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Gabriella Erich, a biomedical engineering (BME) student graduating this fall, has been selected to receive the CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science 2024 Outstanding Research Award.

This award is given to undergraduate students who demonstrate research excellence that is both interdisciplinary and impactful. Erich is the fourth BME student to win the award since the young program’s conception in 2018. But her journey to this award was a little different.

The unique, early journey

Gabriella Erich, a graduating BME student and winner of the CEAS 2024 Outstanding Research Award.

Growing up in both Boulder and Los Angeles, Erich had two passions: space and medicine.

“When I was a kid, I had a NASA astronaut suit in my room,” Erich said. “But I also loved my chemistry classes, my biology classes and I always wanted to be a doctor.”

As college inched closer, Erich was unsure what degree path to pursue. The decision was difficult but she eventually chose the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Erich enjoyed aerospace engineering. But she quickly discovered that she wasn’t feeling passion and she needed a change. She had also been dealing with some bad news from back home: Two of her uncles had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurological disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

“Their diagnosis really sparked my passion again. I knew I wanted to switch over to biomedical engineering and assist in the research to help treat the disease and save lives in the future,” Erich said. “It was a tough transition, but it was incredibly worth it.”

Erich began taking BME courses during her fourth semester at CU Boulder. One of them was an introductory course with Professor Mark Borden, where she first carved out her niche in the world of biomedical research.

“I remember when Dr. Borden talked about the microbubbles that he and his students worked with in his lab,” she said. “I really had no clue what they were, but I realized his research was something I was interested in. When I saw his graduate students present it again in a different class, I decided it was something I was going to pursue.”

In the next year, Erich applied to the Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) and was accepted into the Borden Research Lab.

“It was daunting at first,” Erich said. “I really wanted to make sure I impressed them. Once I got into the lab, I showed that I can ask questions and learn quickly. It became a pretty seamless transition after that.”

The award-winning research

Erich conducted multiple independent studies during her time in the Borden lab. Each of them analyzed endoskeletal droplets, exoskeletal droplets and their response to a phase transition phenomenon called acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV).

Erich (right) and another student collaborating in the Borden lab.

ADV occurs when liquid droplets are vaporized under ultrasound. This technique is often used to explore more precise imaging and drug delivery solutions. But endoskeletal droplets are more complex; they contain an internal solid hydrocarbon structure that allows researchers to control their stability and vaporizability.

Using ultrasound, Erich developed a testing setup using a research ultrasound transducer to study the endoskeletal droplets and their behavior under ADV. This novel research yielded results that mark the first formal characterization of endoskeletal droplets with this phenomenon.

With more analysis and improvement to the test setup, Erich believes this work can possibly help engineers and scientists discover a safer, more cost-effective method of drug delivery and treating brain-related diseases.

“There are cures for cancer like radiation and chemotherapy,” she said. “But there are problems with those. Ultrasound is noninvasive, so using these droplets could be a safer and cheaper way to deliver this type of care.”

In October, Erich was invited to present her findings at the Biomedical Engineering Society annual meeting. She is currently working on another independent study, this time analyzing the effects of ADV on exoskeletal droplets that have external solid structures. For this research, Erich is developing an electronic setup to alter more parameters using both a transmit and a receive transducer.

“It’s a similar principle as my past studies,” Erich said. “We want to see when this droplet vaporizes under ultrasound. But we want to alter a few more parameters such as pulse length, pulse repetition frequency, and mechanical index to see the effect of those on the droplets as well.”

The lasting impact

Erich during her time as an Engineering Ambassador, sharing her knowledge and love for research with prospective students and families.

Erich has proved her worth as a researcher and community member in other areas, too. This past summer, she worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developing magnetic nanoparticles for use as contrast agents in a low-field magnetic resonance imaging system (MRI). She has also served as an Engineering Ambassador, sharing her path and passion for research with prospective students and families.

Most of all, Erich hopes her college journey will inspire future undergraduates to find their passion in research. Especially those who come from a unique path, just as she did.

“I come from a non-STEM family, and I started in aerospace. I never thought I would ever have this opportunity,” she said. “I’m grateful to have been a part of this program, and I am honored to be given this award.”

The achievement of the Outstanding Research Award will be recognized at the College of Engineering and Applied Science Graduation Ceremony on Dec. 19, 2024. Erich hopes to return to CU Boulder as a graduate student in fall 2025 or use her research knowledge to work in medical imaging.

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Payton Martinez, a recent biomedical engineering (BME) PhD graduate, has been selected to receive the CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science 2024 Outstanding Dissertation Award.

This award is given annually to a doctoral research student completing their PhD degree requirements whose written dissertation demonstrates outstanding quality, research excellence and topical importance.

Growing up in the Denver area, Martinez would often take apart electronic devices to study their mechanisms and understand how they worked. He said he loved math, science and working with his hands.

Payton Martinez, recent PhD graduate in biomedical engineering and winner of the CEAS 2024 Outstanding Dissertation Award.

As Martinez became older, he took a sharp interest in medical technology and neuroscience. He began to notice family members going in and out of the hospital for various illnesses, and he wondered about the risks associated with the treatments they were being given.

“I realized that I wanted to use engineering to focus on something valuable,” Martinez said. “Not an item or a product like a television. Something valuable like the lives of humans or even animals.”

Martinez attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering. He was then introduced to the Borden Research Lab, led by Professor Mark A. Borden at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Here, he was able to continue his studies in CU Boulder’s BME graduate program and quench the thirst for all his curiosities at once: medicine, technology and neuroscience.

Martinez’ dissertation is titled  The research explores how ultrasound and microbubbles can potentially work in tandem to effectively deliver drugs to the brain and treat neurological diseases in the future.

According to Martinez, neurological disorders were the second leading cause of death in 2016. This is not because our drugs and therapeutic treatments are ineffective. Instead, Martinez argues we need to improve drug delivery methods in order to reach these brain-related illnesses.

“Many pharmaceutical companies have developed drugs over the years that work super well when you have the drug and cell right next to each other,” Martinez said. “But our brains have a blood-brain barrier that prevents these effective drugs from getting past and attacking the cell.

“The big issue when it comes to neurological diseases and brain cancer is taking the drugs and figuring out a way to deliver them to humans.”

During his time in the Borden lab, Martinez focused specifically on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a brain tumor located in the pons region of the brain that primarily affects children.

This rare form of cancer is unique. While some cancerous tumors have a slightly leaky or porous blood-brain barrier, allowing certain drug treatments to pass, the DIPG blood-brain barrier is fully intact. This makes the cancer almost impossible to treat in any way that is both safe and cost-effective.

“Using the technology we developed in the Borden lab, we were able to pass through the blood-brain barrier and reduce the tumor size in mice,” Martinez said. “Of course, this is on a much smaller scale than treating humans. But overall, we were able to increase the survival of these tumor-bearing mice.”

Martinez looks to expand on this research even further in the future. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University using ultrasound and microbubbles to possibly treat other neurological ailments as well. His goal is to remain in academia and eventually start his own lab where he can continue to push the limits of his research and discoveries.

The achievement of this award will be recognized at the College of Engineering and Applied Science Graduation Ceremony on December 19, 2024.

More than anything, Martinez wants to give thanks.

“I’m extremely grateful to receive this award, and I am thankful for my advisor, Mark Borden, for nominating me,” Martinez said. “Thank you to everyone who helped me along the way. A lot of my journey was learning from experts and mentors and it’s extremely impacted what I know and have done today.”

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