Our People - Biomaterials

Research Interests:

• Pathogen detection, disinfection and sterilization using UV light

• Photochemistry, photocatalytic applications to water and air treatment

• Environmental engineering

• Biotechnology, biofiltration

• Metal nanoparticle synthesis and applications

• Process modelling and simulation

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Research Interests:

• Characterization And Modelling Of The Behaviour Of Construction Materials
• Smart Pavement Materials And Structures
• Mechanistic Pavement Design Methods
• Optimization Of The Use Of Recycled Materials In Sustainable Infrastructure System
• Sustainable Development
• Life Cycle Analysis

Google Scholar

Research Interests:

• Chemical process control - Robust control, Nonlinear control, Model Predictive Control (MPC)

• Systems biology - modeling, control and optimization of biological processes, metabolic flux analysis, dynamic metabolic flux models, run-to-run (batch to batch) optimization of pharmaceutical process

• Monitoring/Fault Detection of chemical and biological/biotechnological processes - Multivariate statistical methods for monitoring and fault detection, Inferential (soft) sensors

Research Interests:

• Orthopaedic biomechanics (ACL, knee mechanics)

• Biomedical device design

• Tissue engineering

• Implant design

Research Interests:

• Bacterial molecular genetics

• Functional genomics, metagenomics, genome engineering

• Metabolic functions

• Synthetic biology, bioplastics and bioproducts

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ResearchGate

​Google Scholar 

[Biology News] December 21, 2016 "Waterloo biologist part of a research collaboration creating new genetic toolbox"

[Royal Canadian Institute Lecture] November 8, 2015 "Genome Engineering. Should we do it? (Can we afford not to?)"

[YouTube Lecture] September 30, 2014 "Mining microbial metagenomes"

[YouTube Lecture] September 19, 2013 "Mining metagenomes for bioplastics and other useful bioproducts"

[CBB researcher story] November 29, 2012 "Breaking Ground in Open Resource Metagenomics"

Research Interests:

• Nano-Biomedical engineering, biochemistry, molecular cell biology

• Colloid and Surface Science (surface chemistry, absorption kinetics, thermodynamics)

• Polymer materials, CO2

• Energy storage and conversion, battery systems and alternative energy

• Drug and gene delivery, genomics

• Lipid bilayer and cell membrane actions

University Research Chair

Research Interests:

• Biochemical engineering

• Microbial biotechnology

• Synthetic and molecular biology

• Genetic, metabolic and protein engineering

• Biopharmaceuticals (to treat autoimmune diseases and prevent rejection of organ transplants)

• Biomanufacturing, bioprocessing technologies (biological strain construction, bioreaction cultivation, biofuels, bioproduct recovery and purification)

[Waterloo Stories] May 3, 2013 "Can bacteria help create a cheaper fuel for our cars?"

[UW Eng-e-news] August 14, 2013 "Engineering Life-enhancing research"

Research Interests:

• Effect of food, beverages, herbal products and other drugs on drug metabolism and disposition
• Investigation of the interaction between grapefruit juice and prescription medication
• pharmacokinetics

• drug metabolism

• pharmacogenomics

• drug interactions

• bioavailability/bioequivalence

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Research Interests:

• Biomaterials: emerging metallic and hybrid-cellular materials and nanostructured surfaces
• Advanced multi-functional materials and surface modification of metals and alloys

• Processing, characterization and properties of fine-grained, ultrafine-grained and nanostructured alloys

• Microstructural characterization, modeling and thermo-mechanical processing of light alloy processing

• Phase transformations in advanced light alloys

Google Scholar

Research Interests:

• Intelligent drug delivery system design (dermal, transdermal, transmucosal, ocular, and intranasal) for Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Cancer, Immunology (Glaucoma, neural degenerative disorders, HPV, LSIL/CIN I, cervical cancer, Scleroderma)

• Non-invasive drug delivery technologies, biomolecular devices

• Gene therapy, protein, and vaccine development

• Nanomedicine, pharmaceutical development

• Nanotoxicology (nanomaterials, bioimaging, biomarkers)

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ResearchGate

[Global Impact] [CBC] April 30, 2018 "Working with gene therapy to treat glaucoma"

[Waterloo Stories] July 5, 2012 "Revolutionary drug delivery"

Research Interests:

