UPR-Humacao
Last Update August 2024
UPR-Humacao
Research

NSF-DMR-UPRH-UPenn-2122102

1) Gallium nanoparticles as Ab(1-40) and IAPP oligimerization inhibitor. 2) Gallium nanofibers for drug delivery and sensing. 3) Microfluidics for sensing applications. 4) Nanofibers for electronics devices.

Alumni

1) Pedro Carrión (MD, Univ. Santo Domingo RD) 2) Jimmy De León (PhD, UPR-Río Piedras) 3) Luis Sánchez (MD, NYU-St. Kitts) 4) Damarix García (Industry) 5) Jayanta Kumar (Post-Doc, India) 6) Ileanaris Lebrón 7) Yaritza Hernández (PhD, UPR-Río Piedras) 8) Norman Almodovar 9) Jessica Correa (Industry) 10) Jennifer Díaz (K12 Teacher) 11) Leonel Viera (Industry) 12) Arisdelsy Cervantes (PhD Boston University) 13) Maria Fernandez (MS, University of Texas) 14) Anitza Fernández (Pharmacy) 15) Gilbert Encarnacion (MS, UPR-Medical Sciences) 16) Rey Dieppa 17) Karilyn Claudio (MD, NYU-St. Kitts) 18) Nelson Rivera (Industry) 19) Wendy García (Industry) 20) Veronica Diaz (Industry) 21) Sergio García (PhD, Georgia Tech) 22) Carlos Andino (Industry) 23) Luis A. Ortiz-Rodriguez (PhD, Case Western Reserve) 24) Ambar S. Delgado (Brown University) 25) Arielys M. Dávila (Industry) 26) Kyabeth Torres (PhD, University of Pennsylvania) 27) Stephanie Maldonado (Industry) 28) Lilliana I. Ortiz Rodríguez (Industry) 29) Valeria Santos (Industry) 30) Sharleen Vargas (Veterinary School) 31) Alejandra Cardona (Med School) 32) Nicole González (PhD, Penn State) 33) Joyce Ramos (Industry) 34) Erika Serrano (John Hopkins University) 35) Nestor Marques Rios (Penn State) 36) Alejandro R. Acevedo (Industry) 37) Paola M. Córdova (UPRH) 38) Yamina Rodriguez Montes (UPRH) 39) Nathaly Vergara Toro (UPR-Río Piedras) 40) Alondra Brito (Univ. of Delaware) 41) Glenibeth Flores-Millán (UPR-Medical Sciences) 42) Alondra Feliciano (UPR-Medical Sciences) 43) Nitza V. Falcón-Cruz (Case Western Reserve) 44) Nicole De Jesús-Lozada (Nova University)
• Idalia Ramos, José O. Sotero, Esteva, Vibha Bansal, Danilo Barrionuevo, Francisco Bezares, Ezio Fasoli, Mark Licurse, Rolando Oyola, Nicholas Pinto, Juan Santana, Eric A. Stach, and Ashley Wallace (2024) Experimenta con PREM: Outcomes and best practices from a two‑decade materials research summer program for underrepresented high school students. MRS Advances, https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-024-00939-5 • Alejandro J. Cruz-Arzón, José Pérez, Idalia Ramos, Nicholas J. Pinto, Nitza V. Falcón-Cruz, Rolando Oyola, Yue Jiang, Nikita Gupta, And Alan T. Charlie Johnson (2024) Electrical Characterization and Ammonia Gas Response of a p- Si/npoly[benzimidazobenzophenanthroline] Thin-Film Junction Diode, Phys. Status Solidi A, 2300861. https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.202300861 . • Cruz-Arzón, Alejandro J., Falcón-Cruz, Nitza V., Serrano-García, William, Pinto, Nicholas J., and Oyola, Rolando (2023) Electro-spun poly(lactic acid)/poly(triarylamine)(PLA/PTAA) composite nanofibers with low pla content for fiber-based electronic applications. Mater. Adv., 4, 5282-5290. HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1039/D3MA00230F • Vergara Del Toro, N., Meléndez, A., Ramos, I., Rivera-Claudio, M., Castillo, J., and Oyola, R. (2022) Sensing Ferrocene Derivatives Using a modified glassy carbon electrode with a Pedot/Carbon microspheres Thin-Film. Um Olhar Sobre Os Sensores Na Península Ibérica E América Latina: Año 2022, Ua Editora Universidade De Aveiro, Serviços De Documentação, Informação Documental E Museologia, 1ª Edição – Julho 2022, Pag. 34-37. Https://Doi.Org/10.48528/H76t-T092 • N. V. Falcón-Cruz, A. Meléndez, I. Ramos, and R. Oyola (2022) Surface modification of gallium nanoparticles and their interaction with human serum albumin, Um Olhar Sobre Os Sensores Na Península Ibérica E América Latina: Año 2022, Ua Editora Universidade De Aveiro, Serviços De Documentação, Informação Documental E Museologia, 1ª Edição – Julho 2022, Pag. 383-387. Https://Doi.Org/10.48528/H76t-T092 • N. V. Falcón-Cruz, A. S. Delgado, K. M. Torres, A. Meléndez, I. Ramos, D. Du, And R. Oyola (2022) Gallium nanoparticles interaction with iapp: can GaNPs inhibits oligomerization?, Um Olhar Sobre Os Sensores Na Península Ibérica E América Latina: Año 2022, Ua Editora Universidade De Aveiro, Serviços De Documentação, Informação Documental E Museologia, 1ª Edição – Julho 2022, Pag. 396-400. Https://Doi.Org/10.48528/H76t-T092 • Nitza V. Falcón-Cruz, Nathaly Vergara-Toro, Alondra Brito-Pérez, Daniel Rivera, Anamaris Meléndez, Idalia Ramos, Rolando Oyola (2021) Online Lab for High School Students: Calibration Curve Using Fluorescence of a Yellow Highlighter Solution. Journal of Laboratory Chemical Education , 9(4), 51-56. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.jlce.20210904.01 • Kyabeth M. Torres, Ambar S. Delgado, Erika R. Serrano, Nitza V. Falcón-Cruz, Anamaris Meléndez, Idalia Ramos, Deguo Du, Rolando Oyola (2021) Gallium nanoparticles as novel inhibitors of Aβ40 aggregation. Mater. Adv., 2, 5471-5478, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1MA00461A • Santiago-Huertas, Cesar, Jorge Castillo, Rolando Oyola (2020) ATR-FTIR Experiment for Instrumental Analysis Laboratory: Determination of Acetaminophen in Panadol Tablets. Chem. Educator , 25, 178–183. HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1333/S00897202930 • Luis Rijos, Anamaris Melendez, Rolando Oyola, Nicholas Pinto (2019) Effect of polyethylene oxide on camphor sulfonic acid doped polyaniline thin film field effect transistor with ionic liquid gating. Synthetic Metals , 257, 116176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.synthmet.2019.116176 • Christian J. Ortiz-Hernandez, Adriana N. Santiago-Ruiz, Adaliz J. Torres-Rosado, Jomarie Jiménez-Gonzalez, Sean B. Yeldell, Rolando Oyola, Ivan J. Dmochowski, Jose Sotero-Esteva, Vibha Bansal, Ezio Fasoli (2019) In situ analysis and imaging of aromatic amidine at varying ligand densities in solid phase. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry , https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-01588-6 . • Liu, Haiyang; Lantz, Richard; Cosme, Patrick; Rivera, Nelson; Andino, Carlos; Gonzalez, Walter G.; Terentis, Andrew; Wojcikiewicz, Ewa; Oyola, Rolando; Miksovska, Jaroslava, and Du, Deguo (2015) Site-Specific Dynamics of Amyloid Formation and Fibrillar Configuration of Aβ1-23 Using an Unnatural Amino Acid. Chem.Comm. , 51, 7000- 7003. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5CC00149H • Beatrice N. Markiewicz, Rolando Oyola, Deguo Du, and Feng Gai (2014) Aggregation gatekeeper and controlled assembly of Trpzip β-hairpins. Biochemistry , 2014, 53 (7), 1146–1154. • Piñero-Santiago, L.E., García, C., Lhiaubet-Vallet, V., Trzcionka, J., Oyola, R., Torres, K., Leguillú, J., and Miranda, M.A. (2013) Photooxidation Mechanism of Levomepromazine in Different Solvents. Photochem. Photobiology , 89(6), 1479-89, https://doi.org/10.1111/php.12147 . • Piñero, L.E., Lebrón, I., Correa, J., Díaz, J., Viera, L., Arce, R., García, C., and Oyola, R. (2012) The effect of 2- hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin on the Excited Triplet State of Promazine and Chlorpromazine. J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 228, 44-50. • Xu, Y., Du, D., and Oyola, R., (2011) Infrared Study of the Stability and Folding Kinetics of a Series of β- Hairpin peptides with Common NPDG Turn. J. Phys. Chem. B . 115(51):15332-8. [PMID: 22136248] • Piñero, L.E, García, C., Lhiaubet-Vallet, V., Miranda, M.A., and Oyola, R. (2011) Solvent dependence of the photophysical properties of 2-Chlorothioxanthone, the principal photoproduct of chlorprothixene. Photochem. Photobiol. , 87(3), 611- 617. [PMID: 21294748] • Oyola, R., and Arce, R. (2010) Nanosecond Laser Induced Transient Absorption Flash Photolysis Experiment for Undergraduate Physical Chemistry. The Chemical Educator , 15, 365-369. https://DOI 10.1007/s00897102303a

