Aaron Blanchard Email & Phone Number

Durham, Nc, Us

Durham, North Carolina, United States

Brent Hoffman group, Department of Biomedical Engineering.A fusion protein is made by taking two proteins and "fusing" them together via a protein linker. Imagine taking a protein that binds to cancer and fusing it to a protein that binds to an immune cell. Research consistently shows that your choice of protein linker can have an enormous effect on your fusion protein's function. But there are few linkers to choose from when building your fusion protein - I estimate that 3-4 linkers are used in ~90% of applications. My work has focused on the development of new linkers for use in fusion protein design, as well as novel methods for screening large numbers of fusion proteins for linker optimization.

During my year in the laboratory of Nils Walter, I developed and screened a library of DNA nanodevices for optical probe optimization. I also developed technology (patent pending) for single molecule nucleic acid detection in partnership with a pre-established startup (aLight Sciences). Building on my PhD expertise, I performed routine single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, surface chemistry, and molecular analysis assays. I published one first-author paper (Nano Letters) and a second co-authored paper (Biosensors and Bioelectronics). One additional manuscript is in preparation.

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

As a Biomedical Engineering PhD student in the lab of Dr. Khalid Salaita, I developed nucleic acid nanotechnology for biomolecular sensing and basic science research. Some highlights of my time include:• Managed, collaborated on, and completed over a dozen of research projects in the biomolecular sciences• Performed hundreds of hours of microscopy and image processing• Performed over a thousand hours of coding for data processing and modeling• Honed scientific writing and figure-making skills through authorship of ~20 papers in journals including Science and Nature Methods. • Extensive experience analyzing DNA and protein sequences using software (e.g. Benchling, Nupack, IDT, MATLAB), manual methods, and custom-written code• Substantial experience with DNA and protein conjugation methods (e.g. NHS-amine, click, silane, gold-thiol)• Performed HPLC, cell culture, and protein analytical techniques• Directly mentored several junior researchers• Completed TAships, a preparing future faculty program, and a teaching certificate program• Completed the department's graduate leadership program• Won the prestigious and highly competitive Suddath Memorial Award, the universities' top award for outstanding bioscience research• Won 3rd Place at the national collegiate inventors competition with presentation of RoloSense technologyMy thesis is titled "DNA Mechanotechnology for Sensing and Generating Piconewton Scale Mechanical Forces." I wrote an accessible description of this exciting research field for the journal Science titled "Emerging uses of DNA mechanical devices".

Austin, Texas Area

• Conducted market research to identify market-leading products within various industries• Assembled database of nanotechnology leaders in agrictulture, food, oil, and environmental remediation sectors.

Dallas/Fort Worth Area

Principal Investigator: Jinming Gao• Evaluated structure-function relationship of potential anti-pancreatic cancer drug and analogs• Conducted animal studies and in vitro red blood cell assay to assess and mitigatemethemoglobinemia side-effect of substrate

Austin, Texas Area

Principal Investigator: Nicholas Peppas• Characterized swelling behavior of pH and temperature-sensitive polyacrylamide hydrogels (one second author publication).• Improved biocompatibility of polyacrylamide nanoparticles by surface conjugation of PEG chains

Ut Campus

Accross three separate positions, I tutored and TA'd freshmen and sophomore level biomedical engineering and chemistry coursework in both group and one-on-one settings.

Roberts Dormitory

Live-in residential assistant for two-years.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Bioengineering And Biomedical Engineering, 3.80

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Bioengineering And Biomedical Engineering, 3.80