News

Wyatt Shields receives Grubstake Award to advance treatment toward clinical use

Susan Glairon — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 21:06:34 +0000

Wyatt Shields receives Grubstake Award to advance treatment toward clinical use Susan Glairon Thu, 01/22/2026 - 14:06

Assistant Professor Wyatt Shields

High-grade serous carcinoma is the deadliest form of ovarian cancer, and while a drug called olaparib can help prevent the cancer from returning, it often causes serious side effects. To address this challenge, Wyatt Shields, assistant professor in CU ��ý��’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Benjamin Bitler, associate professor in the CU Anschutz Division of Reproductive Sciences and CU PhD Student Courtney Bailey have developed a new way to deliver the drug more safely. Their approach uses tiny, biodegradable particles carried by immune cells to deliver treatment directly to tumors, helping reduce harmful effects on the rest of the body. Funding totaling $300,000 from the Gates Institute at University of Colorado Anschutz, in partnership with CU Anschutz Innovations, will support the next steps to move this technology closer to clinical use.

Read more at University of Colorado Anschutz News...

Assistant Professor Wyatt Shields along with other researchers have developed a safer, targeted way to deliver an ovarian cancer drug using immune cell–carried particles, supported by $300,000 in Gates Institute funding to advance it toward clinical use.

Off

Traditional

White

Chemical and Biological Engineering welcomes two new faculty

Susan Glairon — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:53:05 +0000

Chemical and Biological Engineering welcomes two new faculty Susan Glairon Tue, 01/20/2026 - 11:53

Susan Glairon

Meet the department's newest faculty, Assistant Professors Cody Ritt and Antonio Del Rio Flores.

Off

Traditional

White

Researchers create shape-shifting, self-navigating microparticles

Susan Glairon — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 21:17:52 +0000

Researchers create shape-shifting, self-navigating microparticles Susan Glairon Wed, 01/14/2026 - 14:17

CU researchers have created shape-shifting microparticles that change their shape in response to environmental factors for self-directed propulsion and navigation.

Off

Traditional

White

Scientists use ultrasound to soften and treat cancer tumors without damaging healthy tissue

Susan Glairon — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:42:18 +0000

Scientists use ultrasound to soften and treat cancer tumors without damaging healthy tissue Susan Glairon Wed, 12/10/2025 - 09:42

A CU ��ý�� team has invented a sound-wave technique that softens dense tumors so chemotherapy can penetrate more deeply. The discovery could boost treatment effectiveness and make cancer therapies safer for patients.

Off

Traditional

White

Alumnus Alexander Osterbaan featured in UV+EB Technology

Susan Glairon — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 21:54:27 +0000

Alumnus Alexander Osterbaan featured in UV+EB Technology Susan Glairon Tue, 12/09/2025 - 14:54

By creating UV-sensitive materials and innovative 3D printing resins, alumnus Alexander Osterbaan (PhD ChemEngr'25) has made it possible to print detailed, high-quality parts more efficiently. His work brings new possibilities to light-based manufacturing.

Off

Traditional

White

Double major, triple honors: Ethan Coleman earns academic, research and outstanding student awards

Susan Glairon — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 10:28:07 +0000

Double major, triple honors: Ethan Coleman earns academic, research and outstanding student awards Susan Glairon Mon, 12/01/2025 - 03:28

Susan Glairon

Ethan Coleman presents his research at the 2024 AIChE annual student conference, held in San Diego.

When Ethan Coleman attends winter graduation, he’ll receive not one, but two CU Engineering degrees. He’ll also take home three of the College of Engineering and Applied Science fall undergraduate awards.

Coleman, who is double majoring in Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE) and Applied Mathematics, suspected he might receive the Research Award. But what he didn’t guess was that he’d also be recognized with the Academic Engagement Award as well as the honor he’s most proud of—Outstanding Undergraduate of the College.

