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Rose
Spear

27, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Born and raised in Newburgh, NY, Rose Spear began her undergraduate Chemistry degree at Fordham University in September 2002. With a personal commitment to serving her new community, she started weekly visits to St. Barnabas hospital as a “Reach Out and Read” volunteer and became the personal assistant of an elderly woman at Rose Hill apartments. She shared her scholastic aptitude with other students by tutoring in Roosevelt High School’s St. Rita’s Center, Fordham University’s Higher Education Opportunity Program, and Fordham’s Chemistry Department. During Christmas break of her sophomore year, Rose spent two weeks serving the people of Georgetown, Guyana on a Global Outreach team, reading to children, comforting the sick and elderly, and teaching High School Students. Interested in medicine, she shadowed Dr. Karen Greer, a pediatrician at St. Barnabas Hospital and Dr. Howard Ginsburg, a pediatric surgeon at NYU Medical. In May and June of 2004, Rose attended Catholic leadership conferences in Austria and Italy as a Prince of Liechtenstein fellow. October 2004, Rose joined the bionanotechnology research team under Dr. Ipsita Banerjee, investigating the self-assembly and biomedical applications of peptide nanotubes. Following a year of fruitful research efforts, she gave an oral presentation of her research at the NY-ACS 52nd Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium held in May 2005. As a summer medicinal chemistry intern at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Rose designed and synthesized beta secretase inhibitors as potential cures for Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to her internship, she presented posters on her research at the Middle Atlantic and North East Regional ACS meetings held in June and July 2005. In August 2005, she presented her research at the 230th American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting, held in Washington D.C. Her research endeavors have lead to two publications in Polymer Preprints, a publication of the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division, and a publication in Colloids Surfaces B: Biointerfaces.

In reflection of her dedication to scholarship, leadership, and service during her time at Fordham, Rose was awarded a Gates Cambridge scholarship to undertake research at the University of Cambridge. Combining her love of medicine and her desire to contribute to scientific understanding, she joined the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials, where she investigates the applications of peptide-coated carbon nanomaterials in implant coatings, drug delivery, and biosensors. She continues to actively participate in her community as an ambassador for SeeK: Science and Engineering Experiments for Kids, an outreach program that brings science concepts to primary school children through the active medium of hands-on experiments. Discovering an interest in graphic design, she spent a year as the editor-in-chief of “The Gates Scholar” and recently joined the editorial and layout team of “BlueSci”. She continues to enjoy the experience of coxing for two Cambridge colleges, her own Lucy Cavendish college and Hughes Hall.

Currently, Rose focuses upon the challenging work of a doctoral student’s research and teaching responsibilities. With an array of options for after Cambridge, Rose plans to continue onto medical training with the eventual goal of becoming a physician-scientist.


Rose Spear's Schools

  		•  University of Cambridge , Class of 2010
    Ph.D

    Department: Materials Science and Metallurgy
    Affiliation: Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials (CCMM)
    Affiliation: Macromolecular Materials Laboratory (MML)
    Affiliation: Orthopaedic Research Unit (ORU)

    Department: Material Science in collaboration with Pharmacology
    Affiliation: The Pfizer Institute for Pharmaceutical Materials Science

    Research Field: Biomedical Nanotechnology

    PhD Thesis: Peptide-functionalisation of carbon nanomaterials for biomedical applicaions

    Awards:
    2007 Emmeline Pankhurst Prize for Contribution to College Life
    2006-2009 Gates-Cambridge Scholarship: Full doctoral funding at University of Cambridge
  		• Fordham University , Class of 2006
    Bachelors in Chemistry

    Awards:
    Matteo Ricci 2005 Summer Fellowship
    2004 Merck Index Organic Chemistry Achievement Award
    2003 CRC Handbook Freshman Chemistry Achievement Award

    Research experience:
    From Sept. 2005 to August 2006, Undergraduate Research Assistant at the Department of Chemistry. Studied the self-assembly and biomedical applications of peptide nanostructures.

    From May 2005 to August 2005, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Internship Medicinal Chemistry in Princeton, NJ. Designed and synthesized beta and gamma secretase inhibitors as potential cures for Alzheimer’s disease.

    Presentations: R. L. Spear, R. Tamayev, K. R. Fath, I. A. Banerjee “Templated growth of calcium phosphate on tyrosine derived microtubules and their biocompatibility”. Coll. Surf. B: Biointerfaces, 60(2), 158, 2007.

