Engineering Mental Health

Ajay Vidyasagar Address:

Phone: 205-***-**** **** Blue Tee Ct

Email: abm9oa@r.postjobfree.com APT 202 Tampa FL 33613

abm9oa@r.postjobfree.com

EDUCATION

• PhD in Chemical Engineering (Spring 2010).

University of South Florida (USF).

Dissertation: Volume Phase Transitions in Surface-Tethered Photo-Cross-Linked

Poly(N-isopropylamide) Networks.

• Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Biophysics.

National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), India.

Thesis: Biophysical Characterization of Lipid Rafts from Human and Rat Brain.

• Bachelor of Engineering (B.E) in Chemical Engineering.

Bangalore University (BU), India.

Final Design Project: Vapor Liquid Equilibrium of Binary Systems.

SUMMARY

• Solid theoretical background in polymer science, surface characterization and experimental skills in polymer

synthesis and characterizing physical properties of polymers.

• Familiarity with a variety of physical/analytical measurement techniques such as Reflectometry (SPEAR),

Ellipsometry, QCM, Fluorescence, UV-Vis, FT-IR spectroscopy, biochemical techniques etc.

• Expertise in hydrogel chemistry and Stimuli Responsive Polymers with applications in separations, drug

delivery and sensors.

• Proven project contributions including peer-reviewed publications and several conference proceedings.

• Effective application of statistics and design of experiments.

• Proven ability to work in a team environment and to meet project deadlines.

• Experience with the supervision of others, including effective coaching and mentoring.

• Excellent oral / written communication including technical report writing and presentation skills.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Recipient of the STONE fellowship (Los Alamos National Labs).

• Recipient of the NIMHANS fellowship for the period of two years of Graduate study in Biophysics.

• Placed 2nd in the national level qualifiers for M.S (Biophysics) at National Institute of Mental Health and

Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India.

AREAS OF INTEREST

Surface Chemistry, Stimuli Responsive Polymers, Biomaterials, Hydrogels, Biopolymers, Polymer physics, Polymer

Chemistry, Membrane Biophysics, Physicochemical Characterization of Materials.

JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

• Vidyasagar, Ajay and Toomey, Ryan. “Peptide Modified Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Responsive

Surfaces.” (In Preparation for submission to JACS)

• Vidyasagar, Ajay and Toomey, Ryan. “Hydrogen Bonding Interactions of Hofmeister salts with Poly(N-

isopropylacrylamide In Preparation for submission to J.Phys Chem B)

• Avanish S. Parmar, Shannon Hill, Ajay Vidyasagar, Carlos Bello, Ryan Toomey and Martin Muschol.

“High-Frequency Microrheology of p-NiPAAM Gels Below the Deswelling Transition.”(to be submitted to

Soft Matter)

• Vidyasagar, Ajay; Smith Hillary Majewski, Jaroslaw; Toomey, Ryan. “Continuous and Discontinuous

Volume-Phase Transitions in Surface-Tethered, Photo-Crosslinked Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Networks.”

Soft Matter 2009, 5, 4733 – 4738

• Hillary L. Smith, Michael S. Jablin, Ajay Vidyasagar, Jessica Saiz, Erik Watkins, Ryan Toomey, Alan J.

Hurd, and Jaroslaw Majewski. “Model Lipid Membranes on a Tunable Polymer Cushion.” Phys. Rev. Lett.

(2009) 102, 228102

• Vidyasagar, Ajay; Majewski, Jaroslaw; Toomey, Ryan, “Temperature Induced Volume-Phase Transitions in

Surface-Tethered Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Networks.” Macromolecules (2008), 41(3), 919-924.

• Vittal Prasad T.E.; Jaipuran Rao B.M.; Ajay Kumar V.; Bhatt S.S.; Prasad D.201H.L, “Boiling

Temperature Measurements on the Binary Mixtures of m-Xylene with some Aliphatic Alcohols.”

Physics and Chemistry of Liquids, (2002), 221-224(4).

CONFERENCE PRECEEDINGS

• Ajay Vidyasagar and Ryan Toomey, “Role of Hofmeister Series of Salts on the Volume Phase Transition of

Peptide Modified N-Isopropylacrylamide Networks”. AIChE Conference November 2009.

• Ophir Ortiz, Ajay Vidyasagar and Ryan Toomey,” Active Surface Topographies in Constrained Hydrogel

Films”. MRS November 2009.

• Ajay Vidyasagar and Ryan Toomey,” Volume-phase Transitions and Confined Water in Surface-tethered

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Networks.” APS March Meeting 2009.

• Michael Jablin, Hillary Smith, Mikhail Zhernenkov, Ajay Vidyasagar, Ryan Toomey, Jessica Saiz,

Boris Toperverg, Erik Watkins, Tonya Kuhl, Alan Hurd, Jaroslaw Majewski,” Breathable NIPAAm

Network with Controllable Hydration Supports Model Lipid Membrane.” APS March Meeting 2009.

• R. Toomey, A. Vidyasagar, S. DuPont,” Volume-phase transitions in responsive polymer networks and

implications for surface-confined structures.ACS Spring National Meeting 2009.

• Ajay Vidyasagar and Ryan Toomey,” Prediction of Phase Behavior In Surface-Tethered Poly(N-

isopropylacrylamide) Networks from Demixing Behavior of Linear Poly(NIPAAm) Solutions”. AIChE

Conference November 2008.

• Ryan Toomey and Ajay Vidyasagar, “Continuous and Discontinuous Phase Transitions in Surface-

Anchored Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Networks”. The 82nd ACS Colloid & Surface Science

Symposium, June 2008.

