Hello, I’m Megan!
Ph.D. Chemist
I am a driven Analytical Chemist with 10 years of research experience in academic settings. My research has focused primarily on polymer biomaterials, where my expertise includes analytical method development, polymer and small molecule synthesis, and structural and mechanical characterization. My training has included experience with NMR, IR, GPC, UV/Vis, SEM, confocal microscopy, nano-indentation, and tensile and compression testing.
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Graduate Research
My doctoral research focused on the development of durable and bioactive hydrogel coatings for cardiovascular applications. My work was highly collaborative, interally with lab mates and externally with other labs at UT Austin and beyond. My role was the design of polyethylene glycol(PEG)-based hydrogel coatings for use in small diameter vascular grafts and heart valves. Specifically, I designed a hydrogel composition able to resist surgically associated damages and a method to fabricate these hydrogels that enabled them to crosslink conformably to various material surfaces.
To design damage-resistant hydrogel coatings, I explored PEG-based polymers of varying molecular weights and concentrations with varying degres of hydrogen bonding motifs. Early work focused on back-bone incorporation of hydrogen bonding, leading to the synthesis of biostable polyether-urethane-diacrylamide (PEUDAm). I later attempted to co-polymerize small molecule hydrogen bonding N-acryloyl glycinamide directly into the hydrogel network. The final, successful approach involved the synthesis of interpenetrating networks of high molecular weight PEUDAm and N-acryoyl glycinamide. These hydrogels extended and twisted without breaking and could be sutured without generating particulates, meeting the project's design criteria.
Conformable hydrogel coatings were achieved via the development of a redox, diffusion-mediated crosslinking platform. We utilized the redox reaction between iron gluconate and ammonium persulfate (APS) to generate radicals in solution over time. In this process, iron gluconate adsorbed to a material surface desorbed into a solution of APS and polymer for time-dependent thickness control. I demonstrated that this crosslinking approach worked with a wide range of molecular weights of PEG-based polymers, ranging from 3.4 - 20 kDa.
My publication history can be accessed on my Google Scholar profile, which includes the above work as well as many other projects I collaborated on. More details of my research are available in the following sections.
Education
Experience
Ten years of experience working in academic research spaces. I have participated in, taught, and overseen research projects, first as student, then as a mentor, and finally as a laboratory manager. Download my CV and dissertation here, and read more about my work.