Dr. Abraham Joy

Abraham Joy is a Professor of Polymer Science at the University of Akron. He obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry from Tulane University, working under the mentorship of Prof. V. Ramamurthy on organic asymmetric photoreactions. Following his doctoral work, he carried out his postdoctoral work at the Georgia Institute of Technology with Prof. Gary Schuster, working on charge migration in synthetic oligonucleotides. Subsequently, he was an NIH Ruth Kirschstein postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers University and Univ. Pennsylvania working with Prof. Joachim Kohn and Prof. Christopher Chen. During this time, he worked on designing biomaterials for modulating cellular functions. He is a recipient of the 3M Non-tenured faculty award and an NSF CAREER award. In early 2016, he became an associate professor with tenure and in 2020 he was promoted to professor.

Email: [email protected]

Office: GDYR 412

Francis
Dang

He/Him/His

Ph.D. Candidate in the Joy Lab since 2017

B.S. in Biological Sciences, University of California Irvine, 2014

Currently working on 3D printed materials as a platform to improve sustained drug release and release multiple targets.

Email: [email protected]

Deliris
N. Ortiz-Ortiz

Ph.D. candidate in the Joy Lab since 2019

B.S in Physics Applied to Electronics, University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, 2018

3D printing is an area with high demand for development of novel engineered platforms that allows drug and biological material encapsulations for production of complex and advanced materials. Hydrogels have been used to incorporate and 3D print biomaterials, but they lack mechanical properties. My research focus in the study of the mechanical properties of a library of polyesters developed in our group, by several techniques including Rheology. With the aim of designing 3D printed structures to target effective drug delivery.  

Email: [email protected]

Avanti
Pandit

She/Her/Hers

Ph.D. candidate in the Joy Lab since 2020

B.S. in Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University, 2020

Non-compressible torso hemorrhage (NCTH) is a life threatening condition where pressure on a hemorrhaging wound will not stop the blood flow. By harnessing the body’s ability to form clots and utilizing biodegradable materials, I am working to develop a tissue adhesive that can stop hemorrhage and prolong life.

Email: [email protected]

Zixi
Chen

She/Her/Hers

Ph.D. candidate in the Joy Lab since 2021

M.S. in Polymer Science, University of Akron, 2021

B.S. in Material Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 2019

Bacteria that existed in medical devices and the human body significantly cause serious infection problems. I’m currently focusing on synthesizing bio-mimic antibiofilm polymers which have potential remarkable performance in controlling, dispersing, and inhibiting biofilm formation.  

Email: [email protected]

 
 

Yu
Cui

PhD Candidate in the Joy Lab since 2023

M.S. in Polymer Science, The Univeristy of Akron, 2023

Email: [email protected]

Josh
Menefee

Ph.D. Candidate in the Joy Lab since 2022

B.S. in Biochemistry, The University of Akron, 2022

Email: [email protected]

Prathamesh
Mane

He/Him/His

Ph.D. Candidate in the Joy Lab since 2022

B.tech. in Fibers and Textiles Processing Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology, 2019

Email: [email protected]

Mahdi
Zafari

He/Him/His

PhD Candidate in the Joy Lab since 2022

Research assistant at the National Cell Bank of Iran, 2021 – 2022

Research assistant at the Pasteur Institute of Iran, 2019 – 2021

B.S in Medical Laboratory of Sciences, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 2018

Developing a better understanding of how the human body’s immune system responds to different polymeric chemicals and how bacteria interact with different polymeric surfaces.

Bethel
Tsige

Undergraduate in the Joy Lab since 2022

Saba
Nikjou

PhD Candidate in the Joy Lab since 2023

[email protected]

Luca the cat

Belongs to Avanti

Luca has blue eyes, and is often spotted with his tongue sticking out~

Tutu the cat

Belongs to Zixi

Lovely and beloved angel ragdoll with a ‘Bunny’ like mark on his alluring face.

Millie the dog

Dr. Joy belongs to her

Miranda the dog

Belongs to Deliris

Hi, my name is Miranda Ortiz-Ortiz. I like to do a variety of things. Some of these things are: play, play, play and PLAY.