Stephanie Steichen, a third year graduate student working in Professor Nicolas Peppas’ Laboratory of Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, and Bionanotechnology, recently received the 2014 Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Scholar Award.
Stephanie Steichen
Stephanie Steichen, a third year graduate student working in Professor Nicolas Peppas’ Laboratory of Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, and Bionanotechnology, recently received the 2014 Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Scholar Award.
Steichen’s research focuses on the development of pH-responsive polymeric systems for the oral delivery of protein therapeutics, specifically, growth hormone. Her system is based on a hydrogel that remains collapsed at low pH, such as that in the stomach. Once reaching the small intestine, the neutral pH causes the complexes to dissociate at the hydrogel to swell. This pH-responsive behavior can be harnessed to load the protein therapeutic into the hydrogel network, protect the therapeutic during its transit through the stomach’s harsh conditions, and release it at the absorptive upper small intestine.
P.E.O. is one of the pioneer societies for women, established in 1869 with a mission to promote educational opportunities for women. P.E.O. Scholar Awards were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women pursuing doctoral-level degrees.
