Taylor Ibelli, WFU ’16
Congratulations to graduating senior Taylor Ibelli, a biology major, who has been awarded her second New Investigator Award by the Society for Thermal Medicine (STM). The award included a travel grant to attend the 2016 International Congress of Hyperthermic Oncology (ICHO) which was held in April in New Orleans, LA. The STM is an international scientific forum for fostering interaction and innovation in the study of biological, physical and medical applications of thermal therapy for cancer and other diseases and for facilitating a greater basic understanding of the role of temperature in cellular and molecular function.
The ICHO Awards Committee gives the awards based on a competitive evaluation of submitted applications and abstracts. Ibelli’s work, “Photothermal Ablation of Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus using Fluorescent Bio-Polymer Nanoparticles,” was conducted with her Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center research advisor, Nicole Levi-Polyachenko, Ph.D.
Ibelli, who also made the Dean’s List, has worked with Levi-Polyachenko for two years on new stages of research into polymer-based nanotubes (more flexible and safer than the carbon models), fluorescent nanomaterials (to guide doctors during procedures and detect diseased cells) and other nanoparticles to target and treat bacterial infections such as staph and strep. Levi-Polyachenko’s work has also led to the development of a now-patented technology that employs carbon nanotubes to deliver both heat and chemotherapy to treat cancer.
Following graduation, Ibelli, who is a resident of Ridgewood, NJ, hopes to pursue a graduate degree in biodefense or clinical research.
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