Principal Investigator

Lorraine Leon Ph.D. (CV)

Assistant Professor, Materials Science & Engineering

Affiliated Faculty, NanoScience & Technology Center

Lorraine Leon joined MSE in Jan. 2017 from a postdoctoral appointment at the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory. She received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (The City College of New York) in 2011 where she was awarded a NSF-IGERT fellowship and Graduate Teaching Fellowship. Leon obtained her BS in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics from the University of Florida in 2004.

Graduate Students

Tahoora Ateeq

Tahoora is a Ph.D. student in the Materials Science and Engineering department. She is a proud Knight, having received her B.S. from UCF where she dual majored in biomedical sciences and biotechnology. Through her academic career, she has developed a keen passion for the intersection of the world of medicine and the materials science and engineering field. Currently, she is investigating the materials properties of peptide-based complex coacervates and the use of these materials in biocatalysis. 

Undergraduates

Akash Rajaram

Akash is an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine. He graduates with a B.S. in Biomedical Science in the Spring of 2023. He will continue his education by pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the start of the Fall 2023 term. He is currently working on the encapsulation of enzymes in single phase and multiphase complex coacervate systems. He has also helped on the beta-sheet seeding of complex coacervates project.

Lindsey Rush

Lindsey is a junior undergraduate student from Ohio who is pursuing a degree in Biomedical Sciences. She joined the lab in spring 2022 and is currently researching multiphase complex coacervates, with a focus on secondary structure within the different phases. When Lindsey has free time, she loves to read and play chess.

Lab Alumni

Sachit Shah

Sachit is a graduate student in the Materials Science and Engineering department at the University of Central Florida. He graduated with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2016, where he worked on stimulus responsive control-triggered release hydrogels for anti-corrosion coatings and self-healing. He is currently working on stimuli responsive complex coacervate core micelles (C3M’s) for application in targeted drug-delivery. The motivation for his work is to demonstrate the stability and morphology of C3M’s in aqueous media.

Sara Tabandeh

Sara is currently a PhD student in the Materials Science and Engineering department. She received her BS and MS degrees in Polymer Engineering from the AmirKabir University of Technology, Tehran and worked on the Polyurethane Nanocomposite Foams. She currently works on the polypeptide based polyelectrolyte complexes for drug delivery applications. 

Allen Eyler

Allen is a PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering at UCF. Previously, he received his M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Washington State University, where he studied the application of plant proteins to energy materials, and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University. In his current research, he is investigating the polypeptide-directed assembly of iron oxide nanoparticles.

Cristina Lemus

Cristina is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Forensic Science with a minor in Chemistry and Criminal Justice. She is currently researching encapsulation of the chemotherapy drug, Doxorubicin, within different polyelectrolyte complex phases. When Cristina is not in the lab, she enjoys working out and watching true crime television.

Sara Gussett

Sara was raised in Orlando, Florida and is now attending the University of Central Florida.  She is majoring in Mechanichal Engineering and minoring in Mathematics and Materials Science.  She is studying the aggregation mechanisms of peptides involved in Huntington’s disease.  When Sara is not in the lab, she enjoys playing the piano and spending time with her family.

Mathias Rodriguez

Mathias is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in mechanical engineering, with a minor in materials science & engineering. Mathias is currently researching the development of a silk-mimetic material, that could recapitulate the exceptional materials properties of silk, using a much simpler amino acid sequence. In his free time, he enjoys cooking and powerlifting.  

Pablo Morales-Cruz

Pablo is a junior undergraduate majoring in Biomedical and Biotechnology Sciences at UCF. He is currently investigating the properties and interactions of polyelectrolyte complex micelles for their potential use in targeted drug delivery. Outside of the lab, Pablo finds pleasure in attending music festivals and going to the beach.

Matthew Saucedo, Undergraduate

Ahmed Alli, Undergraduate

Ryann Valmonte, Undergraduate

Andrea Garcia-D’Angeli, Undergraduate

John Steslicki, Undergraduate

Brittany Zengotita, Undergraduate

Andrea Molina Moreno, Undergraduate

Bryan Serrano, Undergraduate 

Khemisha Stout, Undergraduate

Minh Phat Duong, Undergraduate

Dawn San Luis, Undergraduate