Amanda Pentecost

Drexel faculty mentors: Yury Gogotsi, Kara Spiller

Amanda Pentecost received her bachelor's (2013), master's (2014), and PhD (2018) in Materials Science & Engineering and her master's in Biomedical Engineering in (2016). She was an active member of Dr. Yury Gogotsi's Nanomaterials Group at the Drexel Nanotechnology Institute since beginning her academic career at Drexel in 2008, and has an established research interest in developing nanoparticle-platform drug delivery systems. As an undergraduate, Amanda participated in two major collaborative projects: one with Thomas Jefferson University's Orthopaedic Department, and another with the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (SARI)'s Nanomedicine and Translational Medicine Center.

Amanda’s dissertation research, which was partially funded by the NSF GRFP (2013 - 2016) focused on using diamond nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles to target and treat inflammatory cells that are overactive in chronic inflammatory diseases. Under the guidance of Dr. Yury Gogotsi (MSE, Drexel Nanomaterials Group) and Dr. Kara Spiller (BMES, Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine Lab), Amanda designed and characterized this novel drug delivery system, as well as tested it on a cellular level.

As a 2016-17 Boren and Whitaker Fellow, Amanda conducted research with Dr. Kwangmeyung Kim at the Center for Theragnosis, housed in the Biomedical Research Institute at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Seoul, South Korea. At KIST, Amanda learned how to perform animal studies, and tested her drug delivery system in a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis.

Amanda is currently a Biomedical Engineering Associate at Exponent, where she is active in performing analyses for a variety of medical devices. As a Drexel alumnus, she remains active as a Drexel Fellowships Ambassador.

Related content:
Interview with Boren and Whitaker Fellow in South Korea, Amanda Pentecost - November 2016
Video Update from Amanda Pentecost in South Korea - July 2017