Spectroscopic study of protein secondary structure in biomaterials for focal treatments

I investigated efficacy and dosage of focal therapies for tumor ablation in the treatment of cancer and pulmonary vein ablation for atrial fibrilation. I worked with animal models, in vitro models and numerical models of these systems. I performed experiments with modes of focal therapy such as heat, cryo and irreversible electroporation. I correlated the viability and thermal damage to the change in protein structure of cells and tissues using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), fitted parameters to a thermal damage model and performed heat transfer simulations to predict ablation region in vivo using the commercial package COMSOL.

I communicated updates regularly on my progress and collaborated with a large and diverse team of researchers from biology, medical and engineering fields. I picked up new skills such as cell culture, viability assays and research animal handling to complement my technical skillset. Out of the three projects described below, I led one project and played critical roles in the other two.

Publications

• Shao Q., O’Flanagan S., Lam T., Roy P., Pelaez F., Burbach B., Azarin S., Shimizu Y. & Bischof J.; Engineering T cell response to cancer antigens by choice of focal therapeutic conditions. International Journal of Hyperthermia, 2019, 36(1), 130-138.

• Liu F., Roy P.*, Shao Q., Jiang C., Choi J., Chung C., Mehra D. & Bischof J.; The role of protein loss and denaturation in determining outcomes of heating, cryotherapy, and irreversible electroporation on Cardiomyocytes. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 2018, 140(6), 061007. *co-first author

• Pelaez F., Manuchehrabadi N., Roy P., Natesan H., Wang Y., Racila E., Fong H., Zeng K., Silbaugh A., Bischof J. & Azarin S.; Biomaterial scaffolds for non-invasive focalhyperthermia as a potential tool to ablate metastatic cancer cells. Biomaterials, 2018, 166, 27-37.

• Roy P., Liu F., Shao Q., Jiang C., Choi J., Chung C., Mehra D. & Bischof J.; The role of protein loss and denaturation in determining outcomes of heating, cryotherapy and irreversible electroporation on cardiomyocytes. 8th World Congress of Biomechanics, July 8-12, 2018, Dublin, Ireland. Poster presentation.

• Roy P., Liu F., Shao Q., Choi J., Jiang C. & Bischof J.; Role of protein loss and denaturation in determining outcomes of heating, cryotherapy and irreversible electroporation on cardiomyocytes. Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM) Annual Conference and Retreat, November 6, 2017, Minneapolis, MN. Poster presentation.