Saturday, March 14, 2026 12:30-5:30 pm and Sunday, March 15, 2026: 9am-5:30 pm
Location to be announced.
Registration
Register when registering for the APS meeting.
Registration fees:
APS Members:
$200 – students
$225 – early career
$250 – other/retired
Non-APS members:
$200 – students
$225 – early career
$350 - other
Organizers
Alex Marras, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin (amarras@utexas.edu)
Allie Obermeyer, Associate Professor, Columbia University (aco2134@columbia.edu)
Sponsors
Sponsors will be updated. Stay tuned. If you would like to sponsor this Short Course, please contact the organizers.
Course Details
Overview
This short course will introduce attendees to the physics of biopolymers and polymer use in biotechnology. The short course will cover (1) the fundamental physics of natural and synthetic biopolymers; (2) polymer use in drug delivery from both academic and biopharmaceutical perspectives; (3) polymer assemblies designed to interact with cells, including experimental and simulation work on the extracellular matrix and tissue regeneration; and (4) novel polymeric materials assembled from biomaterials or interacting with biology.
The course is targeted to graduate students and researchers who are either beginning to or seeking to work in areas related to polymers in biotechnology or want a refresher on the fundamental physics of these systems. Participation from postdoctoral associates, faculty, and researchers in industry or national labs is welcome and encouraged.
Speakers & Topics:
Additional speakers and Industry roundtable expected.
| Speaker |
Institution |
Topic |
|
Rohit Pappu
|
Washington University in St. Louis
|
Fundamentals I
|
|
Danielle Mai
|
Stanford University
|
Fundamentals II
|
|
Matthew Lamm
|
Merck & Co., Inc.
|
Drug Delivery I – industry
|
|
Kazunori Kataoka
|
University of Tokyo
|
Drug Delivery II - academia
|
|
Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez
|
University of Texas at Austin
|
Tissue engineering
|
|
Jason Burdick
|
University of Colorado Boulder
|
Tissue engineering / biomaterials
|
|
Helen Zha
|
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
|
Materials I
|
|
Darrin Pochan
|
University of Delaware
|
Materials II
|
Industry roundtable participants TBD
Schedule: to be announced:
Saturday, March 14, 2026:
12:30pm – 1pm: Welcome/introduction
1pm – 3pm: Two talks (45 min talk + 15 min Q&A each)
3 – 3:30pm: break
3:30 – 5:30pm: Two talks (45 min talk + 15 min Q&A each)
Sunday, March 15, 2026:
9am – 9:30am: breakfast
9:30am – 11:30am: Two talks (45 min talk + 15 min Q&A each)
11:30am – 1pm : lunch break
1pm – 3pm: Two talks (45 min talk + 15 min Q&A each)
3pm – 3:30pm: break
3:30pm – 5:30pm: roundtable & hands-on activities
Refreshments Provided:
Coffee/tea/cookies for breaks on Saturday and Sunday afternoons
Breakfast on Sunday
Lunch on Sunday