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EDITOR Chris Palmer CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Chris Palmer, Rachel Robertson GRAPHIC DESIGNER Long Lam COPY EDITOR Owen Perry PHOTOGRAPHERS Kai Casey, Karl Maasdam, NNehring (iStock.com), Viktoria Ruban (iStock.com) ON THE COVER Assistant professor of architectural engineering and Culbertson Faculty Scholar Parichehr Salimifard stands Sustainable, Healthy, and Resilient Buildings Lab uses to assess indoor air quality (see story on page 4). ABOVE The lab of Stacey Harper, professor of environmental human health. The tiny, transparent, fast-developing organisms allow her team to observe developmental disruptions related to nanomaterials in real time (see story on page 12). COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Oregon State University 101 Covell Hall Corvallis, OR 97331 541-737-3101 engineering.oregonstate.edu OREGON STATE ENGINEERING is published by the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. Comments and questions about this publication can be sent to the editor at editor@engr.oregonstate.edu Contents PAGE 2 SHRINKING THE LAB PAGE 3 BETTER ORGAN PRESERVATION THROUGH MACHINE LEARNING PAGES 4–5 BREATHING EASIER PAGE 6 USING AI TO FIND NEW PURPOSES FOR EXISTING DRUGS PAGES 7–9 ENGINEERING A SMARTER FUTURE FOR SPINE CARE PAGES 10–11 IMPROVING SEIZURE DETECTION WITH AI PAGE 12-13 THE HIDDEN HAZARDS OF THE NANO WORLD
One of the primary missions of the Oregon State University College of Engineering is to translate laboratory discoveries into devices, systems, and processes that create a better future for everyone. At Oregon State, we are focusing on five research areas with the potential to deliver significant, real-world solutions to global challenges: robotics, artificial intelligence, climate science, clean energy, and integrated health and biotechnology. While each of these areas features the work of Oregon State Engineers, in this issue, we’re highlighting just a handful of our research projects related to integrated health and biotechnology. This highly interdisciplinary endeavor brings together biological, chemical, and environmental engineering with computer science, artificial intelligence, and electrical engineering: • Morgan Giers and her spin-out company, Spine by Design, are trying to take the guesswork out of spine surgery by creating machine-learning-driven, personalized surgery treatment programs. • Through experiments with algae and zebrafish, Stacey Harper studies the effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on the environment and human health and translates this knowledge into recommendations for manufacturers to design safer products. • Using machine-learning tools to predict the behavior of thousands of chemical compounds, Adam Higgins hopes to identify chemicals that prevent ice formation during the freezing and longterm storage of human organs for transplantation and research. • Matthew Johnston is miniaturizing traditional lab equipment into portable, wearable medical devices that can monitor health, diagnose disease, and even guide treatment. • In collaboration with a medical device manufacturer, V John Matthews builds machine learning algorithms to predict the onset of epileptic seizures. • Stephen Ramsey utilizes artificial intelligence to uncover hidden connections between drugs and diseases, and to discover new therapeutic uses for approved and well-understood medications. • Parichehr Salimifard develops tools to assess indoor air quality in schools and other public places, creating toolkits and guidelines for adjusting HVAC systems and building operations to reduce exposure to harmful pollutants. There is no better feeling than seeing the hard work of engineers directly improving people’s lives. Each of the projects featured in this issue provides a clear pathway for our faculty, students, and staff to have the impact that all engineers aspire to when they first envision joining the profession. Forrest J. Masters, Ph.D., P.E. (FL) Kearney Dean of Engineering Oregon State University College of Engineering Leading the way in the fields of integrated health and biotechnology
One of the lab’s most fruitful partnerships is with HP, which has a major research facility in Corvallis. Together, they’re exploring how HP’s microfluidics and dispensing technologies — initially developed for inkjet printing — can be repurposed for life sciences. “We’ve had an ongoing collaboration with HP, focused around cell counting, which has been a natural connection point,” Johnston said. “One facet of the collaboration involves cell counting, where we do cell analysis and counting of biological cells. It’s a natural connection point where our background and the things we can actually do in the lab are highly relevant to what their long-term goals are in the life science space.” The collaboration serves as a model for how academia and industry can work together to accelerate innovation. HP brings manufacturing expertise and infrastructure; Johnston’s lab brings cutting-edge research and a deep understanding of biosensing and electronics. The result is a pipeline of technologies that could soon be commercialized and deployed in homes, clinics, and communities. “We have all of these tools now at our disposal that we can apply to really important problems in healthcare and medicine,” he said. “And hopefully, we’ll solve those problems much more rapidly.” STRETCHABLE ELECTRONICS TO MONITOR THE BODY One of the most exciting areas of Johnston’s research is stretchable electronics — flexible, skinlike circuits that can be worn comfortably on the body. These devices are designed to monitor movement, track chronic conditions, and even interface with virtual reality systems. The potential impact of this technology is