• Ajay Vidyasagar and Ryan Toomey, “Temperature induced volume-phase transitions in surface- tethered

poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) networks”. PMSE Preprints 2008.

• Ajay Vidyasagar and Ryan Toomey, “Mapping Phase Behavior of Ultrathin, Cross-Linked Poly(N-

Isopropylacrylamide) Layers with Neutron Reflection”. AIChE Conference November 2007.

• Ryan Toomey, Lawrence Neuman, Ajay Vidyasagar and Peng Tian, “Peptide-Modified Responsive Surfaces

with Built-in Logic, MRS meeting November 2006.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

• Ajay Vidyasagar and Ryan Toomey, “Effect of Cross-link Density on Phase Behavior of Surface

Tethered Poly(N-isopropylacryalmide) Networks”, ACS FAME 2008.

• Ortiz, Ajay Vidyasagar and Ryan Toomey, “Building Cellular Structures on Smart Polymer Surfaces”

MRS meeting March 2008.

• Ajay Vidyasagar and Ryan Toomey, “Responsive, Cross-Linked Layers Based on Benzophenone-

Modified Poly-(N-Isopropylacrylamide) Polymers,” AICHE Conference November 2006.

SKILLS

• Neutron Reflection: Surface Profile Analysis Reflectometry (SPEAR).

• Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy.

• Ellipsometry.

• Contact angle instrument (Goniometer).

• Dynamic light scattering (DLS).

• Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM).

• Fluorescence spectroscopy.

• UV-Vis Spectroscopy.

• Atomic Force microscopy (AFM).

• TEM

• Clean Room Training.

• Photo-Lithography

• Handling laboratory animals for research methodologies. Dissection of rat brain, and Isolation of subcellular

organelles by differential centrifugation.

• SDS-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE).

• Protein Estimation.

• DNA Isolation.

RELEVANT TOOL SETS

MATLAB, IGORPRO, MOTOFIT, ORIGIN, SAS, OMNIC.

RELEVANT COURSES

• Polymer Science and Engineering, Polymer Physics, Biomaterials II, Advanced Thermodynamics, Chemical

Reaction Kinetics, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, Biostatistics II, Membrane Biophysics,

Molecular Biophysics and Biophysical Methods.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Polymer and Smart Materials Laboratory (USF):

• Investigated the role of Hofmeister series of salts on the nature of phase behavior as a function of

confinement.

• Deciphering the role of peptides on phase behavior. NIPAAm copolymerized with N-(3-

aminopropyl)methacrylamide provides a free amine for attaching small peptide sequences thus acting as

smart materials.

• The role of Hofmeister series of salts and variation in Ph on different peptide sequences like RGD. It is

expected that these peptide sequences will help us to fabricate better responsive surfaces which can act as an

effective sensor.

• Investigation of volume phase change in surface attached polymer networks with lateral confinement

substituting water with D20 using neutron reflection and FT-IR and the Study of bound water in

poly(NIPAAm) networks in their collapsed state using neutron reflection and FT-IR.

Obj100

• Study of phase behavior of cross-linked poly(NIPAAm) from demixing behavior of linear poly(NIPAAm)

solutions. The swelling of the network and the demixing behavior of the linear poly(NIPAAm) is explained

with the same concentration-dependent Flory parameter.

• Effect of cross-link density on phase behavior of surface anchored poly(NIPAAm) networks: The binodal

envelope for two-phase region in solutions of linear poly(NIPAAm) serves as a potential guide for

understanding volume-phase transitions in networks and other confined geometries.

• Synthesis of Methacroylbenzophenone (MaBP) and poly(NIPAAm-MaBP): The monomer was used to

change the cross-link density and film thickness .It was then subsequently copolymerized with NIPAAm

using free radical polymerization techniques.

Neurobiophysics Group,

National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), India.

• A time resolved fluorescence lifetime study of lipid rafts isolated from human and raft brain tissue.

• Comparative study of lipid rafts isolated by detergent (DRM) and non-detergent (NDR) based methods and

estimation of protein in various raft and non raft fractions.

• Quantitative estimation of cholesterol and cholesterol depletion studies in lipid rafts isolated from both DRM

and NDR methods.

Undergraduate Projects,

Bangalore University (BU), India.

• Vapor liquid equilibrium (VLE) of binary systems involving boiling temperature measurements on binary

mixtures of m-xylene with aliphatic alcohols.

• Bioassay methods for industrial effluents and wastewater treatment. Involving estimation of toxicity of

treated water using Bioassay method.

• Use of artificially engineered Skin as a temporary substitute for skin with focus on developing a cheaper

biodegradable alternative for bandages used for burn wounds.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• Teaching Assistant at USF for Engineering Thermodynamics, Chemical Thermodynamics and Transport

Phenomena.

ACCEPTED PROPOSALS

• Critical Phenomena and Volume-Phase Transitions in Surface-Attached Polymer Networks. Ajay Vidyasagar

(PI) and Ryan Toomey (Co-PI) Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANSCE USER).

• Volume Phase Transition in Surface -tethered Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Networks. Ajay Vidyasagar (PI)

and Ryan Toomey (Co-PI) Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANSCE USER).

• Volume-phase transitions in surface-tethered "smart" polymer networks. Ryan Toomey (PI),Ajay

Vidyasagar(Student investigator) and Leena Patra (Student investigator) Center for Nanophase Materials

Sciences (CNMS), Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL).

PROFESSIONAL AFFLIATIONS

• Member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

• Member of the American Physical Society (APS).

REFERENCES

Available upon request.

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