Multi-scale 3D Printing of Microneedle Arrays for Early-Stage Melanoma Therapy

Dr. Jae-Won Choi

Monday, April 11, 2016

ASEC Room 105, from 12-1 pm

Dr. Jae-Won Choi is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Akron (UA).  Prior to joining UA in 2011, he spent one year for his Post-Doctoral research in the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2007, sponsored by the Overseas Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the Korea Research Foundations.  After his involvement with the W.M. Keck Center, he was promoted twice first to the rank of Research Specialist in 2008, and then to Research Assistant Professor in 2009.  Currently, he is serving as an editorial board member in several journals – Additive Manufacturing; Korean Society of Manufacturing Processing Engineers; and Korean Society of Mechanical Technology.  He is a member of ASME, SME, and SPIE.

Summary of Research

The goal of Dr. Choi’s research is to provide a 3D printing solution for the treatment of a skin cancer called “melanoma”. The advantage of 3D printing is quickly manufacturing patient specific, 3D micron-scale needle arrays loaded with the desired chemotherapeutic drugs with the appropriate dosage and duration of release. The 3D microneedle arrays will have therapeutic dosages to kill various melanomas by providing controlled and/or bolus release of drugs.