Dr. Jeffrey Ting received his BS degree in chemical engineering with high honors at the University of Texas in 2011, where he conducted research for Dr. C. Grant Willson. He joined the research groups of Dr. Frank S. Bates and Dr. Theresa M. Reineke at the University of Minnesota and earned his PhD in chemical engineering in 2016. During his graduate studies, Dr. Ting was a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, which supported his research in developing new polymer excipients for enhancing the solubility of therapeutics in oral drug delivery. His scientific work has impacted basic and applied polymer chemistry, including educational and outreach efforts for polymers research. Select awards highlighting his contributions to the field of oral drug delivery include the first annual AIChE Pharmaceutical Discovery, Development and Manufacturing Student Award and the Minnesota Sigma Xi Rising Star Award.
Currently, Dr. Ting is working with Dr. Matthew V. Tirrell at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering as a NIST-CHiMaD Postdoctoral Fellow, which is supported by the NIST Advanced Materials Center of Excellence program under the directive of President Obama’s 2011 Materials Genome Initiative. His project focuses on the structural evolution of polyelectrolyte complex assemblies, which can be used for intended bioapplications in gene therapy, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and theranostics. In 2018, his promising contributions were recognized by the first annual PMSE Future Faculty Scholars award.
Areas of research expertise:
- Polymer science
- Polyelectrolyte complex assemblies
- Materials genome strategies and design
- Responsive materials
Polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) form upon associative phase separation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes in aqueous settings. These materials are highly versatile, with characteristics spanning from low-viscosity polymer solutions (commonly referred to as coacervates) to glassy, high modulus solids. This tunability, along with their relatively high water-content (30-90%), makes them appealing for a range of applications, including underwater bioadhesives, encapsulants for food science, and coatings technology. Furthermore, block polymer architectures can be employed to engineer self-assembled PEC-core micelles and hydrogels for applications in drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and theranostics. However, nearly all the important features of these materials are currently understood only at a qualitative level.
My current work involves studying the structural evolution, dynamics, and behavior of custom-built polymers as PECs in solution for new biomaterials applications. The goal of this work is to better understand how chain microstructures, properties, and hierarchical architectures affect the assembly mechanism and kinetics of entropy-driven PEC formation, which can range from PEC-core micelles to stimuli-responsive hydrogels.
This work is being conducted under the Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD), a NIST Advanced Materials Center of Excellence program toward the goal of “Materials by Design” under President Obama’s 2011 Materials Genome Initiative (MGI).
Ion Specificity Influences on the Structure of Zwitterionic Brushes
Macromolecules 2023, 56, 5, 1945–1953
Sequence-Controlled Secondary Structures and Stimuli Responsiveness of Bioinspired Polyampholytes
Biomacromolecules 2022, 23, 9, 3798–3809
Harnessing the therapeutic potential of biomacromolecules through intracellular delivery of nucleic acids, peptides and proteins
Yu Tian, Matthew V. Tirrell, James L. LaBelle. "Harnessing the therapeutic potential of biomacromolecules through intracellular delivery of nucleic acids, peptides and proteins". Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2022.
Targeted polyelectrolyte complex micelles treat vascular complications in vivo
Zhengjie Zhou, Chih-Fan Yeh, Michael Mellas, Myung-Jin Oh, Jiayu Zhu, Jin Li, Ru-Ting Huang, Devin L Harrison, Tzu-Pin Shentu, David Wu, Michael Lueckheide, Lauryn Carver, Eun Ji Chung, Lorraine Leon, Kai-Chien Yang, Matthew V Tirrell, Yun Fang. "Targeted polyelectrolyte complex micelles treat vascular complications in vivo", PNAS.
Protein primary structure correlates with calcium oxalate stone matrix preference
Yu Tian, Matthew Tirrell, Carley Davis, Jeffrey A Wesson. "Protein primary structure correlates with calcium oxalate stone matrix preference". Plos One, 2021, e0257515.
Polyampholyte physics: Liquid–liquid phase separation and biological condensates
Dinic, Jelena, Amanda B. Marciel, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Polyampholyte physics: Liquid–liquid phase separation and biological condensates." Current opinion in colloid & interface science 54 (2021): 101457.
Polymersomes Decorated with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Receptor-Binding Domain Elicit Robust Humoral and Cellular Immunity
"Polymersomes Decorated with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Receptor-Binding Domain Elicit Robust Humoral and Cellular Immunity". ACS Cent. Sci. 2021, 7, 8, 1368-1380.
Advances in the Structural Design of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Alexander E. Marras, Jeffrey M. Ting, Kaden C. Stevens, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Advances in the Structural Design of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles". J. Phys. Chem. B, 2021, 125, 26, 7076-7089.
Physical Property Scaling Relationships for Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Alexander E. Marras, Trinity R. Campagna, Jeffrey R. Vieregg, and Matthew V. Tirrell. "Physical Property Scaling Relationships for Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles". Macromolecules, 2021, 54, 13, 6585-6594.
Effect of Solvent Quality on the Phase Behavior of Polyelectrolyte Complexes
Lu Li, Artem M Rumyantsev, Samanvaya Srivastava, Siqi Meng, Juan J de Pablo, Matthew V Tirrell. "Effect of Solvent Quality on the Phase Behavior of Polyelectrolyte Complexes", Macromolecules, 2020.