News
Welcome to our new postdoc, Prasanth Shanmughan!
February 1, 2026
Prasanth will be working on the incorporation of novel peptides into our protease-responsive shape memory polymers.
Welcome to our new undergraduates, Shaphia, Vishnu, and Vibha!
January 12, 2026
Shaphia and Vishnu will work with Ernest on antioxidant foams for hemorrhage control, and Vibha will work with Sevde on degradable and antimicrobial foams for wound healing.
Congratulations to Thalma for winning 2nd place in TAMU’s 3-Minute Thesis competition!
November 18, 2025
Thalma’s research on infection-sensing wound dressings has a huge potential impact, and her ability to communicate its importance will contribute to its future success! After making it to the finals (the top 10 competitors out of 85 students in the prelims), Thalma won 2nd place!
Dr. M. celebrates retirement of her postdoc advisor, Dr. Magnus Hӧӧk
November 1, 2025
It was lovely celebrating Magnus Hook’s retirement from a wonderfully successful career along with my PhD advisor, Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez!
First MBM Lab dinner in Texas is in the books!
October 20, 2025
We had amazing food from all over the world: Kenyan from Thalma Orado, Turkish from Sevde Nur Can, Ghanaian from Ernest Emmanuel Obeng, Persian from Hossein Akhtar, Chinese from Jingwen Zhao, Russian from Maya Yagan, and American South from me.
Thalma’s work on mechanochromic shape memory polymers is published in JBMRA!
September 15, 2025
Read the article here.
Natalie’s work on degradable and bioactive shape memory polymer foams is published in JBMRA!
September 1, 2025
Read the article here.
Welcome to our first TAMU undergraduate, Claire!
August 28, 2025
Claire will work with Hossein on hydrogels for chronic wound healing.
Welcome to our new PhD students, Jingwen Zhao and Maya Yagan!
August 25, 2025
Jingwen will be working with Thalma on bacteria-responsive shape memory polymers, and Maya will work with Ernest and Sevde on foams for hemorrhage control.
MBM Lab Moves to Texas A&M!
August 1, 2025
Big news from the MBM lab: we’ve moved to Texas A&M University Department of Biomedical Engineering!
MBM Lab Presents at Stevens Conference on Bacteria/Material Interactions
June 11, 2025
Thalma, Ernest, and Sevde all presented their work, and we all enjoyed some time in NYC afterwards!
Natalie and Nghia are officially hooded!
May 10, 2025
We celebrated with a BBQ dinner at Dr. Monroe’s house.
Persian Food and Bowling for MBM Lab Fun Day 2025
May 7, 2025
Hossein cooked us a delicious lunch that we shared on a rainy day at Clark Reservation, followed by bowling!
Natalie’s work on bioactive shape memory polymer foams published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
April 22, 2025
Read the article here.
MBM Lab attends 2025 Society for Biomaterials Conference in Chicago
April 9, 2025
Nghia was honored with the SFB Student Award for Outstanding Research, Natalie won the 3-Minute Thesis Competition, Ernest presented his first oral conference presentation, and Sevde had her first conference poster!
Congratulations to Dr. Natalie Petryk for successfully defending her dissertation!
April 7, 2025
We celebrated with a dinner at Dr. Monroe’s house!
MBM Lab Presents at ECS Research Day
March 24, 2025
Congratulations to Sevde and Natalie for winning poster awards!
Natalie’s work on degradable shape memory polymer foams is published in Acta Biomaterialia
March 15, 2025
Read the article here.
Congratulations to Natalie for winning the Graduate Dean’s Award for Research!
March 6, 2025
Natalie presented on her work on shape memory polymer foams for traumatic wound care at the award reception.
Congratulations to Dr. Nghia Thai for successfully defending his dissertation!
March 5, 2025
We celebrated with a lab dinner at Phoebe’s!
Congratulations to Nghia for winning the 2025 Society for Biomaterials PhD Student Award for Outstanding Research!
February 12, 2025
This award is accompanied by Nghia’s publication in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Part A and his upcoming presentation at SFB in Chicago.
Nghia’s work on hydrogel foams for cell encapsulation published in JBMRA
January 10, 2025
Read the article here.
MBM Lab starts the semester with a sledding outing
January 18, 2025
We’re taking advantage of the beautiful snow while we can this winter!
Congratulations to Thalma for winning best talk in her session at the SFB Northeast Fall Symposium!
September 23, 2024
Thalma discussed her mechanochromic shape memory polymers for infection detection.
2024 MBM Lab Fun Day at Beaver Lake Nature Center
July 31, 2024
We enjoyed a hike, viewing frogs and snakes, watching birds, eating lunch, and kayaking together!
Dr. Monroe co-guest edited a themed issue in Journal of Materials Chemistry
July 18, 2024
The issue is on stimuli responsive materials for biomedical applications and features Maryam’s research! Read more here.
