Dr. Julie Liu, Associate Professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, was recently named as a Purdue University Faculty Scholar beginning fall 2019. The five-year appointment will run through 2024 and includes $10,000 annually to support Dr. Liu's research and academic programs. University Faculty Scholars are a select group of mid-career faculty who are on an accelerated path for academic distinction.

The 2019 Mi-Bio Summit on Flexible and Stretchable Bioelectronics will be held on July 29-31 in West Lafayette on the Purdue University campus. During the 3-day event, conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn from experts in the emerging field of intrinsically-stretchable bioelectronics in order to bridge from the design of materials through clinical applications.

Professor Arvind Varma, the R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University and 10th Head of the School, passed away on July 14, 2019. Dr. Varma will be known as a ground-breaking chemical engineering researcher who has had significant impacts in the areas of hydrogen and other energy sources, chemical and catalytic reaction engineering, and in the synthesis of advanced materials. He will also be fondly remembered as an innovative leader in the field of chemical engineering.

Davidson School of Chemical Engineering graduate student Caralyn Coultas-Mckenney was awarded 3rd place in the recent 2019 International Fine Particle Research Institute (IFPRI) poster competition. Coultas-Mckenney is advised by Professor Stephen Beaudoin.

Dr. You-Yeon Won, Professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, is leading a team of Purdue researchers developing a novel concept for intratumoral chemo-radio combination therapy for locally advanced solid tumors. For some locally advanced tumors, chemoradiation is currently standard of care. This combination treatment can cause acute and long term toxicity that can limit its use in older patients or those with multiple medical comorbidities. Intratumoral chemotherapy has the potential to address the problem of systemic toxicity that conventional chemotherapy suffers, and may be a better strategy for treating certain locally advanced tumors.