Maryam Hajfathalian
New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ·Biomedical Engineering·Early-career
Many stubborn infections, from tooth decay to infected wounds and skin, are caused by biofilms. Biofilms are communities of bacteria wrapped in a sticky protective layer made of polymers.
- Fields
Biomedical Engineering
Materials Science
Microbiology & Immunology
- Topics
biofilms
biofilm infections
photothermal therapy
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Synthesize photothermal nanoparticles with nanoshell, nanocage or nanoframe shapes made of silver, gold, platinum and palladium, and tune their light-to-heat behavior for treating dental caries, wound and skin infections.
- Test the nanoparticles in the lab for how effectively and quickly they destroy bacterial biofilms under near-infrared light, and for their compatibility with living cells, to select the most effective formulation.
- Evaluate the best formulation in rodent models of dental caries and open skin wounds, measuring how light-triggered heating affects biofilms and whether it could substitute for broad-spectrum antibiotics.
More about the research
They are hard to clear, and treatment often relies on broad-spectrum antibiotics. This project explores another approach: using tiny metal particles that absorb near-infrared (NIR) light and turn it into heat. The heat would destroy the biofilm, a strategy called photothermal therapy.
Why it matters
Biofilm infections such as tooth decay and infected wounds resist treatment and are often handled with broad-spectrum antibiotics. Light-activated metal nanoparticles that can be tuned in size and composition could offer a fast, low-cost and precisely targeted way to break down biofilms and kill bacteria. This approach may reduce reliance on antibiotics for oral, wound and skin infections.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Zezhang Wen
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, LA·Microbiology & Immunology
Identify the transcriptional and post-transcriptional factors that control expression of brpA, a gene needed for biofilm formation in Streptococcus mutans, using molecular, biochemical and bioinformatics approaches.
Suljo Linic
University of Michigan, MI·Engineering
Synthesize plasmonic single atom alloy nanoparticles, silver or gold particles with isolated platinum, palladium, rhodium or ruthenium atoms at the surface, and characterize their geometry.
Jose Lemos
University of Florida, FL·Microbiology & Immunology
Uncover the regulatory mechanisms that let Streptococcus mutans tolerate high zinc, focusing on ZccE, a zinc-exporting pump unique to this species, and its regulator ZccR, using genetic and mutational approaches.
The school
New Jersey Institute of Technology: 12 labs on PI Pages, $172M a year on research, 74 research doctorates a year.
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