Handa Biomaterials Lab - University of Georgia
Welcome to the Handa Biomaterials Research Group at the University of Georgia. Our lab is committed to developing biocompatible coatings for medical devices through highly translational and interdisciplinary research. We perform fundamental cell/protein surface interaction studies, novel biomaterial development and optimization, and material testing in animal models. Due to the critical nature of our research field, we have received NIH, CDC, and VA funding. Our novel materials stand to decrease the morbidity, mortality, and hospitalization costs associated with medical devices by reducing fouling, thrombosis, and infection.
Latest Lab News
05/19/25: We are excited to welcome two REU students, Ethan Renken and Catherine Cicci, to the lab this summer!
05/08/25: Congratulations to our Spring 2025 graduates, Dr. Elaine Wu, Dr. Sierra Milligan, and Mofolu Popoola!
4/14/25: Rashmi’s paper entitled “Combating Concomitant Bacterial and Fungal Infections via Codelivery of Nitric Oxide and Fluconazole” has been published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. Congratulations, Rashmi!
04/10/25: Congratulations to Natalie on winning the Student Trailblazer award, and to Elaine on receiving the Brahm P. Verma Award at the College of Engineering’s annual Celebration of Excellence!
04/09/25-04/13/25: Dr. Handa, Dr. Garren, Dr. Shome, Dr. Catori, Sierra, Elaine, Tia, and Natalie gave presentations at the Society for Biomaterials conference in Chicago. Congratulations to Grace for winning the Surface Characterization & Modification (SC&M) SIG Student Award as well as the Student Travel Achievement Recognition (STAR) Award!
04/09/25: Dr. Handa received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science in the College of Engineering at Wayne State University.
04/04/25: Sierra successfully defended her dissertation entitled “Enhancing the Antimicrobial Efficacy of Biomaterials Via Metabolic Targeting, Surface Modifications, and Nitric-Oxide Donor Systems.” Congratulations, Sierra!
04/03/25: Mofolu successfully defended her thesis entitled “Investigation of Biomacromolecular Coating for Added Antifouling and Antimicrobial Properties of Nitric Oxide Releasing Polymers.” Congratulations, Mofolu!
3/20/25: Aasma’s paper entitled, “Catalyst-Free Synthesis of a Mechanically Tailorable, Nitric-Oxide-Releasing Organohydrogel and Its Derived Underwater Superoleophobic Coatings” has been published in the journal “ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.” Congratulations, Aasma!
03/17/25: Adam, Natalie, Myddie, Arpita, Elaine, Danielle, Joseph, Annalise, and Sumit participated in the School of CMB symposium today. Congratulations to Myddie for winning first place and to Tia for winning third place in the poster competition.
03/11/25: Elaine successfully defended her dissertation entitled “Integration of Hemocompatible Surface Design Strategies: Advancing Bioactive Materials to Combat Fouling and Infections in Clinical Applications.” Congratulations, Elaine!
02/28/25: Dr. Handa has been named a “Regents’ Entrepreneur” by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents for his commercialization efforts.
01/05/25: Joseph’s paper entitled “In Situ Nitric Oxide Generating Nano‐Bioactive Glass‐Based Coatings and Its Therapeutic Ion Release toward Attenuating Implant‐Associated Fibrosis and Infection” has been published in the journal Small. Congratulations, Joseph!
01/03/25: Welcome to our new doctoral students, Everett Grizzle and Shermane Sylvester!
12/13/24: Congratulations to our Fall 2024 PHD graduates, Patrick Maffe and Sarah Wilson!
11/17/24: Lori’s paper entitled “Investigation of the Susceptibility of Clinical Infection Loads to Nitric Oxide Antibacterial Treatment” has been published in the journal Nitric Oxide. Congratulations, Lori!
11/08/24: Adam, Grace, Myddie, Vicente, and Elaine participated in the School of CMB Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition. Congratulations to Grace and Elaine for winning 1st and 2nd prize, respectively.
11/01/24: Welcome to our new postdoctoral student Dr. Aisa Larsson, and our new undergraduate researchers Joshua Kim and Zin Lin!
11/01/24: Arpita Shome and Sarah Wilson presented posters at the GeorgiaBio Summit in Atlanta, GA. Arpita received the Best Poster in the Medical Devices category.
10/23/24-10/26/24: Doctoral students Patrick Maffe, Vicente Pinon, Sarah Wilson and REU students Nandini Joshi, Sadah Schell, Chloe Deabler, and McKenna Clary gave presentations at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) conference in Baltimore, MD.
09/19/24-09/20/24: Natalie Crutchfield and Sarah Wilson gave presentations at the Society for Biomaterials (SFB) Symposia in Atlanta, GA.
09/18/24: Arpita’s paper entitled “Reactive” Chemical Strategy to Attain Substrate Independent “Liquid-Like” Omniphobic Solid Anti-Biofouling Coatings” has been published in the journal “Advanced Functional Materials. Congratulations, Arpita!
09/12/24: Myddie Parker received the 2024 ARCS Foundation Roche Diagnostics Scholarship. Congratulations, Myddie!
09/05/24: Morgan’s paper entitled “Surface Engineering for Endothelium-Mimicking Functions to Combat Infection and Thrombosis in Extracorporeal Life Support Technologies” has been published in Advanced Healthcare Materials. Congratulations, Morgan!
09/01/24: Welcome to our new undergraduate research assistants: Arwen Chatterton, Han Truong, Aryan Patel, Navya Mohan, and Meng Wang!
08/12/24: Welcome to our new doctoral students, Elifnaz Erturen and Mobashsara Tabassum!