Publications

AIRAM J. RIVERA-TORRES (NSF-PREM Fellow) I am 18 years old and I live in Juncos, Puerto Rico. I'm currently in my 2nd year of my bachelor's degree in Industrial Chemistry and excited  for the next years.  My goal is graduate from Industrial Chemistry and study my doctorate in medicine.
CARMEN TORRES (NSF-PREM Fellow) I’m in my 2nd year of a bachelor’s degree in industrial chemistry. I have been part of Oyola’s lab since high school. I still have not figured out what my long-term goals are, but what I know is that I really enjoy the process of doing research. My project is related to the process of Amyloid-β40 aggregation in Alzheimer’s Disease. We have studied the behavior of this peptide in the presence of liposomes and its progression of aggregation if we treat it using gallium nanoparticles. ALEISHANAHIR MARIN-ORTIZ At eighteen years old, I am in my 2nd year of university, dedicated to studying for a bachelor's degree in microbiology. I have an outstanding research interest, both now and in my future aspirations. As a goal, I want to carry out different scientific explorations and contribute to research throughout my career. EDUARDO SANCHEZ-SANTOS (NSF-PREM Fellow) I’m 18 years old and live in Juncos, Puerto Rico. I’m a student of the UPRH, and I’m currently in the 2nd year of my bachelor’s degree in industrial chemistry. One of my goals is to graduate with a good GPA and then apply to medical school for a doctoral degree in Gastroenterology, but I’m also on the lookout for where the road takes me. I had some experience with science fairs in High School, and I can confidently say I like learning and researching. DANIELLA A. GONZALEZ-RIVERA I am a twenty-year-old undergraduate student who lives in Juncos, Puerto Rico. I'm in the 4th year of my bachelor's degree in industrial chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico. My ongoing research focuses on Quantitative analysis of Gallium ion present in Gallium nanoparticles using a Fluorescence – Shiff – base Sensor. Also, I’m working in Sensing cytotoxicity of Gallium nanoparticles. My long-term career goal is to obtain my bachelor's degree and later, pursue a Doctorate in Pharmacy. AMANDA AYALA-CUADRADO (NSF-PREM-MicroENetS Fellow) I am in my 2nd year of an undergraduate degree in Industrial Chemistry. My long-term academic goals are to pursue a dual MD/PhD and conduct biomedical research that will change how we detect and treat certain illnesses. I’m looking forward to conducting research with Prof. Oyola and my colleagues.

Undergraduate Students

NOELIA QUIÑONES MARTINEZ (UNIVERSITY GARDENS HIGH SCHOOL) As a 17-year-old high school student with a passion for research, I have hands-on experience in microbiology, specifically investigating the antibacterial effect of ethanolic extracts from the fruit, seed, and leaves of Momordica charantia on the growth of MRSA. This research allowed me to develop both my laboratory skills and my science writing abilities, while deepening my understanding of microbiological techniques. I am eager to expand my knowledge into new scientific fields and my future academic plans include studying medicine, with a potential focus on chemistry during my bachelor's degree. KAMILLIE DIAZ DAVILA (NSF-PREM-MicroENetS Fellow) I'm a freshman student working in Prof. Oyola’s lab with a strong interest in biomedicine. My long-term goal is to pursue a career in biomedical engineering and contribute meaningfully to the medical field. My ongoing research focuses on the interactions of amyloid Aβ40 and its aggregation in Alzheimer’s disease. In this project, we examine the peptide’s behavior with liposomes and how Gallium nanoparticles influence the aggregation process. JEILIAN SERRANO ORTIZ (NSF-PREM-MicroENetS Fellow) (Ramón Quiñones High School)

NSF-PREM Annual Meeting, Nov. 15, 2024