Directory
Kristen Krupa
Department Chair; Associate Professor; Dr. and Mrs. Charles R. Wilke Distinguished Professor and Chair in Chemical and Materials Engineering; Director, Materials Engineering; Director, Bioengineering Graduate Program
Full-Time Faculty
School of Engineering: Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
Selected Publications
(Link to Complete List of Published Works)
- Buck, C. C., Dennis, P. B., Gupta, M. K., Grant, M. T., Crosby, M. G., Slocik, J. M., Mirau, P. A., Becknell, K. A., Comfort, K. K., & Naik, R. R. (2018). Anion-mediated effects on size and mechanical properties of enzymatically crosslinked suckerin hydrogels. Macromolecular Bioscience, 1800238.
- Breitner, E. K., Burns, K. E., Hussain, S. M., & Comfort, K. K. (2018). Implementation of physiological fluids to provide insight into the characterization, fate, and biological interactions of silver nanoparticles. Nanotechnology, 29, 254001.
- Shiley, J. R., Comfort, K. K, & Robinson, J. B. (2017). Immunogenicity and antimicrobial effectiveness of Pseudomonas aeruginosa specific bacteriophage in a human lung in vitro model. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 101, 79777-7985.
- Swavey, S., Morford, K., Tsao, M., Kilroy, M., & Comfort, K. (2017). Heteroleptic monometallic and trimetallic ruthenium (II) complexes incorporating a π-extended dipyrrin ligand: light-activated reactions with the A549 lung cancer cell line. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 175, 101-109.
- Braun, N. J., DeBrosse, M. C., Hussain, S. M., & Comfort, K. K. (2016). Modification of the protein corona-nanoparticle complex by physiological factors. Materials Science and Engineering C, 64, 34-42.
- Luby, A. O., Breitner, E. K., & Comfort, K. K. (2016). Preliminary protein corona formation stabilizes gold nanoparticles and improves deposition efficiency. Applied Nanoscience, 6, 827-836.
- Breitner, E. K., Hussain, S. M., & Comfort, K. K. (2015). The role of biological fluid and dynamic flow in the behavior and cellular interactions of gold nanoparticles. Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 13, 56.
- Hussain, S. M., Warheit, D. B., Ng, S. P., Comfort, K. K., Grabinski, C. M., & Braydich-Stolle, L. K. (2015). At the crossroads of nanotoxicology in vitro: past achievements and current challenges. Invited Review. Toxicological Sciences, 147, 5-16.
- Comfort, K. K., Maurer, E. I., & Hussain, S. M. (2014). Slow release of ions from internalized silver nanoparticles modifies the epidermal growth factor signaling response. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 123, 136-142.
- Comfort, K. K., Braydich-Stolle, L. K., Maurer, E. I., & Hussain, S. M. (2014). Less is more: in vitro chronic, low-level nanomaterial exposure provides a more meaningful toxicity assessment. ACS Nano, 8, 3260-3271.
- Untener, E. A., Comfort, K. K., Maurer, E. I., Grabinski, C. M., Comfort, D. A., & Hussain, S. M. (2013). Tannic acid coated gold nanorods demonstrate a distinctive form of endosomal uptake and unique distribution within cells. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 5, 8366-8373.
- Comfort, K. K., Maurer, E. I., Braydich-Stolle, L. K., & Hussain, S. M. (2011). Interference of silver, gold, and iron oxide nanoparticles on epidermal growth factor signal transduction in epithelial cells. ACS Nano, 5, 10000-10008.
Selected Research and Work
- AFOSR Summer Faculty Fellowship
- National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at Air Force Research Laboratories
- Catalent Pharma Solutions
Selected Honors and Awards
- NSF CAREER Award
- Colgate Palmolive Grant for Alternative Research
- University of Dayton Alumni Award for Faculty Scholarship
Courses Taught
- Material and Energy Balances (CME 203)
- Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics (CME 311)
- Adv. Math for Chemical Engineers (CME 381)
- Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer (CME 465)
- Introduction to Bioengineering (CME 491)
- Transport Phenomena in Biological Systems (CME 523)
- Research Methods (CME 597)
Degrees
- Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University, 2007
- M.S., Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University, 2006
- B.Cm.E., Chemical Engineering, University of Dayton, 2002
Professional Activities
- Certified Academic Coach
- American Institute of Chemical Engineers
- Material Research Society
- Society of Biological Engineering
- American Society of Engineering Education
- Sigma Xi
- Tau Beta Pi
Research Interests
- Development of enhanced cellular models to bridge the in vitro – in vivo gap
- Evaluation of nanomaterial-induced biological effects, with a focus on the inflammatory and signal transduction responses
- Characterization of nanomaterial behavior under physiologically relevant exposure conditions