• Biocompatibility with biomaterials and biomedical devices
• Mechanisms of material-induced thrombosis (blood clot formation) with mechanical heart valves and coronary stents
• Ophthalmic biomaterials (such as soft contact lenses and keratoprosthesis)

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ResearchGate

[CBB researcher story]

[YouTube] December 23, 2013 "Waterloo Engineering Research: Targeted Drug Delivery"

[Daily Bulletin] June 1, 2018, 11 CBB Members Named Outstanding Performance Award Winners

Research interests:

• Imaging, treatment, and prevention of diseases
• Fabrication and characterization of innovative biomaterials for drug delivery systems (nanoparticles, medical devices, biodegradable films, hydrogels, etc.)
• Vaccine development for protection against HIV and other diseases

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[Waterloo News] February 6, 2019 "Researchers find new treatment for Chlamydia"

[Waterloo News] April 16, 2018 "Developing new way to fight transmission of HIV"

Research Interests:

• Methionine chemistry and biochemestry (amino acid methionine and its roles in proteins, cellular pathways and its functions)

• Bionanomaterials, bionanotechnology (for novel drug carriers, molecular foundations for nanodevices)

• Medicinal chemistry

• Enzymology
• Bioorganic chemistry
• Protein structure and function

ResearchGate

[Daily Bulletin] June 1, 2018, 11 CBB Members Named Outstanding Performance Award Winners

Research Interests:

• Robustness of water supply systems, with a focus on treatment
• Facilitating application of newer treatment technologies (e.g. UV disinfection and membranes), including integration into existing facilities
• Identification and removal of trace chemical contaminants (pharmaceuticals & endocrine disrupters)
• Known and emerging pathogens, and their removal/inactivation by treatment processes
• Biodegradation

ResearchGate

NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Water Treatment [NSERC Profile]

[Waterloo Stories] March 14, 2013 "Protecting our drinking water for 20 years"

Research Interests:

• Clinical trial design
• Contact lens performance
• Drug delivery
• Ocular biomaterials
• Proteins at interfaces

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ResearchGate

​Google Scholar

University Research Chair

Office of Research - Technology Transfer & Commercialization:

• Long-lasting Eye Drop Delivery Platform for Targeted Ocular Delivery Applications

Research Interests:

• Design/discovery of potential therapeutics to target various diseases
• Understanding the structure and pharmacology of membrane proteins
• Development of in silico methods/tools for sequence, structure and functional analysis
• Inferring the structure-function evolution of proteins
• Protein engineering for biotechnology and pharmaceutical applications

[American Chemical Society] January 23, 2012 "Exploring Inhibitor Release Pathways in Histone Deacetylases Using Random Acceleration Molecular Dynamics Simulations"

[Wiley Online Library] July 27, 2013 "Ligand release mechanisms and channels in histone deacetylases"

[Royal Society of Chemistry] December 19, 2013 "A steered molecular dynamics mediated hit discovery for histone deacetylases"

[Nature Methods] May 8, 2017 "ModelFinder: fast model selection for accurate phylogenetic estimates"

[Royal Society of Chemistry] October 24, 2017 "Reverse engineering: transaminase biocatalyst development using ancestral sequence reconstruction"

Research Interests:

• Biophysics of lipids and lipid-protein interactions

• The role of structural changes and physical properties of lipid template in controlling biological processes and diseases

• Biomedical nanotechnology (lipid films, molecular mechanism of Alzheimer's disease)

• Drug development and delivery systems, antimicrobial peptides in lung disorders

• Fluorescence and atomic force microscopy

• Kelvin probe force microscopy and single molecule force spectroscopy

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ResearchGate

Google Scholar

[Global Impact] May 2018, studying Alzheimer's at a molecular level to find a cure

[YouTube Lecture] October 1, 2014 "Scanning probe microscopy in biomedical research"

Research Interests:

• Green energy: solar cells and hydrogen generation

• Biosensing and environmental remediation using hybrid nanomaterials
• Quantum electronics
• Surface chemical physics
• Ultra-large scale computational chemistry

Research Interests:

• Bioinformatics tools (protein structures, genome mapping, conducting homology searches)

• Protein structure prediction, and automated NMR protein structure determination

• Stem cell image recognition

• Deep learning, natural language processing and automated conversation, AI

Google Scholar

Canada Research Chair in Bioinformatics [Canada Research Chair Profile]

The Royal Society of Canada Fellow

[Waterloo Stories] April 5, 2013 "RSVP: Responding to a need"

