Michael Visconti of Pottstown, PA wins Best Poster Award at Mid-Atlantic Conference

2018 Jan 9

Michael Visconti of Pottstown, PA., a senior chemical engineering major at Widener University presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Mid-Atlantic Conference this past fall. Visconti won the best poster award for his research on "Cancer Immunotherapy" being carried out in the NanoBio Laboratory with Dr. Sachin Patil, associated dean and associate professor of chemical engineering.

The research is a part of his senior research project, which is multidisciplinary and involves students from biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, and computer science.

The team of students are researching computational and experimental screening of the drug-like molecules available from the National Cancer Institute against Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1) protein. The PD-1 protein is a natural break on the immune cells, which cancer cells exploit to avoid their destruction by our innate immune system. The students hope to find a wat to activate the immune system for selective, non-genotoxic treatment of variety of cancers.

Widener University is a private, metropolitan university that connects curricula to social issues through civic engagement. Dynamic teaching, active scholarship, personal attention, leadership development and experiential learning are key components of the Widener experience. A comprehensive doctorate-granting university, Widener comprises seven schools and colleges that offer liberal arts and sciences, professional and pre-professional curricula leading to associate, baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees. Visit the university website, http://www.widener.edu/