07/15/24 – 07/18/24: Dr. Handa was invited to Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), India, for a 3-day visit to interact with faculty and students for future collaborations.
07/09/24: Dr. Handa gave an invited talk at Delhi Technological University (DTI), India.
Recent Publications
Pandey R, Crutchfield N, Garren M, Kasetty E, Chug MK, Brisbois EJ, Handa H. Combating Concomitant Bacterial and Fungal Infections via Codelivery of Nitric Oxide and Fluconazole. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2025, 17, 16, 23613-23626.
Sapkota A, Shome A, Crutchfield N, Moses JC, Martinez I, Handa H, Brisbois EJ. Catalyst-Free Synthesis of a Mechanically Tailorable, Nitric-Oxide-Releasing Organohydrogel and Its Derived Underwater Superoleophobic Coatings. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2025, 17, 13, 19335-19347.
Nguyen G, Garren M, Wu Y, Mondal A, Handa H, Brisbois EJ. Multifunctional slippery nanoemulsion-infused porous nitric oxide-releasing surfaces. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2025; 137199.
Gondil V, Ashcraft M, Ghalei S, Kumar A, Wilson S, Devine R, Handa H, Brisbois EJ. Anti-Infective Bacteriophage Immobilized Nitric Oxide-Releasing Surface for Prevention of Thrombosis and Device-Associated Infections. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2025; 8, 2, 1362-1376.
Chambers L, Zhu Y, Yu C, Crutchfield N, Hou J, Liang L, Wang X, Liu Y, Sobczak MT, Theobald T, Sun X, Stoll C, Pulido T, Yi J, Cornella J, McIlwee H, Handa H, Brisbois EJ, Lancaster J, Song K. 3D Printable Biopolymers as Pelvic Floor Scaffolds. Polymer Chemistry, 2025; 16, 345-355.
Bright LME, Mondal A, Pinon V, Kumar A, Thompson S, Brisbois EJ, Handa H. Investigation of the Susceptibility of Clinical Infection Loads to Nitric Oxide Antibacterial Treatment. Academic Press, 2025; 19-28.
Moses JC, Sapkota A, Wu Y, Martinez I, Handa H, Brisbois E. In Situ Nitric Oxide Generating Nano-Bioactive Glass-Based Coatings and Its Therapeutic Ion Release toward Attenuating Implant-Associated Fibrosis and Infection. Small, 2025; 2411984.
Ashcraft M, Garren M, Lautner‐Csorba O, Pinon V, Wu Y, Crowley D, Hill J, Morales Y, Bartlett R, Brisbois EJ, Handa H. Surface Engineering for Endothelium‐Mimicking Functions to Combat Infection and Thrombosis in Extracorporeal Life Support Technologies. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2024; 2400492.
Bright LME, Chug MK, Thompson S, Brooks M, Brisbois EJ, Handa H. Analysis of the broad‐spectrum potential of nitric oxide for antibacterial activity against clinically isolated drug‐resistant bacteria. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials, 2024;112(7): e35442.
Ozkan E, Bright LME, Kumar A, Pandey R, Devine R, Francis D, Ghalei S, Ashcraft M, Maffe P, Brooks M, Shome A. Bioinspired superhydrophobic surfaces with silver and nitric oxide-releasing capabilities to prevent device-associated infections and thrombosis. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2024; 664: 928-37.
Nguyen DT, Pant J, Sapkota A, Goudie M, Singha P, Brisbois EJ, Handa H. Instant clot forming and antibacterial wound dressings: Achieving hemostasis in trauma injuries with S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine—tranexamic acid—propolis formulation. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 2024; 1930-1940.
Pandey R, Pinon V, Garren M, Maffe P, Mondal A, Brisbois EJ, Handa H. N-Acetyl Cysteine-Decorated Nitric Oxide-Releasing Interface for Biomedical Applications. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2024; 24248-24260.
Wu Y, Xu LC, Yeager E, Beita KG, Crutchfield NC, Wilson SN, Maffe P, Schmiedt C, Siedlecki C, Handa H. In vivo assessment of dual-function submicron textured nitric oxide releasing catheters in a 7-day rabbit model. Acta Biomaterialia, 2024; 372-382.
Griffin L, Garren M, Maffe P, Ghalei S, Brisbois EJ, Handa H. Preventing Staphylococci Surgical Site Infections with a Nitric Oxide-Releasing Poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) Suture Material. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2024; 3086-3095.
Shome A, Martinez I, Pinon V, Moses J, Garren M, Sapkota A, Crutchfield N, Francis D, Brisbois E, Handa H. “Reactive” Chemical Strategy to Attain Substrate Independent “Liquid‐Like” Omniphobic Solid Anti‐Biofouling Coatings. Advanced Functional Medicine, 2024; 2401387.
Chug MK, Crutchfield N, Garren M, Handa H, Brisbois EJ. Engineering Nitric Oxide-Releasing Antimicrobial Dental Coating for Targeted Gingival Therapy. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2024; 2993 – 3004.
Maffe P, Devine R, Garren M, Handa H. Varying material thickness of silicone rubber for tunable nitric oxide release. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials, 2024, 112(2), e35377.
Wilson S, Maffe P, Pant J, Grommersch B, Handa H. S-Nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine impregnated latex: A new class of barrier contraception for the prevention of intercourse-associated UTIs. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials, 2024, 112(2), e35371.
Wu Y, Garren M, Bright LME, Maffe P, Brooks M, Brisbois EJ, Handa H. Enhanced antibacterial efficacy against antibiotic-resistant bacteria via nitric oxide-releasing ampicillin polymer substrates. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2024; 1763-1774.