[Waterloo Stories] July 6, 2012 "Solving life's big issues, one question at a time"

Research Interests:

• Biomedical diagnosis

• Targeted drug delivery

• Environmental monitoring

• DNA-based biosensors and functional polymers

• Nanomaterials, (gold nanoparticles, liposomes, magnetic nanoparticles, quantum dots, graphene hydrogels, hybrid nanomaterials)

• Bioinorganic / Bioanalytical chemistry

University Research Chair

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ResearchGate

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[Waterloo Stories] February 27, 2013 "Waterloo researcher uses nano-materials to clean water"

Research Interests:

• Biochemistry and enzymology

• Thermostable Biocatalyst and dehydrogenases (Biofuel/Bioethanol production, pharmaceutical and other industrial processes)

• Enzyme evolution and protein engineering, microbial physiology, molecular biology

• Sulfur reduction and energy metabolism, alcohol metabolism

• Electron transfer and flavoproteins.

• Proteins purification and analysis, metal-containing
• Fermentation
• Hyperthermophiles

Office of Research - Technology Transfer & Commercialization:

• Novel Thermostable Biocatalyst

Research Interests:

Research Interests:

• High Resolution flexible pressure and tactile sensors

• Microbial fuel cells

• Nano electrodes for electrochemical detection

• Flexible Electrodes for bio-interfacing, electrical mapping self-powered devices

• Cell-inorganic composites
• Multi-functional materials and devices
• Wearable sensors
• Composite membranes

Research Interests:

• Proteins: energetics, kinetics, mechanisms, structure, dynamics, folding, function, evolution, engineering and design, thermodynamics, kinetics (ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, prions, cancer)

• High resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fluorescence, CD, NMR, FTIR, DLS)

• Optical spectroscopies

• Bioinformatics and computational modelling

• Biocomputing and protein engineering

• Biophysical chemistry and biochemistry
• Bionanotechnology and biomaterials

​[Waterloo News] November 24, 2015 "New insights into protein structure could change the future of biomedicine"

[​Chemistry News] August 20, 2014 "Chemist Elizabeth Meiering takes on the ALS ice bucket challenge"

Research Interests:

• Polymer Science and Engineering
• Renewable polymers: Processing and Chemical Modifications
• Polymer blends, composites and nanocomposites

Google Scholar

Research Interests:

• Membrane filtration process (microfiltration; ultrafiltration; nanofiltration; reverse osmosis)

• Food proteins, processes, sustainability (concentration; separation; fractionation, water and waste minimization)

• Protein recovery and purification

• Enzyme reaction engineering

• Health food product development and processing

• Thermal food processes (baking; drying; ultra-high temperature; pasteurization; sterilization)

• Diffusion transport in biomaterials and polymeric films

Research Interests:

Google Scholar

Research Interests:

• Drug discovery
• Rational drug design and medicinal chemistry
• Cancer therapy
• Treatment of neurological disorders (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's)
• Drug discovery/rational design
• Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel organic molecules and peptides/peptidomimics as therapeutic agents

ResearchGate

​Google Scholar

[Science News] October 22, 2018 "Nekkar lab determines that depression medications can help treat Alzheimer’s disease"

​[Pharmacy News] July 29, 2015 "Waterloo pharmacist examines drug therapies for Alzheimer’s disease"

Research Interests:

• Flexible, wearable energy storage and sensing technologies
• Graphene production and post-processing techniques
• Directed assembly of 2D nanomaterials at the air-water interface
• Bottom-up assembly approaches for energy storage, sensing and electrocatalysis
• Supercapacitors
• Next generation batteries
• Electrochemical sensors
• ​Thin films and membranes
• Nano-materials

​ResearchGate

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Google Scholar

Office of Research - Technology Transfer & Commercialization:

• Film Forming Process

Research interests:

Google Scholar

Research Interests:

• Sea water desalination, hydrogen production for fuel cells, CO2 recovery from fossil fuel power plants

• Membrane processes, catalysis, organic or inorganic nanoparticles

• Porous materials, materials and sol-gel integrative chemistry

• Nanostructures and superlattices

• Sustainable processes

• Microemulsions

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ResearchGate

[YouTube Lecture] September 29, 2014 "Biofuels and Waste Management"

Research Interests:

• Protein and DNA separation analysis towards disease diagnosis and drug discovery

