Upcoming
Frank S. Bates
University of Minnesota
Regents Professor, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Presentation Title: Bottlebrush Block Copolymer Prevents Disease Onset in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Event Info:
Tuesday, November 17
4–5 p.m.
Johnson Hall 075
Reception to follow, 5-6 p.m., Benson Hall Lobby
Abstract
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rare genetic disorder that appears in about 3,600 newborn boys in the US annually. This progressive degenerative muscle disease leads to disability and death as the afflicted individual matures to adult age. My colleagues and I have discovered that a bottlebrush (BB) version of poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide) block copolymer, a variation on commercial compounds known as Poloxamers, has a remarkable effect on genetically modified DMD mice. These results will be discussed in the context of recent studies dealing with the interaction of Poloxamer triblock copolymers with model lipid bilayers and comparison with the new BB diblock compound.
Bio
Frank S. Bates is a Regents Professor and a member of the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science department at the University of Minnesota. He received a B.S. in Mathematics from SUNY Albany and M.S. and Sc.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from MIT. Between 1982 and 1989 Bates was a member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories then joined the University of Minnesota where he served as department Head from 1999 to 2014. He also is a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of California in Santa Barbara. Bates conducts research on a range of topics related to polymers, including the thermodynamics, dynamics, structure, and properties of block polymers, polymer blends and solutions. He co-founded Valerian Materials in 2015 pursuing sustainable plastics, and Elymus in 2025, which deals with bottlebrush poloxamers. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Past Lectures
2025/2026 SPEAKER
Huimin Zhao
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Steven L. Miller Chair, Professor, Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Bioengineering; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology; DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation; NSF Molecule Maker Lab Institute; NSF iBioFoundry; NSF Global Center for Biofoundry Applications
Biology by Design: From Directed Evolution to Autonomous Experimentation
2024 SPEAKER
Stacey F. Bent
Stanford University
Vice Provost, Graduate Edu & Postdoc Affairs, Jagdeep & Roshni Singh Professor in the School of Engineering, Professor of Energy Science Eng, Sr Fellow at Precourt & Professor, by courtesy, of Electrical Eng, Materials Sci Eng & Chemistry
Precise Materials Synthesis One Layer at a Time: Toward Catalysis and Energy Storage
2023 SPEAKER
Cato T. Laurencin
University of Connecticut
University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor; CEO of the Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering
Regenerative Engineering: Chemistry and Materials Science in Regeneration
2022 SPEAKER
Zhenan Bao
Stanford University
K.K. Lee Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Chemical Engineering; Courtesy Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Director, Stanford Wearable Electronics Initiative (eWEAR)
Skin-Inspired Organic Electronics
2020 SPEAKER
Sharon C. Glotzer
University of Michigan
Anthony C. Lembke Department Chair of Chemical Engineering; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; John W. Cahn Distinguished University Professor of Engineering; Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Engineering Colloidal Matter, Assembly Pathways and the Entropic Bond
2019 SPEAKER
Gregory Stephanopoulos
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
W. H. Dow Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Engineering Microbes for the Production of Isoprenoid Compounds
2018 SPEAKER
Sang Yup Lee
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Systems Metabolic Engineering for the Production of Chemicals and Materials