“It feels more holistic,” Coleman said of his third award. “I’m being recognized for more than just good grades and research.”

Those recognitions reflect his work as a teaching assistant for six classes; his strong academic performance—including three graduate-level classes—and his research, where he served as first author on two papers stemming from his undergraduate thesis. It also reflects his time spent as a ChBE student ambassador as well as participating in the Global Engineering Residential Academic Program.

Mountains calling

Coleman spent his high school years in San Antonio, Texas. After visiting Colorado a few times, he decided on CU ��ý��, drawn by his love of hiking.

He majored in chemical and biological engineering because he enjoyed math and chemistry. Interested in numerics, Coleman also added an applied math double major with ChBE.

“I enjoy taking classes, doing research and teaching,” Coleman said. “Sometimes it becomes overwhelming, but for the most part, I don't mind the work. I definitely wouldn't have gone as far as I have if I did.”

Coleman completed his double major in nine semesters, with help from the AP credits in calculus and chemistry he earned in high school. He’s not sure how he fit everything in, including his passion for hiking.

“I don't really have a system,” Coleman said. “I'm a night owl. I'll do something fun in the afternoon, and then knock out some homework at night.”

And when Coleman wasn’t studying, he could often be found on one of Colorado's trails. Two years ago Coleman hiked all 486 miles of the Colorado Trail in a month. He and a companion aimed for 20 miles a day, but on some days they pushed to 30 to make up for weather delays. Every week or so, they hitchhiked into town to pick up a resupply box they’d mailed themselves and to sleep in a real bed.

Coleman and a companion hiked the entire 486 miles of the Colorado trail in August 2024.

Road to research

As a junior, Coleman took a graduate-level transport class taught by Assistant Professor Ankur Gupta while carrying a 19-credit courseload—well above the typical 15 credits.

“That class was fun, but it was also hard,” Coleman said. “Having a professor who was supportive throughout was awesome. I ended up joining his lab because I really appreciated him as an instructor.”

Gupta's feelings were mutual.

“The recognitions are all very well-deserved for Ethan,” Gupta said. “He took two courses with me, including a graduate-level course where he was among the highest scorers, even as a junior.”

Over the course of his time at CU ��ý��, Coleman was a learning assistant for six classes, including multivarious calculus and other teaching positions in applied math and ChBE.

Coleman has worked in Gupta’s Laboratory of Interfaces, Flow and Electrokinetics (LIFE) for two years. For the first few months he worked under a postdoctoral researcher, but then asked to head his own projects.

“Ankur was totally supportive,” Coleman said. “I wasn’t totally ready, with only three months of research experience, but Ankur said ‘If you get stuck, let me know.’ He did it in a way that was very conducive to me learning. He was very intentional about helping me grow into a good researcher.”

Coleman’s favorite research project is one he came up with himself: using microparticles that react to chemical gradients to move bacteria inside biofilms—clusters of bacteria joined by sticky polymers that are hard to remove. His goal: to discover a way to clean biofilms from porous materials.

“Ethan has been very creative and productive, on par with a graduate student,” Gupta added. “I am very excited for him and eager to follow his career, and wish him the very best.”

Looking ahead

Coleman plans to continue working in the LIFE lab for a few months after graduation. He’s applying to graduate schools to pursue a PhD in chemical and biological engineering and plans to become a professor. He’s specifically looking for labs that perform the type of biological research he currently pursues.

The recognitions reflect Coleman's work as a teaching assistant for six classes; his strong academic performance—including three graduate-level classes— and his research, where he served as first author on two papers stemming from his undergraduate thesis. It also reflects his time spent as a ChBE student ambassador.

