Two graduate students in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutics, Samantha Ali and Nina Erwin, brought home a pair of honors from the NanoFlorida International Conference 2025 in Miami. Both students train under the direction of Mei He, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmaceutics.
Ali was tabbed a poster presentation winner, where she presented on a high-throughput microfluidic platform that generates collagen microbeads for 3D cell culture and extracellular vesicle production. These microbeads act as tiny, tunable microbioreactors that support cell growth and function in three dimensions, offering a simple, affordable and reproducible alternative to more complex systems. Ali says this platform is exciting because of its strong potential to be highly translatable for real-world applications in drug screening, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.
“This recognition motivates me to continue pursuing academic excellence and advancing innovative science,” Ali said. “I’m proud to represent the College of Pharmacy and the University of Florida on a broader stage, and I hope to continue contributing to the visibility and leadership of our college in the scientific community.”
Erwin received a third-place honor in the oral presentation awards that was titled “Nano-transfection for Cargo Loading of Extracellular Vesicles for Therapeutic Delivery.” Her research addresses the challenge of improving cancer therapy through a novel cargo loading platform for enhanced extracellular vesicle mediated delivery. Her work focuses on utilizing nanoparticles for producing highly effective therapeutic EVs, offering a new avenue for precision cancer treatment. The novel nano-transfection technique can enhance the cargo loading capacity of EVs, which can improve drug delivery efficiency and subsequent immunogenicity.
“Winning this award is incredibly humbling and a reflection of the collective effort and passion behind this project,” Erwin said. “It validates the potential of innovative solutions in cancer therapy and serves as a reminder of the incredible impact of science and research. I am committed to continuing my work and strive to make meaningful contributions to the field.”
This work is part of a larger project in Dr. He’s lab, supported by NIH funding. The team is dedicated to advancing biomedical innovation through platforms that are scalable and easy to adopt.