Professor Stefano Menegatti Selected to Receive an NSF CAREER Award

Professor Stefano Menegatti (PhD, ’13) has been selected to receive an NSF CAREER Award for his proposal “CAREER: Light- and temperature-controlled peptide ligands for purifying blood factors and orphan enzyme drugs.” The National Science Foundation views a CAREER award among its ” … most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.”

Stefano’s project is aimed towards the development of a purification technology tailored for labile therapeutics, which are high-value drug biomolecules that rapidly and irreversibly lose their activity outside a narrow range of conditions in solution (such as pH or ionic strength). The project will develop a single aqueous solvent purification process that’s controlled by external stimuli, e.g. light and temperature, relatively mild stimulations that will retain the activity of the biomolecules.

The ultimate goal of the research is, “the development of tools that have the potential to stimulate other research areas, and lead to the discovery of novel ?smart? materials and diagnostics that will have a positive impact on the quality of life of future generations.”

Congratulations Professor Menegatti!