects of CdS quantum dots-antibody conjugates bound to ion channels. The goal is to induce a controlled opening of ion channels mediated by the strong dipole moment of quantum dots excited with light (Figure 1).

Natalia's dissertation project is a collaboration with Dr. Shaochen Chen (Mechanical Engineering) for fabricating microstructures in Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) for analyzing neuron responses and neurite outgrowth to simultaneous and competitive stimuli, in specific topographic geometries (grooves) and an immobilized Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) gradient.  As illustrated in Figure 2, these two stimuli can be presented to cells in combination or competitive schemes. Both scenarios are being investigated for influencing neurite extension and neuron polarization (i.e., definition of an axon). We plan to extend these studies to multiple competing cues specifically located on the arms of cross-shaped patterns (Figure 3) and analyze cell responses to these presented stimuli.

Figure 1: Quantum dot-neuron interaction
Figure 2:  Neuron responses to combinatorial (A and B) and competitive stimuli (C and D)
Figure 3:  Neuron responses to multiple stimuli located on the arms of a cross-shaped pattern.