Congratulations to MBM lab alum, Anand Vakil on his wedding!
July 9, 2024
We enjoyed celebrating Anand and Reema in New Jersey at their beautiful and joyful wedding ceremony!
Dr. Monroe presents at the World Biomaterials Congress in Korea and Receives the SFB Young Investigator Award
June 2, 2024
Dr. Monroe presented on her NIH and DoD funded work related to hemorrhage control in traumatic wounds.
MBM Lab celebrates Maryam and Changling’s hooding ceremony with BBQ at Dr. Monroe’s house
May 11, 2024
Congratulations again to Maryam and Changling on their excellent dissertation work and their post-graduate successes!
Congratulations to Kat on successfully defending her M.S. thesis!
May 7, 2024
Kat culminated almost 6 years in the MBM lab as an undergraduate and M.S. student today, when she defended her work on the development of an in vitro liver injury model.
Congratulations to Avery on successfully defending her M.S. thesis!
April 18, 2024
Avery will start a position at Lotte Biologics in summer 2024.
Congratulations to Changling on winning the Bioengineering Outstanding Graduate Student Award!
April 10, 2024
This is the highest honor that the Bioengineering program offers 1 Ph.D. student each year based on the excellence of their dissertation work.
Congratulations to Maryam on winning the All-University Doctoral Prize!
March 18, 2024
Maryam was one of 5 Engineering and Computer Science students to receive this award, which is the highest honor that Syracuse University offers to its top PhD graduates.
Dr. Monroe wins 2024 Society for Biomaterials Young Investigator Award
January 10, 2024
This award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in the field of biomaterials research. Read about all of the 2024 award winners here.
Congratulations to Dr. Du on successfully defending her dissertation!
September 1, 2023
We celebrated with a make-your-own pizza party at Dr. Monroe’s house. Changling will finish up some projects and train our new PhD student this fall before heading home to China.
We spent the day at Green Lakes State Park for our 2023 MBM Lab Fun Day
July 20, 2023
We enjoyed grilling burgers for lunch, kayaking, hiking, and games together!
Congratulations to Dr. Ramezani on successfully defending her PhD!
June 17, 2023
We celebrated with a make-your-own rice bowl party at Dr. Monroe’s house. Maryam has accepted a position as Senior Polymer Research Engineer at Copeland that she will start in July.
Congratulations to David on successfully defending his MS thesis!
May 3, 2023
David’s thesis work focused on characterizing drug release from magnetically actuated shape memory polymers.
Congratulations to Natalie on winning 2nd place in the Rena Bizios poster competition at SFB!
April 30, 2023
She presented her work on synthesizing off-the-shelf shape memory polymer foams for hemorrhage control and characterizing them in an in vitro model.
Congratulations to Maryam on winning the SFB Student Award for Outstanding Research!
April 20, 2023
This is the highest honor that the Society for Biomaterials gives to students and is accompanied with Maryam’s published paper in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.
Congratulations to Natalie on receiving the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!
April 15, 2023
This fellowship will support Natalie’s dissertation research on shape memory polymer foams for traumatic wound healing.
Congratulations to Henry and Anand on winning the SU All-Doctoral Prize
April 15, 2023
This prize is the highest honor given to PhD students at Syracuse University and recognizes their hard work and impactful research.
Congratulations to Changling and Maryam on receiving SFB STAR Honorable Mentions
April 4, 2023
The Society for Biomaterials selects Student Travel Achievement Recognition (STAR) awards based on student abstracts.
Congratulations to Sapaydia for winning 2nd place in poster competition at Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM
February 14, 2023
Sapaydia presented on her REU work from last summer and earned 2nd place for the Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Materials subsection of the Biological Sciences discipline at the conference. She was also supported by a travel grant!
Women in BMCE celebrate Galentine’s Day with dinner at Dr. Monroe’s house
February 3, 2023
We had a potluck charcuterie for dinner with the female grad students, postdocs, and faculty in the BMCE department!
Welcome to the lab, Dr. Isaac VonRue!
January 17, 2023
Isaac is a visiting scholar from the Chemistry department at King College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He will be working on making degradable linkers for our biomaterials this spring.
MBM Lab has a potluck Thanksgiving feast
November 18, 2022
We celebrated a great fall semester with wonderful food from all over the world!
Congratulations to Dr. Vakil on his successful dissertation defense!
August 29, 2022
We celebrated at Dr. Monroe’s house with a make-your-own pizza party, a pizookie, and ice cream. Anand has accepted a position at Ethicon that he will start this fall.
Congratulations to Dr. Henry Beaman on his successful dissertation defense!
August 11, 2022
Henry’s dissertation covered the use of isocyanate-based chemistries to add simple, low-cost modifications to biomaterials. We celebrated with tacos and peach cobbler at Dr. Monroe’s house afterwards.
