Ruth N
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at Illinois Institute of Technology
Expertise
Biomedical Engineering, cell-targeted drug delivery, polymeric nanoparticles, creative writing
Bio
Hello, from the windy city of Chicago! A little bit about school-me: I've completed my undergraduate and master's degrees in biomedical engineering and chemical engineering, respectively. So it's pretty safe to say that I know, at the very least, a little bit about quite a few different topics! I feel specifically comfortable with topics involving reaction kinetics, mass transport, physiology, systems of differential equations, thermodynamics, mechanics, electricity and magnetism, polymer science, and therapeutic drug delivery. Currently, I am a doctoral student, and I am researching gene silencing in adipocytes using RNA that is to be delivered in a fully biocompatible nanoparticle, one that I am designing and making. Apart from all that fun, I'm a bookworm (fantasy, realistic fiction, mystery); creative writing, baking/cooking, drawing, painting, and singing/music are also very much up my alley. If you have any follow-up questions, please don't hesitate to ask!Project ideas
Go with the (Blood) Flow
MRI imaging of the thoracic cavity is a vital tool for the diagnoses and development of treatment plans regarding cardiovascular disease and lung functional abnormalities. A patient is required to remain very still while undergoing MRI because movement can cause artifacts in the results, where movement causes the images to be unclear. The problem is, the heart is always moving, always beating, and the lungs only stop moving for as long as one is not breathing. For the brains behind the code of a magnetic resonance imaging device to have a decent shot at advancing the code to the point where lung and heart movement are accounted for and no longer cause image blurring, they need a phantom heart, a stand-in, one with periodic flow and movement, to optimize their code around. Do you think you can design a system that replicates blood flow, heart movement, and (here's the catch) contains no metal pieces? I think you can :)
Ready, Set, Write!
Let's create stories and tell them with design and purpose, with color and passion, with a foundation in who you are and in the unique thoughts that you have, thoughts that create worlds and lives that never existed before your pen touched paper. Whether a graphic novel, a short, a full-length novel, take me along for the ride. Let's discover new worlds and bring your ideas to life. Cheerleader, editor, grammar whiz, I've got all the uniforms in my closet and am ready to tag along.