• Biosensing and Devices (bacterial, proteins, fluorescence)

• Living cell analysis and water toxicity testing

• Lab-on-a-Chip technology (point-of-care biomedical diagnosis , chemical detection, protein separation and identification, environmental testing)

• Micro-scale fluid mechanics, droplet microfluidics and nanofluidics

• High Throughput Screening For Drug Screening
• Manufacturing Nanomaterials and Carbon Management

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ResearchGate

​Google Scholar

Canada Research Chair in Lab-on-a-Chip Technology [Canada Research Chair Profile]

[Waterloo Stories] June 14, 2012 "Creating the tiny future of science"

Research interests:

Alternate Location:

• Satellite Campus, UW-Schlegel Research Institute for Aging, Research Building, Sensors and Devices Lab

Research Interests:

• Bio-wearable electronics and systems
• Bio-electromagnetics, bio-technology, bio-sensors and energy harvesting systems
• RF/microwave/millimeter wave/Terahertz (THz) circuits and antenna systems
• Radio frequency (RF)/microwave packaging and Electromagnetic compatibility 
• (EMC)/Electromagnetic interface (EMI) analyses
• Vehicle and UAV wireless communications, navigation systems, and telematics systems
• Complex propagation and scattering phenomena
• Devices and novel electromagnetic materials and wireless sensors

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ResearchGate

​Google Scholar

Awards:

• Top downloaded paper in Medical Physics (arXiv) – October 2019
• Best Imaging Paper, CVS, 2018
• ACM MobileHCI 2017 Best Worskshop Paper Award
• IEEE APS 2017 SPC Honorable Mention Paper Award
• IEEE Sensors Most Popular Article (March 2017)
• IEEE Sensors Annual Volume Cover Page

[CBB Events] November 15, 2019 "Professor Shaker organizes a Health Canada Regulatory insights Workshop"

[CNN] November 11, 2019 "Scientists develop sensor to save children and pets from hot car deaths"

[Waterloo News] October 29, 2019 "Advancing healthcare through innovative technology"

[Inside Digital Health] June 3, 2019 "Study: Radar Monitors Sleep with Accuracy Comparable to Current Standards"

[Waterloo News]  June 28, 2018 "AI and radar technologies could help diabetics manage their disease"

[Engineering News] June 28, 2018 "Researchers developing a prick-free glucose monitor"

[RD Magazine] June 28, 2018 "AI and Radar Technologies Could Help Diabetics Manage Their Disease" 

[Engineering News] July 5, 2016 "Waterloo wins big with tiny power device"

Research Interests:

Research Interests:

• Microalgae
• Microfluidics
• Biophotoreactors
• Biomass conversion
• Heterogeneous catalysis

Research Gate

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Google Scholar

[Engineering News] March 9, 2018 "Finds manure can yield energy and ease global warming"

Research Interests:

• Enhanced drug delivery systems, gene therapy

• Associative polymers for environmentally friendly coatings

• Sustainable nanomaterials (cellulose nanocrystals)

• Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) and stimuli responsive polymeric systems

• Polymer-surfactant interactions

• Magnetic nanoparticles for novel separation processes

University Research Chair

Google Scholar

Research Interests:

• Nanomaterials, nanodevices, biosensors for applications in food processing, bioreactors and biotechnology, natural gas purification, fuel cell, and water purification

• Nano-Bio Hybrids for Tissue Engineering and Medicine for drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

• Bio-molecule assisted nanomaterial self-assembly

• Health and environmental effects of engineered nanomaterials

Research Interests:

Research Interests:

• Medicinal chemistry/enzymology (treatment of prostate and breast cancer, diabetes)

• Nanomedicine; development of novel antibiotics

• Bionanomaterials; synthetic polymers and methodologies

• Peptide, charbohydrate, nucleoside and nucleotide chemistry

[Daily Bulletin] June 1, 2018, 11 CBB Members Named Outstanding Performance Award Winners

[Science News] February 4, 2015 "Chemists develop new method to improve the discovery of antibiotics"

Research Interests:

• Tissue engineering and biodegradable implants for regenerative medicine (3D printing)

• Bio-additive and microscale-additive manufacturing (opto-mechanical sensors, smart structures, developed through additive manufacturing)

• Novel multi-scale additive manufacturing technologies for biomedical, oil/gas and manufacturing sectors

• Laser-based fabrication techniques with particular focus on direct write processes in micro- and macro-scale

