Ardoña Research Group
Laboratory of Biomimetic and Adaptive Materials
Welcome to the Ardoña Research Group!
The Ardoña Research Group at UC Irvine develops responsive and adaptive bio-inspired materials, which are useful in creating model platforms for unraveling biological mechanisms that involve action potential propagation and cellular mechanotransduction in contractile tissues. We capitalize on the synthetic versatility offered by biomacromolecules to create innovative materials that can probe or transduce signals at the cell-material interface.
FEATURED NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
WELCOME NEW UNDERGRADS!
10/2023
We have welcomed several undergraduate students this quarter! Maddie (left) is a second-year CBE student and will be working with Katie and Natalie. Catherine (middle) is a second-year BME student and will be working with Yuyao. Caleb is a third-year CBE and will be working with Sue.
CONGRATULATIONS, SUE!
8/8/2023
Congratulations to Sue on her paper, "Thermochromic Behavior of Polydiacetylene Nanomaterials Driven by Charged Peptide Amphiphiles," which was published in Biomacromolecules! This paper is part of the virtual special issue in Peptide Materials.
Yuyao Kuang was a contributing author in the group. We also acknowledge the other co-authors outside the group who helped with this work–– Dr. Dmitri Cordova, Alicia Robang, Kaleo Ogura, Dr. Anant Paravastu, and Dr. Maxx Arguilla. Congratulations to the team!
2023 SUMMER STUDENTS/VISITORS
7/2023
We have welcomed the following students and visitors in our group this summer (photo shown from left to right): Dhruv Aggarwal, from Arnold O. Beckman High School, is being mentored by Zefan. Desirae Nance, from Hampton University, is a participant of Beckman Laser Institute's ACES Program and is working with Katie. Hope Walton (ChemE sophomore, Stanford) and Jenna Kim (ChemE sophomore, UC Berkeley) are both undergraduate volunteers working alongside Sue and Natalie, respectively. Finally, Sheng Wei Tang is a 1st year UCI Chemistry graduate student rotating with the group as part of the ChAMP Program.
We are excited to see the great things that they will accomplish this summer!
CONGRATULATIONS, YUYAO!
6/15/2023
Congratulations to Yuyao on his paper, "Biomimetic Sequence-Templating Approach toward a Multiscale Modulation of Chromogenic Polymer Properties," which was published in Macromolecules!
This paper was featured as a cover (Volume 56, Issue 12). Ze-Fan, Sujeung, and Catherine were contributing authors in the group. We also acknowledge the other co-authors outside the group who helped with this work––Megan Rocha and Dima Fishman. Congratulations to the team!
WELCOME NADEEN!
6/1/2023
We are excited to welcome Nadeen to the group! She is a second-year undergraduate BME major and Health Informatics minor. She will be working with Yuyao Kuang.
KRYSTAL AND LANIE RECEIVE UROP AND E-SURP FELLOWSHIPS!
6/1/2023
Congratulations to Krystal and Lanie for being recognized through the UROP 2023 Distinguished Research Fellowship! They will be working on their individual research projects with their graduate student mentor, Emil Lundqvist.
For this Summer 2023, Lanie and Krystal were also both selected as CIRC's Edwards Lifesciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program (E-SURP) Fellows!
UCI TOM ANGELL FELLOWSHIP AWARDED TO ZEFAN!
4/18/2023
Congratulations to Zefan for being selected as the Postdoctoral Scholar Awardee for the 2023 Tom Angell Fellowship! The Tom Angell Fellowship is awarded by the UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence to members of the UCI community who "demonstrate outstanding mentorship by going above and beyond their normal duties to create new opportunities to mentor UCI students." Zefan has been a beloved and outstanding mentor in the group, and we are estatic to see his efforts be recognized and rewarded.
WELCOME NATALIE AND RUSWEL!
3/29/2023
We are excited to welcome Natalie and Ruswel to the group! Natalie Celt is a first-year PhD student in the BME department. Ruswel Domingo is a second-year CBE undergraduate and will be working with Harrison Jeong on 3D bioprinting.
CONGRATULATIONS, ZEFAN!
3/21/2023
Congratulations to Zefan on his paper, "Carbodiimide-fueled assembly of π-conjugated peptides regulated by electrostatic interactions," which was published in ChemSystemsChem! This paper was selected as a cover article and as part of the journal's special collection Systems Chemistry in the USA that "showcases some of the most exciting work done in systems chemistry, in all its diversity, by researchers based in the USA."
Zefan's invited review article, co-authored by Emil and Yuyao, was also accepted to Advance Science earlier this year. Congratulations to the team!
WELCOME KRYSTAL AND LANIE!
1/9/2023
We are happy to welcome two new undergraduate students to our group – Krystal and Lanie! Krystal is a second-year CBE student and Lanie is a second-year BME student. Both of them will be working with Emil Lundqvist!
2023 NSF CAREER AWARD FOR THE GROUP!
12/12/2022
The Ardoña Research Group has been awarded the 2023 NSF CAREER grant, to support our efforts in developing adaptive biomaterials for in situ visualization of biological forces, as well as towards helping strengthen an equitable training pipeline for researchers in biomaterials! We are very excited on the research and educational activities that will be supported by this NSF CAREER award! https://tinyurl.com/hardona-CAREER
CONGRATS CAT ON RECEIVING THE UROP FELLOWSHIP!
12/8/2022
Congratulations to Catherine (Cat) Ngo for being selected as an Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) fellow at UCI! She will continue to work on developing responsive biomaterials with graduate student mentor, Yuyao Kuang.
SCTEC OPEN HOUSE!
10/28/2022
Congratulations to the group along with the Adams, Smith, and Watanabe groups for a successful first Stem Cell & Tissue Engineering Core (SCTEC) Open House! The four groups showcased their ongoing research projects and had some live demonstrations for the public.
JOIN OUR RESEARCH GROUP!
Please contact Professor Herdeline Ardoña if you are interested to join our group. More details about our research group can be found on this page.