    Rose L. Spear and Ipsita A. Banerjee. “From Peptide Nanospheres to Nanorods at Interfaces.” Presented at the 230th American Chemical Society, National Meeting, Washington D.C, August, 2005.

    Ipsita A. Banerjee, Rose L. Spear and Stephanie M. Colletti. “Design of Nanostructured Biological Materials through
    Self-Assembly of Novel Peptide Bolamphiphiles.” Presented at the 33rd North East Regional American Chemical Society Meeting, Fairfield, CT, July, 2005.

    Ipsita A. Banerjee, Rose. L. Spear and Stephanie M. Colletti. “Molecular Self-Assembly Processes between Vesicles and Nanotubes for Device Fabrications.” Presented at the 37th Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting, New Brunswick, NJ, June, 2005.

    Rose L. Spear. “Self-Assembly of Peptide Nanostructures in Organic-Aqueous Interfaces.” Presented at the 53rd Undergraduate Research Symposium, Long Island, NY, May, 2005.

    Publications:
    Ipsita A. Banerjee and Rose L. Spear. “From Peptide Nanospheres to Nanorods at Interfaces.” Polym. Prep. 46 (2) 746-747, 2005.

    I. A. Banerjee, R. L. Spear, R. Tamayev, M. Z. Menzenski, S. Colletti “Formation of Nanotubes and Nanovesicles from Bolaamphiphilic Peptides and their Applications”. Polym. Prep. 47(2), 329, 2006.

    Professional Activities:
    Tutored for Chemistry Department, HEOP program, and St. Rita’s Centre at Roosevelt High School
    Computer Technician at Electronic Information Center
    Shadowed pediatrician at St. Barnabas Hospital and pediatric surgeon at NYU Medical Centre
    Went to Austria and Italy on the Prince of Liechtenstein Fellowship

    Volunteer work:
    St. Barnabas Hospital Reach Out and Read Program, Bronx, NY
    World Youth Alliance, World Youth Day, Cologne, Germany
    Global Outreach Service Trip, Georgetown, Guyana, South America
    Rose Hill Apartments for Senior Citizens, Bronx, NY

Rose Spear's Publications

  • Templated growth of calcium phosphate on tyrosine derived microtubules and their biocompatibility, Coll. Surf. B: Biointerfaces
    June, 2007
    R. L. Spear, R. Tamayev, K. R. Fath, I. A. Banerjee “Templated growth of calcium phosphate on tyrosine derived microtubules and their biocompatibility”. Coll. Surf. B: Biointerfaces, 60(2), 158, 2007.

    Abstract:
    Microtubular structures were self-assembled in aqueous media from a newly synthesized bolaamphiphile, bis(N-alpha-amido-tyrosyl-tyrosyl-tyrosine)-1,5-pentane dicarboxylate. In order to increase the biocompatibility of the microtubules, they were functionalized with the peptide sequence GRGDSP. Further, calcium phosphate nanocrystals were grown on the microtubules. In some cases, collagen was added in order to mimic the components of natural bone tissue. The biomaterials obtained were characterized via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), IR, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analyses. The biocompatibility of the calcium phosphate-coated microtubules was studied by conducting in vitro cell-attachment, cell-proliferation and cytotoxicity studies using mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells. The studies revealed that the biomaterials were found to be non-toxic and biocompatible. The functionalized tubular assemblies coated with calcium phosphate nanocrystals mimic the nanoscale composition of natural bone and may potentially support bone in-growth and osseointegration when used in orthopaedic or dental applications.

    Keywords:
    Tubules; Peptide; Calcium phosphate; Bone; Biomimetic

  • Carbon nanotubes for orthopaedic implants, International Journal of Material Forming
    July, 2008
    Rose L. Spear and Ruth E. Cameron. Carbon nanotubes for orthopaedic implants. Int J Mater Form (2008) 1:127–133.

    The physical and biological limitations of current orthopaedic implant materials are a major challenge for bone tissue engineering. Nanotechnology has introduced new materials and methods for meeting this challenge. The application of nanotechnology to engineering new bone substitutes finds a model in the nanoscale components of natural bone tissue. Carbon nanotubes are a macromolecular form of carbon with exceptional properties and similar morphology and dimensions to the nanoscale collagen fibers of natural bone tissue. Carbon nanotubes have been used in two main areas of bone tissue engineering: for structural and electrical enhancement of polymer and ceramic composites and for nanostructured coatings to improve the bioactivity of implant surfaces. By incorporating carbon nanotubes into the design and engineering of bone tissue substitutes, researchers have attempted to overcome limitations in the structural and biological compatibility of traditional orthopaedic implant materials.