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Student NameLeyda S. Marrero
Faculty Mentor NameDr. Carlos Rinaldi
CollegeCollege of Engineering
MajorBiomedical Engineering
Research InterestsMagnetic nanoparticle applications, imaging, chemotherapeutics, tissue engineering
Academic AwardsDean's List every semester since Fall '17
OrganizationsDream Team, Dream Team Engineering, SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers), UEPA (Union of Active Puertorrican Students), HSA (Hispanic Student Association)
Hobbies and InterestsCooking, playing beach volleyball and soccer with friends, going to the beach, traveling. I hope to learn how to play the piano!

Research Project

Magnetic Nanoparticle Drug Potentiation for Chemotherapeutics

A major obstacle in breast cancer is overcoming resistance to chemotherapeutics, specifically antimitotic drugs. My goal in this project is to understand the effect of magnetic nanoparticles as a means to apply nanoscale heating and potentiate the drug action. The project is based on the delivery of a chemotherapeutic agent followed by magnetic mild-hyperthermia (thermal treatment) at 42°C by using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) to treat breast cancer cells in vivo. We are currently studying the effect of the combined treatment through image analysis of histological sections of breast cancer in athymic nude mice.