Patrick Alford

Patrick Alford
Instructor

Instructor (P), Chemistry , College of Arts and Sciences

Overview

I am from Birmingham and completed my PhD at UAB studying polymer chemistry. I hold a degree in music from UAB as well. My PhD studies included enhancing the medical applications of biocompatible polymers via chelation of metal ions: manganese for antioxidant cell coatings, gadolinium for MRI contrast of polymer drug carriers, and radioactive zirconium-89 for evaluating the biodistribution of polymer microcapsules. I also studied the effects of ultrasound on polymer microparticles and investigated the behaviors of polymer assemblies on the nanometer scale using neutron scattering at Oak Ridge National Lab.

During graduate school I had the opportunity to develop new undergraduate lab experiences in general, organic, and polymer chemistry. I enjoyed this part of my work so much that I joined the department of chemistry as the upper division laboratory coordinator in 2020.

Selected Publications

Academic Article

Year	Title	Altmetric
2020	Comparative Uptake and Biological Distribution of [¹⁸F]-Labeled C6 and C8 Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances in Pregnant Mice via Different Routes of Administration. Environmental Science and Technology Letters. 7:665-671. 2020
2020	Dampening Antigen-Specific T Cell Responses with Antigens Encapsulated in Polyphenolic Microcapsules. ImmunoHorizons. 4:530-545. 2020
2020	Photo-Cross-Linked Hydrogel Replication of Small Objects: A Multistep Final Project for Undergraduate Polymer Laboratories. Journal of Chemical Education. 97:1637-1643. 2020
2019	Effect of Temperature and Hydrophilic Ratio on the Structure of Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)- block-poly(dimethylsiloxane)- block-poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) Polymersomes. ACS Applied Polymer Materials. 1:722-736. 2019
2018	Encapsulation and ultrasound-triggered release of G-Quadruplex DNA in multilayer hydrogel microcapsules. Polymers. 10. 2018
2018	Ultrasound-Triggered Delivery of Anticancer Therapeutics from MRI-Visible Multilayer Microcapsules. Advanced Therapeutics. 1. 2018
2018	Manganoporphyrin-Polyphenol Multilayer Capsules as Radical and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Scavengers. Chemistry of Materials. 30:344-357. 2018
2017	Polyphenolic Polymersomes of Temperature-Sensitive Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)-block-Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) for Anticancer Therapy. Biomacromolecules. 18:2552-2563. 2017
2017	Theranostic Multilayer Capsules for Ultrasound Imaging and Guided Drug Delivery. ACS Nano. 11:3135-3146. 2017
2017	Small angle scattering for pharmaceutical applications: From drugs to drug delivery systems. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 1009:239-262. 2017
2016	Stratified Temperature-Responsive Multilayer Hydrogels of Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) and Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam): Effect of Hydrogel Architecture on Properties. Macromolecules. 49:6953-6954. 2016

Research Overview

My main research interests now are in the development of new laboratory exercises and teaching methodologies for undergraduate chemistry labs. I am always looking to incorporate the techniques and concepts from high-impact and really cool research into upper-division labs; even classical chemistry concepts can be investigated from within the framework of research methods that look like what chemistry students might actually pursue when they graduate.