Off

Traditional

White

Bruce Kirkpatrick honored with Outstanding Dissertation Award

Susan Glairon — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 20:16:06 +0000

Bruce Kirkpatrick honored with Outstanding Dissertation Award Susan Glairon Wed, 11/26/2025 - 13:16

Susan Glairon

Bruce Kirkpatrick

PhD, Biological Engineering, 2025

Dissertation Name

Photochemical Control of Hydrogel Network Topology: Fundamentals to Cellular Applications

Defended

July, 29, 2025

Associated lab

Anseth Group

Current position

Third-year medical student at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Denver Health

College of Engineering and Applied Science Outstanding Dissertation Award

This award recognizes the best dissertation (excellence of research, topical importance and presentation in the written dissertation) among students completing PhD degree requirements during a calendar year.

Why did you choose CU ��ý�� for your graduate studies?

I came to CU in 2013 for my undergraduate degree in chemical and biological engineering (ChBE), and I really enjoyed it. After earning my BS in 2017, I applied to MD-PhD programs and was accepted at CU to continue into medical and graduate school. I was thrilled to return to ChBE as a graduate student because I knew how strong the biomedical research program was, especially with Distinguished Professor Kristi Anseth in the department. Having the chance to work with her and other faculty like Distinguished Professor Chris Bowman, Professor Jason Burdick and Professor Tim White offered the experiential learning in materials science and bioengineering that I hoped for as a budding physician-scientist. (Not to mention that it is great to live in Colorado! I’d be glad to never leave.)

Hydrogels serve as tiny scaffolds for creating precise patterns or gradients in stiffness or biochemical cues—illustrated here by a Mona Lisa narrower than a human hair—allowing fine control over the environment cells experience.

What does receiving this award mean to you?

It’s a huge honor to be selected by my mentors, department, and college.This award affirms that the years I’ve invested in both science and the community are valued. I’ve been part of the ChBE program for 12 years, and I’m grateful to have had the chance to do work worthy of this recognition. I owe a great deal to Dr. Anseth for her guidance and to my collaborators and mentees for giving so much of their time to bring our projects to fruition. I feel especially grateful to have grown my work in such a supportive and collaborative environment.

Tell me about your dissertation research.

Broadly, my research focuses on developing jello-like polymeric materials called hydrogels. I use light to build, break and rearrange the tiny chemical connections within them, which lets us control properties like stiffness, degradation, relaxation, and cell behavior with precise timing and location. This helps us create more tunable, lifelike environments for studying biology and developing future medical therapies.

Why does this research topic interest you?

This field naturally combines my interests in photochemistry, dynamic chemistry, and polymers with biophysics and materials science. Hydrogels are programmable, biologically relevant platforms, so the work is both scientifically rich and clinically useful.

What applications could this research have in the future?

This research supports technologies that enable long-acting or precisely timed drug and vaccine delivery, as well as protective hydrogels that shield donor cells from the immune system and improve their survival after transplantation. These materials can also be used to create acellular devices such as contact lenses, wound dressings, and tissue adhesives along with more realistic tissue models that give researchers better platforms for studying disease and testing new treatments.

Why do you think your dissertation resonated with the award committee?

By adjusting the properties of a surrounding hydrogel, Kirkpatrick could dramatically alter how 3D- embedded human cells stretch, spread and connect, revealing how their environment influences their behavior.

I think the committee appreciated the range of questions my dissertation addressed and how the work connected chemistry, materials science and biology in a coherent way. The projects included new approaches for designing photoresponsive hydrogels, studies of mechanobiology, and tissue engineering applications, with contributions that spanned departments, colleges, and campuses across CU. I think the committee also recognized how deeply collaborative the work was. Rather than solving a single problem, my thesis points toward a variety of future applications, so its impact comes from its breadth and the way it supports a wide range of community efforts.

Who was particularly influential to your work?

Dr. Anseth was the most influential figure in my scientific training. Her intellectual brilliance, generosity with her time, and ability to connect fundamental chemistry with meaningful biological questions have shaped the way I think about research. I’ve also learned a tremendous amount from her former trainees, many of whom now lead their own groups. I was especially inspired by Professor Cole DeForest, Associate Professor Mark Tibbitt, Professor Jason Burdick, Professor April Kloxin, and Tobin Brown’s work, to name a few. My amazing collaborators and mentees were essential to the success of every project and working alongside them is what made the science rewarding.

