Donald A. Belcher, PhD

My Research

My long-term research goal is to develop experimental and computational methods to accelerate the design, development, and implementation of therapeutics, materials, and equipment for diseases with urgent unmet clinical needs. A primary limitation to translate these materials into the clinical setting is the cost associated with every step of the biotechnology development process. I plan to approach this challenge via three angles: (1) development of high throughput transformative methods for synthesis of therapeutics; (2) computational evaluation of material performance using systems, agent, finite element, molecular dynamics, and machine learning techniques; and (3) 3D tissue-engineered constructs and microfluidic systems to mimic disease states. 

Materials Development

Many proteins have been discovered with significant therapeutic potential. Unfortunately, the bench-scale techniques used to produce these materials are often difficult to translate to preclinical and pilot-scale studies. Furthermore, traditional protein purification techniques, such as affinity chromatography, can be cost-prohibitive and difficult to scale. Because of these concerns, I have evaluated how methods such as tangential flow filtration and selective sedimentation can be modified to handle complex separation systems. I plan to deploy these techniques to increase the scale and decrease the manufacturing costs of biologically derived materials. 

Micro-physiologic Systems Modelling

Within the tissue micro-environment, complex physical and chemical systems can significantly alter the performance of protein and nanotechnology-based therapeutics. I plan to use modern computational methods to assess how biochemical, intracellular, and physical interactions can influence the therapeutic potency of different therapeutic agents. These models can couple finite element modeling with agent-based cell behavior.   

Organoid Drug Evaluation

While computational models are a useful tool to assess complex biophysical systems, they are limited by the assumptions and scales of the simulation system. To better evaluate the potential of biologically derived materials as a potential treatment, I will develop 3D tissue-engineered constructs of various disease states. With these systems, I plan to use a microenvironment that contains multiple cell types in physically accurate systems. This will allow me to model both the biochemical and biophysical stresses that may alter the therapeutic behavior of these materials in the disease state. 

Research Experience

My previous research focused on the development of hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers for use in cancer therapy. This work spanned the entire product development lifecycle, including bench-scale production, computational evaluation, small animal in vivo performance assessment, and pilot-scale process development. Because of this, I have developed a broad skill set from chemical synthesis to high-performance computer modeling. Additionally, I have worked on various products derived from blood products, including solutions intended for use in transfusion medicine, tissue engineering, and organ preservation. This work has often required the implementation of internal quality management and process safety evaluation systems.

 Teaching

I believe that the goal of chemical engineering education should be to prepare students for careers by providing them the technical, critical thinking, and communication skills. To accomplish this goal, I plan to develop and refine coursework that integrates, non-intuitive problem-solving methods, project-based evaluation of student performance, integration of computing techniques, and reinforcement of technical writing and communication. I am looking forward to teaching courses focused on transport phenomena or process safety. I am also excited to develop a course that integrates computational skills with solving problems in chemical and biological engineering.

Teaching Experience: At Ohio State University, I taught for two years as a teaching assistant in the unit operations laboratory. In this course, I developed lectures, quizzes, exams, and in-class exercises to help students better understand how real systems compare to the theoretical methods taught in the other courses. In my free time, I have also developed a course on high-performance computing for chemical engineering graduate students. This course was designed to integrate object-oriented design as a way to solve complex chemical engineering problems. When possible, I integrated modern open-source computing methods to solve problems in physical and biological systems. Students were instructed on how to apply the fundamentals of analytical solutions to verify and validate that the solutions are representative of real-world systems. Students were also provided with additional modern software tools such as LaTeX and Git for better translation into industrial work environments. Additionally, I have mentored four graduate students and 15 undergraduate students in my research group.

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