Students at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) don’t just learn about state-of-the-art materials in their courses — they use that knowledge to educate others in the field.
Two students in the Master of Engineering program and one undergraduate student, working with Prof. Mustafa Guler, published a review paper on materials made from peptides in the American Chemical Society journal Langmuir. The paper, the culmination of a yearlong process, gave students the opportunity to become experts in the subject while earning the credential of a published scientific paper.
“This experience was vital for me,” said Jovana Mitrovic, MSME ‘23. “Doing science includes publishing papers, because science aims to share new knowledge, opinions, and discoveries for the sake of progress and innovation. I am thrilled that I had the opportunity to work on this paper.”
Materials designed to react to their surrounding biological environment have become the basis for innovations in drug delivery, immunoengineering, and diagnostics. These materials include hydrogels and nanostructures made from peptides — strings of amino acids — which can create an artificial environment for cells. That allows researchers to control cells’ activity, study their processes, and find ways to deliver drugs more efficiently.
Langmuir invited Guler to write a review paper on the topic, since he has more than 20 years of experience and has co-authored more than 100 papers in this area.
Guler approached Mitrovic, her fellow graduate student Gabriella Richey, and undergraduate student Sarah Kim about writing the paper, which reviews current peptide-based materials and presents a forward-looking view of the field.
“These students all took my courses and were interested in the topic, so I thought that with my mentoring, they would be able to write a scientific article,” Guler said.
As an extracurricular activity outside of class, the students reviewed papers in the field, wrote up summaries, and shared their findings with the group. They also discussed possibilities for these materials, creating a framework for where research could potentially go in the future. They then worked to draft the manuscript and illustrate the figures to go with it.
The ultimate goal was to provide an article that could give researchers and biotech companies insights on the diversity of materials available for developing drugs. The final published paper, Mitrovic said, “is a great honor. It is very nice feeling to see a finished work published where much effort and acquired knowledge has been invested.”
“It was a great accomplishment,” Guler said. “Writing a paper like this requires a lot of expertise and the ability to analyze scientific data. That will ultimately prepare these students for academic success and future scientific careers.”
For Kim ‘23, who is now a graduate student in the Master of Engineering program, the experience gave her the opportunity to work with graduate students to gain confidence as she moves forward in her career.
“Although I'd written scientific research papers for class and articles for science publications on campus before, I worried that I would have very little in my toolbox to prepare me for a paper with more formal standards,” she said. “Thankfully, my co-writers Jovana and Gabriella, and Dr. Mustafa Guler, were highly communicative and great team members to work with, and they made the writing and research process educational and enjoyable. I hope that in my future career, this publication will demonstrate my interest and newfound knowledge in the field of bioactive peptide nanostructures.”