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- Current Students
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Student Resources
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Student Publications
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Blanke, Kristina
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Boley, Patricia
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Bolterstein, Elyse
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Booth, Clarissa
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Brody, Matthew
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Bultman, JoAnna
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Burns, Felipe
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Desotelle, Josh
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Ding, Lina
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Elmergreen, Tammy
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Hutchinson, John
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Irving, Amy
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Irving, Roy
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Johnson, Brian
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Johnson, Delinda
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Johnson, Shaina
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Jung-Hynes, Brittney
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Kumar, Kartik
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Lee, Sung-Kyoung
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Lorch, Jeff
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Mehta, Vatsal
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Novick, Rachel
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Park, Heesoo
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Pham, Ly
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Poenitzsch, Ashley
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Rhoads, Keelia
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Rufer, Echoleah
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Sand, Jordan
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Schmit, Travis
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Shan, Weihua
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Shanle, Erin
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Shetty, Ameesha
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Syed, Deeba
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Tarapore, Rohinton
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Velasco, Javier
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Wiecinski, Paige
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Wong, Letitia
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Yang, Sarah
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Yu, Min
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Zhao, Yun
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Calkins, Marcus
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Wiecinski, Paige
 Paige Wiecinski - Email
PhD Candidate - Started 2006
Native of Angola, IN
Lab of Joel Pedersen, PhD
Undergraduate Work
DePauw University, Greencastle, IN
Bachelor of Science, Biology (2006)
Research
Nanomaterials are defined as materials having at least one dimension smaller than 100 nm. At the nanoscale, many materials exhibit unique properties as quantum effects become more prominent. These effects can include increased reactivity, conductivity and optical sensitivity. Concern has been raised that the unique properties of engineered nanomaterials may lead to undesirable biological outcomes. In addition, due to their small size, nanomaterials may have the potential to gain access to biological compartments that would be denied for the bulk material. The field of nanotoxicology has emerged to address these questions. As nanotoxicology is in its relative infancy, there is need for fundamental studies to understand what modulates nanoparticles (NP) toxicity.
The overarching goal of my research is to understand how the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles affect their toxicity and fate under environmental or biological conditions. Within this overarching goal, my current research has become focused in 2 areas. The first area is fate and uptake of nanoparticles within the human gastrointestinal tract. I have modified an in vitro assay simulating human gastrointestinal conditions to examine the biodurability of nanoparticles. Currently, I am beginning work using established intestinal cell culture models to explore how size, surface functionalization and charge influence nanoparticle uptake within the intestine. The second focus of my research is to understand how biogeochemical processing (i.e., weathering) of nanoparticles alters their toxicity. I am working with the zebrafish as a model to assess toxicity of intact and oxidatively degraded quantum dots to explore how “weathering” impacts toxicity of these particles.
Publications
King Heiden, T.C., Wiecinski, P.N., Mangham, A.N., Metz, K.M., Nesbit, D., Pedersen, J.A., Hamers, R.J., Heideman, W., Peterson, R.E. 2009. “Quantum Dot Nanotoxicity Assessment Using the Zebrafish Embryo” Environ Sci Technol 43, 1605-1611.
Wiecinski, P.N., Metz, K.M., Mangham, A.N., Jacobson, K.H., Hamers, R.J., Pedersen, J.A. 2009. “Gastrointestinal biodurability of engineered nanoparticles: Development of an in vitro assay.” Nanotoxicology (in press)
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