• Modeling, sensing and real-time control of laser-based manufacturing techniques

University Research Chair

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​Canada Research Chair in Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing  [Canada Research Chair Profile]

[Office of Research News] May 8,2018 "Waterloo researchers named Canada Research Chairs" 

[YouTube Lecture] May 6, 2014 "Additive manufacturing"

Office of Research - Technology Transfer & Commercialization:

• 3D Variable Density Printing
• Graphene Printing
• Dual-Parameter Fiber Optic Sensor

Research Interests:

• Renewable energy technologies
• Biofuel combustion, biomass gasification, combustion generated particulates
• CO2 capture and storage
• Synthesis, characterization and applications of nanomaterial
• Developing nanothermite and energetic nanocomposites
• EPD fabrication of nanotube and nanowire based electrodes for advanced energy devices
• Engineering thermodynamics
• Energy conversion

ResearchGate

Google Scholar

Research Interests:

• Gene therapy and drug delivery systems (prostate and ovarian cancer treatment)

• Polymeric nanomaterials, biopolymers

• Novel surface active compounds (gemini surfactants)

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ResearchGate

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[Daily Bulletin] June 1, 2018, 11 CBB Members Named Outstanding Performance Award Winners

[CBB researcher story] July 21, 2015 "Vectors for gene therapy and improving drug solubility"

Research Interests:

• Biomaterials and mechanics of biomaterials and tissues

• Bone quality and fragility, collagen

• Engineering of bone mimetic materials for skeletal reconstruction (3D printing)

Google Scholar

Research Interests:

• Data mining and bioinformatics

• Machine intelligence, computer vision, intelligence robotics

• Pattern recognition and discovery methods of genomic and proteomic data

• DNA sequencing, colon cancer and leukemia gene and data analysis

[YouTube Lecture] September 19, 2013 "Pattern discovery and analysis of genomic and proteomic data"

Office of Research - Technology Transfer & Commercialization:

• Biosequence Gap Pattern Discovery and Knowledge extraction and confirmation system
• Pattern Alignment Clustering to Reveal Functionality in Biosequences - WeMine™
• Multivariate Times Series Pattern Discovery in a Complex Continuous Industrial Process

Research interests:

Research Interests:

• Stem cells, nanofabrication and advancement of biomaterials in healthcare technologies to repair, replace or regenerate damaged tissue and organ structures

• Fabrication and application of nano-structure for biomedical applications in neural, vascular, and cornea tissue engineering

• ​Biomaterial approach to study ex-vivo pluripotent stem cell expansion

• Modulation of cell behavior with nanotopography

• Topography-regulation of stem cells lineage commitment and differentiation

• Differentiation of adult and pluripotent stem cells with nanotopography

Google Scholar

LinkedIn

Research Interests:

• Biopharmaceuticals (therapeutics, treatment of autoimmune diseases, prevent rejection of organ transplants)

• Industrial biomanufacturing and biotechnology (fermentation, food ingredients, enzymes, biofuels)

• Environmental management (bioremediation of carcinogenic environmental pollutants, filtration, chromatography)

The Royal Society of Canada Fellow

[YouTube Lecture] September 29, 2014 "Biofuels and Waste Treatment"

[YouTube Lecture] September 19, 2013 "Industrial Biotechnology: Current developments and trends"

[UW Eng-e-news] August 14, 2013 "Engineering Life-enhancing research"

[Waterloo Stories] May 3, 2013 "Can bacteria help create a cheaper fuel for our cars?"

[CBB researcher story] December 6, 2012 "Bringing Bioengineering and Biotechnology to its Fullest Potential"

Research Interests:

• Bionanomaterials and “soft” interfaces

• Biomimetic adhesion, bio-integrated devices

• Nanoparticles synthesis, functionalization and dispersion, nanocomposites

• Polymers, interfacial phenomena and surface chemistry

• Advanced coating and adhesive bonding technology

Google Scholar

[Waterloo Stories] December 16, 2016 "New Gecko Gripper can be used in manufacturing and medicine"

[YouTube Video] June 11, 2015 "Zebra Mussel-inspired Electrically Conductive Polymer Nanofiber"

[Waterloo Stories] September 16, 2013 "Waterloo researcher is developing nano-glue for electronics"

Office of Research - Technology Transfer & Commercialization:

• Underwater "Superglue"