Dr. Jeffrey Ting received his BS degree in chemical engineering with high honors at the University of Texas in 2011, where he conducted research for Dr. C. Grant Willson. He joined the research groups of Dr. Frank S. Bates and Dr. Theresa M. Reineke at the University of Minnesota and earned his PhD in chemical engineering in 2016. During his graduate studies, Dr. Ting was a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, which supported his research in developing new polymer excipients for enhancing the solubility of therapeutics in oral drug delivery. His scientific work has impacted basic and applied polymer chemistry, including educational and outreach efforts for polymers research. Select awards highlighting his contributions to the field of oral drug delivery include the first annual AIChE Pharmaceutical Discovery, Development and Manufacturing Student Award and the Minnesota Sigma Xi Rising Star Award.
Currently, Dr. Ting is working with Dr. Matthew V. Tirrell at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering as a NIST-CHiMaD Postdoctoral Fellow, which is supported by the NIST Advanced Materials Center of Excellence program under the directive of President Obama’s 2011 Materials Genome Initiative. His project focuses on the structural evolution of polyelectrolyte complex assemblies, which can be used for intended bioapplications in gene therapy, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and theranostics. In 2018, his promising contributions were recognized by the first annual PMSE Future Faculty Scholars award.
Areas of research expertise:
- Polymer science
- Polyelectrolyte complex assemblies
- Materials genome strategies and design
- Responsive materials
Polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) form upon associative phase separation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes in aqueous settings. These materials are highly versatile, with characteristics spanning from low-viscosity polymer solutions (commonly referred to as coacervates) to glassy, high modulus solids. This tunability, along with their relatively high water-content (30-90%), makes them appealing for a range of applications, including underwater bioadhesives, encapsulants for food science, and coatings technology. Furthermore, block polymer architectures can be employed to engineer self-assembled PEC-core micelles and hydrogels for applications in drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and theranostics. However, nearly all the important features of these materials are currently understood only at a qualitative level.
My current work involves studying the structural evolution, dynamics, and behavior of custom-built polymers as PECs in solution for new biomaterials applications. The goal of this work is to better understand how chain microstructures, properties, and hierarchical architectures affect the assembly mechanism and kinetics of entropy-driven PEC formation, which can range from PEC-core micelles to stimuli-responsive hydrogels.
This work is being conducted under the Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD), a NIST Advanced Materials Center of Excellence program toward the goal of “Materials by Design” under President Obama’s 2011 Materials Genome Initiative (MGI).
Advances in the Structural Design of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Alexander E. Marras, Jeffrey M. Ting, Kaden C. Stevens, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Advances in the Structural Design of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles". J. Phys. Chem. B, 2021, 125, 26, 7076-7089.
Advances in the Structural Design of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Alexander E Marras, Jeffrey M Ting, Kaden C Stevens, Matthew V Tirrell. "Advances in the Structural Design of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles". The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2021
Spatiotemporal Formation and Growth Kinetics of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles with Millisecond Resolution
Wu, Hao, Jeffrey M. Ting, Boyuan Yu, Nicholas E. Jackson, Siqi Meng, Juan J. de Pablo, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Spatiotemporal Formation and Growth Kinetics of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles with Millisecond Resolution." ACS Macro Letters 9, no. 11 (2020): 1674-1680.
Impact of wet-dry cycling on the phase behavior and compartmentalization properties of complex coacervates
Fares, Hadi M., Alexander E. Marras, Jeffrey M. Ting, Matthew V. Tirrell, and Christine D. Keating. "Impact of Wet-Dry Cycling on the Phase Behavior and Compartmentalization Properties of Complex Coacervates." (2020).
Solid-to-Liquid Phase Transition in Polyelectrolyte Complexes
Siqi Meng, Jeffrey M. Ting, Hao Wu, Matthew V. Tirrell. "Solid-to-Liquid Phase Transition in Polyelectrolyte Complexes", Macromolecules, 2020.
Comparing Zwitterionic and PEG Exteriors of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Ting, Jeffrey M., Alexander E. Marras, Joseph D. Mitchell, Trinity R. Campagna, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Comparing Zwitterionic and PEG Exteriors of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles." Molecules 25, no. 11 (2020): 2553.
Effect of mixed solvents on polyelectrolyte complexes with salt
Meng, S., Liu, Y., Yeo, J., Ting, J. M., & Tirrell, M. V. Effect of mixed solvents on polyelectrolyte complexes with salt. Colloid and Polymer Science, 1-8.
Assembly and Characterization of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Marras, A. E., Vieregg, J. R., Tirrell, M. V. Assembly and Characterization of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles. J. Vis. Exp. (157), e60894, doi:10.3791/60894 (2020).
Mechanism of Dissociation Kinetics in Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Wu, Hao, Jeffrey M. Ting, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Mechanism of Dissociation Kinetics in Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles." Macromolecules (2019).
Amphiphilic Copolymer Inhibition of PNIPAM-PS Aggregation is HLB Dependent
Michelle X. Ling, Jeffrey M. Ting, Amanda B. Marciel, Matthew V. Tirrell, Raphael C. Lee, 2020. Amphiphilic Copolymer Inhibition of PNIPAM-PS Aggregation is HLB Dependent. Biophysical Journal 118 (3), 1992.