Paddling Trip for 2022 MBM Lab Fun Day
July 29, 2022
We had a lovely time canoeing and kayaking on Kasaog Lake, thanks to Tug Hill Outfitters!
Dr. Monroe presents at CIMTEC 9th Forum for New Materials in Perugia, Italy
June 24, 2022
Dr. Monroe presented on SMPs for Crohn’s Fistulas in the Stimuli-Responsive and Multifunctional Polymers session at CIMTEC 2022.
Article published in in SU News about Dr. Monroe’s research, mentoring, and service
June 22, 2022
Read the article here.
Dr. Monroe gives keynote talk at New York State Science Congress
June 12, 2022
Dr. Monroe judged science fair posters of the top students from across the state of New York, and then delivered the keynote talk at the New York State Science Congress at the Museum of Science & Technology (MOST).
MBM Lab awards at SFB highlighted in Syracuse University News
May 12, 2022
Congratulations to all of the MBM Lab students on their well-deserved awards and honors at SFB 2022 in Baltimore!
Maryam receives SFB STAR award and Caitlyn receives honorable mention
May 12, 2022
Maryam will present her work on bacteria-responsive SMPs, and Caitlyn will present her research on the effects of phenolic acids on hydrogel mechanical and antimicrobial properties at SFB’s 2022 meeting in Baltimore
Maryam and Anand earn 1st place in the SFB Biomaterials Education Challenge for the SU SFB Student Chapter
April 30, 2022
Their module on teaching about gas blown foams with cakes was honored with 1st place in the Biomaterials Education Challenge, which comes with $1500 for our student chapter!
Anand and Natalie win 1st and 2nd place in the Dr. Rena Bizios poster awards from SFB’s BioInterfaces SIG
April 29, 2022
Congratulations on excellent presentations, and thanks to BioInterfaces for recognizing our lab’s work!
Natalie successfully defends her MS thesis!
April 13, 2022
Natalie focused on tuning the pore structure of SMP foams for her MS thesis. She is staying in the MBM lab to pursue her PhD next year!
Happy International Day of Women in Science and Engineering!
February 11, 2022
Dr. Monroe did an interview on her work and the importance of female mentors in STEM to celebrate.
Congratulations to Henry and Natalie on winning the SFB Student Award for Outstanding Research!
January 25, 2022
This award honors outstanding achievement in biomaterials research.
Dr. Monroe is featured on WCNY’s Cycle of Health
January 6, 2022
Dr. Monroe joined other researchers from SU and SUNY Upstate to discuss Biomedical Technologies and their future impact on our lives.
Anand, Henry, and Natalie compete in the BioInterfaces Student Pitch Competition. Congratulations to Natalie on winning 1st place!
September 30, 2021
Congratulations to all for participating. Natalie’s work will be featured in the SurFACTS newsletter.
Congratulations to our graduates, Natalie (B.S.) and Ellen (M.S.)!
May 11, 2021
Natalie will continue her research as a M.S. student in the MBM Lab, and Ellen is looking for jobs in industry.
Ellen passes her M.S. thesis defense!
May 11, 2021
Congratulations to Ellen on successfully passing her MS thesis defense on her work on in vitro blood interactions with shape memory polymer foams!
Congratulations to Henry and Maryam for receiving honorable mention for the SFB STAR award!
April 21, 2021
Henry and Maryam were 2 of 25 recipients for the 2021 SFB meeting. The Student Travel Achievement Recognitions (STARs) recognize research excellence and develop future leaders within SFB.
Natalie is awarded the Provost’s Award for Undergraduate Contributions to Human Values
April 13, 2021
Natalie was one of two undergraduates selected for an award that recognizes seniors who have made outstanding contributions to the beauty of the world, to human values and to ending human abuse anywhere in the world.
Read more
Maryam passes her PhD qualifier exam
December 12, 2020
Congratulations to Maryam on passing her PhD qualifier/proposal exam!
Nakira passes MS Thesis defense!
May 17, 2020
Congratulations to Nakira on successfully passing her MS thesis defense on her work on in vitro models of hemorrhage!
Welcome Gloria Ann Monroe!
February 17, 2020
Gloria was born on February 13, 2020. The Monroes are all thrilled to meet her, and she and mom are both healthy and happy!
Dr. Monroe receives Litwin IBD Pioneers Award from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation
January 1, 2020
The 1 year grant supports innovative clinical and translational research projects with the potential to impact the treatment of IBD patients in the near future. Dr. Monroe’s work focuses on synthesizing shape memory polymer hydrogels for Crohn’s fistula closure.
Jingyi passes her MS thesis defense
December 17, 2019
Congratulations to our first lab graduate, Jingyi, on passing her MS thesis defense!
Henry successfully passes his PhD qualifier
December 14, 2019
Congratulations to Henry on passing his PhD qualifier/proposal exam!
Anand successfully passes PhD qualifier
December 6, 2019
Congratulations to Anand on passing his PhD qualifier/proposal exam!