CBME Department- Graduate Seminar Series
- When
- Thursday, November 5, 202612:40 PM – 1:45 PM ESTAdd to calendarGoogle Calendar
- Where
- Kirk Hall Cherry AuditoriumOpen in Maps
- Hosted by
- College of Engineering
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About
Innovation for Sustainable Biologics and Polymer Manufacturing
Biologic therapeutics are undergoing rapid growth in both development pipelines and clinical use. Peptide-based drugs such as GLP-1 receptor agonists have transformed diabetes and obesity care, yet their solid-phase synthesis still faces significant bottlenecks. Solid phase peptide synthesis often suffers from diffusional limitations and requires large volumes of organic solvents for column washing which undermines process sustainability and drives up manufacturing costs.
Polymers play a central role in pharmaceutical and medical technologies, serving as tunable drug-release vehicles, structural scaffolds, and functional components in devices. One also does not need to look far to see significant buildup of waste, due to single use plastics prevalence in medicine. As such tunable materials with predictable biodegradation or recyclability are critical.
In this talk, we will explore critical case studies—peptide manufacturing and degradable polymer synthesis—and demonstrate how polymer and membrane innovation can accelerate scale-up, lower costs, and support the next generation of biologic therapies and products.
About the speaker:
Gosia Chwatko is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and her master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin. Before coming to the University of Kentucky in 2021, she was a post-doctoral fellow in the biomedical engineering department at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research lab focuses on understanding and developing sustainable separation processes and polymeric materials considering cradle to cradle designs. In the past two years, she was named Research Faculty Mentor of the Month and the 2025 Great Teachers for her teaching and mentorship of both undergraduate and graduate students.