What’s next?

I plan to apply for residency in radiation oncology. I’m excited to work as a physician-scientist with interests in materials science and photochemistry, and my goal is to build a career that bridges the clinical care of cancer patients with research on biomaterials, imaging and analysis tools, and light-based technologies. I ultimately hope to contribute to new treatment strategies that are more tolerable, precise, and effective.

Chemical and Biological Engineering PhD Student Bruce Kirkpatrick was honored with the 2025 Outstanding Dissertation Award. His hydrogel research supports technologies that enable 3D cell culture for tissue engineering and disease modeling, as well as acellular biomaterials for applications like controlled release of drugs or vaccines.

Off

Traditional

White

Three ChBE professors on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list

Susan Glairon — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 21:19:34 +0000

Three ChBE professors on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list Susan Glairon Tue, 11/25/2025 - 14:19

Three Chemical and Biological Engineering professors, Jason A. Burdick, Michael D. McGehee and Michael F. Toney were featured among highly cited researchers in 2025.

Off

Traditional

White

New lightweight polymer film can prevent corrosion

Susan Glairon — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:19:38 +0000

New lightweight polymer film can prevent corrosion Susan Glairon Wed, 11/12/2025 - 11:19

Cody Ritt, an MIT postdoctoral researcher who will join CU ��ý��'s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering as an assistant professor in January, is one of the lead authors of a paper recently published in the journal Nature.

In the study, researchers developed a polymer coating that is nearly impermeable to gases, which could help prevent corrosion in solar panels and slow the aging of packaged food and medicines.

Read More

In the study recently published in the journal Nature, researchers developed a polymer coating that is nearly impermeable to gases, which could help prevent corrosion in solar panels and slow the aging of packaged food and medicines.

Off

Traditional

White

Electric fields steered nanoparticles through a liquid-filled maze – this new method could improve drug delivery and purification systems

Susan Glairon — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 15:24:17 +0000

Electric fields steered nanoparticles through a liquid-filled maze – this new method could improve drug delivery and purification systems Susan Glairon Wed, 11/12/2025 - 08:24

A new CU ��ý�� study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals how electric fields control nanoparticle movement through porous materials, enabling independent control of speed and direction. This finding could advance nanorobot technologies for applications like tumor detection, drug delivery and environmental cleanup of toxic chemicals.

Off

Traditional

White

News

Wyatt Shields receives Grubstake Award to advance treatment toward clinical use

Off

Chemical and Biological Engineering welcomes two new faculty

Off

Researchers create shape-shifting, self-navigating microparticles

Off

Scientists use ultrasound to soften and treat cancer tumors without damaging healthy tissue

Off

Alumnus Alexander Osterbaan featured in UV+EB Technology

Off

Double major, triple honors: Ethan Coleman earns academic, research and outstanding student awards

Mountains calling

Road to research

Looking ahead

Off

Bruce Kirkpatrick honored with Outstanding Dissertation Award

PhD, Biological Engineering, 2025

Dissertation Name

Defended

Associated lab

Current position

College of Engineering and Applied Science Outstanding Dissertation Award

Why did you choose CU ������ý���� for your graduate studies?

What does receiving this award mean to you?

Tell me about your dissertation research.

Why does this research topic interest you?

What applications could this research have in the future?

Why do you think your dissertation resonated with the award committee?

Who was particularly influential to your work?

What’s next?

Off

Three ChBE professors on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list

Off

New lightweight polymer film can prevent corrosion

Off

Electric fields steered nanoparticles through a liquid-filled maze – this new method could improve drug delivery and purification systems

Off

Why did you choose CU ��ý�� for your graduate studies?