Ms. Sonia Merritt at work |
Ms. Sonia Merritt has been selected by the Federal Council on Undergraduate Research to be one of 60 presenters at "CUR Posters on the Hill" on April 25, 2007, in Washington, D.C. The Council on Undergraduate Research is a national organization of individual and institutional members representing over 900 colleges and universities with the ultimate goal of providing undergraduate research opportunities for faculty and students. During this event, Sonia and her research advisor, Dr. Patrick Mather, will meet with Ohio legislators to discuss the need for federally funded undergraduate research and the current advancements made with polymeric materials as well as their numerous applications.
Sonia is collaborating with Dr. Mather and Ms. Qiongyu Guo in the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering to study biodegradable polymers for controlled drug delivery applications. Her present work is part of a broad, multi-researcher, effort addressing the technical challenge of uncontrolled drug release through the development of a family of nanostructured, biodegradable polyurethanes: polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane thermoplastic polyurethane (POSS-TPU). The purpose of her research project is to investigate the effects of two particular formulation factors on the drug release characteristics of a drug-loaded POSS-TPU coating. These factors include varying the coating mass and varying the drug loading.
For her experiments, in vitro studies were performed with a drug-loaded POSS-TPU coating on a metal substrate. Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was utilized to analyze the concentration of drug released into solution as a function of time. Their ongoing research is focused on studying the influence of polymer degradability, drug loading, and coating thickness on the drug release profile of this drug delivery system. Sonia's interests in the polymeric biomaterials specialty sequence within the Biomedical Engineering program of study has provided her with a strong foundation for conducting her research.
Ms. Merritt, from Toledo, Ohio, joined Case Western Reserve University in 2004. In addition to her interests in polymeric biomaterials and biomedical engineering research, she also participates in the National Society of Black Engineers, Phi Mu Fraternity, regularly attends NewSong Christian Church, and was a past V.P. of Finance for the Undergraduate Student Government. Sonia's research also serves as excellent preparation for her career goals in pursuing a doctoral degree in materials science.
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