Advanced Materials published a Q&A article with SQI director Samuel Stupp on Jan. 15. In the interview, Stupp described how he became a pioneer in self-assembled materials, his interdisciplinary approach to science and his future plans for research.

“My laboratory is exploring supramolecular assemblies that respond rapidly to external inputs of energy to perform tasks we expect from a living creature,” Stupp said. “The systems could therefore be labelled ‘robotic materials’ and it is indeed very exciting research, progressing toward artificial life with supramolecular systems.

“I would also like to develop further the field we pioneered over the past two decades, ‘supramolecular biomaterials.’ These supramolecular systems were structured to signal cells and with them we demonstrated their unprecedented ability to help regenerate tissues.”

Both of the Simpson Querrey Institute’s core facilities—the Peptide Synthesis Core and the Analytical bioNanoTechnology Equipment Core (ANTEC)—have been recognized with 2019 Core Facilities Service Excellence Awards by the Office for Research at Northwestern.

Sijia Yi is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of SQI faculty member Evan Scott. She has published 15 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is set to present a talk titled "Cardiovascular Immunotherapy: Engineering Nanocarriers for Selective Modulation of Inflammatory Cells" on Jan. 16 at the Rising Stars of SQI Lecture. Click the link to learn more about Yi and her research.

SQI faculty member Guillermo Ameer was named a 2019 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, which announced 167 new fellows in this election cycle.

Ameer has more than 50 issued or pending patents in nine countries, including a patent issued for a shape-conforming regenerative wound dressing to treat diabetic foot ulcers. He is considered a pioneer in the field of regenerative engineering and has designed biodegradable materials that promote tissue regeneration and prevent scarring.

SQI faculty member John Rogers co-led the development of a thin, wireless system that adds a sense of touch to any virtual reality (VR) experience.

The research was published in the journal Nature and could add new dimensions to entertainment, telemedicine and long-range social interactions. The system also provides prosthetics with sensory feedback.

SQI Director Samuel Stupp and faculty members John Rogers and Mark Hersam were named to the Highly Cited Researchers 2019 list by the Web of Science Group. The list sought to recognize the world’s most influential researchers of the past decade, as evidenced by having multiple papers that ranked in the top 1 percent of citations for their field and year.

Investigators from two of SQI’s research centers also received this distinction. Chad Mirkin, George Schatz, Joanna Aizenberg and George Whitesides landed on the list from the Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science, as did Rogers and Yonggang Huang from the Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics.

SQI faculty member Evangelos Kiskinis has received a Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Award from the New York Stem Cell Foundation. The early career investigator award will provide $1.5 million over five years to the Kiskinis laboratory to study the mechanisms that cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and pediatric epilepsy.

In a presentation co-sponsored by the Simpson Querrey Institute (SQI), Shannon Chan, associate engineer at Rockwell Automation, introduced the capabilities of automation and the basics of ladder logic — a programming language used in manufacturing and industrial applications. Chan visited Northwestern University’s Evanston campus on Nov. 13 after a connection forged through the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI), a network of industrial, academic and nonprofit members seeking to develop large-scale manufacturing of engineered tissues.

Twenty-three women — each from a different country — visited the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center on Nov. 8 to learn about the technologies being developed at the Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics (CBIE). They came as part of the “Hidden No More: Empowering Women Leaders in STEM” program organized by the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

The guests represented six different continents and ran the gamut of STEM professions, from physicians to researchers to educators. Their trip to Northwestern provided a unique opportunity for five of CBIE’s student researchers to present their work to a group of international leaders.

SQI faculty member Susan Quaggin and Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics (CBIE) member Amy Paller were recognized as Notable Women in Health Care by Crain’s Chicago Business. The list included 50 professionals based in the Chicago area who have shown the ability to effect change in the health care industry.

Researchers led by Simpson Querrey Institute faculty member Nathan Gianneschi at Northwestern University have proposed a new protocol which allows scientists to better trust the results of liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy (LC-TEM), a technique for real-time imaging of nanomaterials.

SQI faculty members John Rogers and Susan Quaggin are among four Northwestern University professors elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in this year’s cycle. Already a member of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering, Rogers is one of just 25 people to be elected to all three academies.

The Simpson Querrey Institute’s footprint on the Chicago campus has expanded by 9,000 square feet with the addition of faculty offices and research space in the brand-new Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Biomedical Research Center. Researchers from SQI's Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics and from the startup company Amphix Bio began moving into the space in October.

SQI faculty member Jason Wertheim has been selected to receive the 2019 Young Investigator Award by the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) Americas Chapter. He will be officially recognized during the chapter’s annual conference Dec. 2-5 in Orlando, Florida.

Wertheim is the Edward G. Elcock Professor of Surgical Research and an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern. Click here to read more about Wertheim and his research interests at SQI.

John Rogers, director of SQI’s Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, is co-principal investigator of a project to develop a novel implantable device that can sense the effects of an opioid overdose and then automatically deliver a life-saving dose of naloxone, an opioid antidote. The research has been awarded funding of up to $10 million over five years through the National Institutes of Health’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term (NIH HEAL) Initiative.

SQI faculty member Jason Wertheim has been re-elected to the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine’s board of directors for 2020, the organization announced in a press release. The ARM is an international advocacy organization for cell and gene therapies and the broader regenerative medicine sector.

Wertheim is the Edward G. Elcock Professor of Surgical Research at Northwestern. His research focuses on new methods to bioengineer liver and kidney tissue in the laboratory to alleviate the shortage of organs suitable for transplantation.

SQI faculty member Michael Jewett has been named one of 21 “Researchers to Know” for 2019 by the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition, which aimed to highlight researchers from the state’s universities who have made a significant impact on their respective fields.

Jewett, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern University, uses cell-free techniques to harness biological systems without intact cells, creating new routes toward on-demand synthesis of medicines, portable molecular diagnostics and educational kits.