Cassidy Tobin

 About Cassidy

• Advisor: Javier Read de Alaniz
• Department: Chemical and Biochemistry
• Campus: UCSB
• BioPACIFIC MIP Research: SET 2 - Sequence-Defined Materials

 What is your research focus?

I’m interested in using Diels Alder click chemistry to enable the design and synthesis of sequence-defined peptidomimetic polymers (peptoids) with novel functional groups and self-assembling properties. Diels Alder reaction conditions are mild and metal-free which compatibilizes click chemistry with peptoids in biology and electronic materials applications. The design of “clickable” peptoids will allow us to incorporate functional groups into sequences that would be otherwise synthetically challenging and offers a high throughput method of screening the influence of these groups on structure-property relationships. For example, a library of peptoids with a clickable unit can be used to easily screen the effect of molecules which alter chain properties such as hydrophilicity, bulkiness, and stimuli-responsiveness. The goals of this research complement those of the “Sequence Defined Materials” SET 2 in BioPACIFIC MIP. As materials research moves towards creating materials with targeted properties, our research can accompany computational efforts in this field to guide and assess the ability of new sequence defined materials to fulfill a given function.

 What excites you about NSF BioPACIFIC MIP?

I was initially drawn to UCSB due to its highly collaborative research facilities; joining BioPACIFIC MIP as a Fellow during my first year furthered this excitement by providing me better access to faculty and students in my field as I was developing my research project. As a 2022 BioPACIFIC MIP Affiliate, I’m looking forward to in-person meetings and networking events, which will give me the opportunity to take more advantage of the wealth of expertise available within this community. I’ve been trained on the Symphony X for my research on sequence defined materials but am interested in utilizing the new instrumentation available on the UCSB and UCLA campuses, including the new flow chemistry system, in the coming year.