Nano Materials Lab student earns first place award

Darya Asheghali, a graduate student in the department of chemistry working in the lab of FACS faculty member Sergiy Minko, received a first place award in the graduate student paper competition at the Fiber Society’s annual fall conference held in Athens in November.

Asheghali is a researcher in the Nanostructured Materials Lab that hosts students from the FACS department of textiles, merchandizing and interiors and the department of chemistry in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

She and former postdoctoral associate Alex Tokarev have developed new methods of nanofiber spinning that could improve technology for the fabrication of nanofiber scaffolds for tissue engineering.

“These methods open novel directions in design and manufacture of 3-D scaffolds with well-controlled characteristics and functional properties,” Minko said. “We were excited to learn that our methods deliver nanofibrous materials beneficial for growth of neural stem cells for therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic injuries. This international recognition of our technology is good start for our lab to move forward in the development of new nano-scaffolding technologies for the regenerative medicine.”

The team is working on scaling up and commercialization of the technology, Minko said.

The lab is a part of the UGA New Materials Institute.

Congratulations to Asheghali and the Minko lab. Cross-disciplinary research collaborations can produce compelling new technologies while providing important laboratory opportunities for UGA graduate students across campus. Training the next generation of scientists brings leading-edge methods and tools into reality, in this case with great promise for human health. Great work and our thanks to colleagues in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences for this reporting.