enormous. Imagine a future where patients can monitor their hydration, glucose, and stress levels from a patch, or where a senior citizen can track their heart health with a soft, stretchable sensor embedded in their clothing. Johnston’s lab is working to make that future a reality. COLLABORATION WITH HP But innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. Johnston’s team collaborates closely with researchers across disciplines — from bioengineering to artificial intelligence — and with clinicians to ensure their devices solve realworld problems. HOW WEARABLE MEDICAL ELECTRONICS ARE TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE THE LAB “WE USE A VARIETY OF MODERN MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES TO MAKE THOSE INSTRUMENTS MUCH SMALLER SO THEY CAN FIT IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND OR EVEN ON YOUR FINGERTIP.” Matthew Johnston is leading a quiet revolution in healthcare — one that fits in the palm of your hand. Johnston, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Oregon State University, heads a lab focused on miniaturizing traditional lab equipment into portable, wearable devices. “A lot of our focus is on taking big instruments — big boxes that would sit in a biology or chemistry lab — and shrinking them down,” Johnston said. “We use a variety of modern manufacturing technologies to make those instruments much smaller so they can fit in the palm of your hand or even on your fingertip.” This work is part of a broader movement toward at-home or wearable medical electronics — devices that can monitor health, diagnose disease, and even guide treatment, all without a trip to the clinic. The goal, Johnston says, is to increase accessibility and reduce costs. WINTER 2026 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING 2
A team led by Oregon State University bioengineering professor Adam Higgins is pioneering a new approach to one of medicine’s most elusive goals: the cryopreservation of human organs. Using machine-learning tools to screen and predict the behavior of thousands of chemical compounds, Higgins hopes to identify a new class of cryoprotectants — chemicals that prevent ice formation during freezing and enable long-term organ storage for transplantation and research. LIMITATIONS OF TRADITIONAL CRYOPROTECTANTS For decades, cryopreservation has relied on combinations of a handful of chemicals, such as dimethyl sulfoxide and glycerol, to protect cells from freezing damage. But these compounds often fall short when used in large, complex tissues like human organs, where toxicity and uneven distribution can compromise viability. “We’ve been using the same four or five molecules for decades,” Higgins said. “They’re just not quite good enough for humansized organs.” MACHINE LEARNING FOR MOLECULE DISCOVERY Higgins’ lab is adapting highthroughput screening methods commonly used in drug discovery to test hundreds of commercially available molecules for key properties: membrane permeability, toxicity, and the While Higgins’ team has already screened 50 molecules, with 40 showing promise, the next step is scaling up to test hundreds more with automated liquid-handling robots. “The biggest bottleneck right now, though, is funding,” he said. “But we’re ahead of the curve on this, and I’m optimistic the support will come.” ability to promote vitrification — a glass-like state that prevents ice crystal formation. “We’re building data sets that can train machine-learning models to predict which molecules will work best,” Higgins explained. “Eventually, these models will allow us to design new compounds from scratch.” This work builds on recent breakthroughs, including a 2023 study from another group describing the successful cryopreservation and transplantation of rat kidneys. The success has energized the field and attracted new funding and investor interest. Higgins is a part of multiple proposals for government funding totaling more than $50 million focused on cryopreservation for various applications, including kidney transplantation and banking brain tissue for research into neurological diseases. “People are starting to realize that this is achievable,” he said. “It’s no longer just a pie-in- the-sky idea.” SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL FOR MEDICINE AND RESEARCH The implications are vast. Cryopreserved organs could revolutionize transplant logistics, making it possible to store and transport organs across long distances and timeframes. It could also unlock access to viable human brain tissue for research, helping scientists better understand diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. BETTER ORGAN PRESERVATION THROUGH MACHINE LEARNING 3 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING WINTER 2026
BREATHING EASIER — an area that experiences wildfire smoke almost every year. Her lab installs air quality sensors in classrooms, trains undergraduate students to maintain them, and collects data to help schools make informed decisions about ventilation and filtration. But the work doesn’t stop at data collection. Salimifard is also developing toolkits and guidelines for school administrators, building managers, and the school community. These resources help communities understand how to adjust HVAC systems and building operations to reduce exposure to harmful pollutants. “We want to help people protect themselves against wildfire smoke,” she said. Salimifard’s vision is clear: buildings that are energy efficient, health, and resilient. “We want buildings that don’t have to shut down when the next crisis hits,” she said. “Whether it’s wildfire smoke, a pandemic, or another airborne threat, our goal is to keep schools and other critical buildings open and safe.” That mission is deeply personal. Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, Salimifard notes the toll that school closures took on students and families. MAKING INDOOR AIR SAFER FOR EVERYONE When wildfire smoke blankets the skies of southern Oregon, many families close their windows and hope for the best. But for Oregon State University’s Parichehr Salimifard, assistant professor of architectural engineering, hope isn’t enough. She’s working to ensure that the air inside our schools and homes remains safe — no matter what’s happening outside. Salimifard, who is also the Culbertson Faculty Scholar, leads a research program focused on indoor air quality and building resilience. Her work is especially timely as communities across the western United States face longer wildfire seasons and increasing air pollution. “Our current focus is on how we can protect building occupants’ health against wildfire smoke and mitigate the exposure to particulate matter,” Salimifard said. With support from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Wildfire Smoke Preparedness in Community Buildings Grant Program, Salimifard and her team are studying air quality in K–12 schools and childcare centers in southern Oregon WINTER 2026 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING 4
OPPOSITE Left to right: Caleb Rismiller, Benjamin Kokaly, Meghan Megowan, Parichehr Salimifard, C. Victoria McCrary, Lillian Moo, and Jalil Mokhtarian Mobarakeh. TOP McCrary, Mobarakeh, and Moo conduct sensor co-location experiments to evaluate low-cost indoor air quality sensors. BELOW Salimifard and Mobarakeh slide test rig. “The school closure had so much negative impact on students’ learning and the whole society,” she said. “So, I’m passionate about buildings that are sustainable, healthy, and resilient.” Her lab recently added a powerful new tool to its arsenal: a large, full-size air filtration test rig. The equipment allows her team to test air filters according to multiple international standards — an asset that only a handful of institutions nationwide can claim. “It enables both basic research and industry-oriented studies with practical implications,” she said. The tool helps assess ventilation systems and reduce airborne disease transmission as well as reduce exposure to outdoor air pollution entering buildings, such as wildfire smoke. Salimifard’s work is also making waves nationally and internationally. In collaboration with Harvard and Boston University, she has led the development of a tool called CoBE Projection (CoBE stands for Co-benefits of Built Environment). CoBE Projection quantifies the footprint of buildings — including emissions (greenhouse gases and air pollutants), climate impacts, and public health impacts of energy use. The CoBE Projection tool is freely available to the public and designed to enable stakeholders — ranging from researchers and building designers to policymakers and even building owners with no prior experience — to use it for footprint analysis and informed decision-making by exploring different energy scenarios. More recently, they have published a new paper that helped adapt the U.S.-based CoBE tool for use in the European Union. “Across our different research projects, our goal is to reduce energy use while still providing healthier air for the occupants,” she said. “And we’re building systems that can withstand whatever comes next.” 5 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING WINTER 2026
Imagine a future where a drug originally developed for one disease is quickly and safely repurposed to treat another — potentially saving years of research and millions of dollars. Thanks to the pioneering work of researchers at Oregon State University’s College of Engineering, that future is coming into focus. Stephen Ramsey, professor of computer science, and graduate student Frank Hodges are at the forefront of this drug repositioning effort. Their work is part of the Biomedical Data Translator Project, a multiinstitutional initiative funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. The team includes 24 researchers from Oregon State, Penn State, the Institute of Systems Biology, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and the Université Grenoble Alpes in France. NCATS plans to fund the project with $12.8 million over five years. “The Translator Project aims to use the tools of artificial intelligence and distributed computing in order to enable biomedical researchers and clinicians to explore knowledge for the purpose of coming up with new therapeutic approaches for all kinds of diseases,” said Ramsey, who also holds an appointment in the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine. The Translator Project integrates vast biomedical databases into a unified knowledge graph. This allows AI-powered reasoning agents to uncover hidden connections between drugs and diseases — connections that might otherwise go unnoticed. “Computers are great at sifting through large databases of facts to find connections between two different concepts, for example, between a gene and a disease or between a drug and a phenotype,” Ramsey said. This approach is particularly valuable for drug repositioning. Instead of starting from scratch, researchers can use Translator to ask complex questions, such as which existing drugs might impact a specific disease pathway. The system can reveal new therapeutic uses for drugs that are already approved and well-understood, potentially speeding up the path to clinical trials and patient care. The impact of this work is especially significant for rare diseases, which often lack dedicated treatments due to limited commercial incentives. By using AI to mine existing data, researchers can uncover overlooked therapeutic options. Ultimately, Ramsey and colleagues see AI-driven drug repositioning as a way to shorten the diagnostic journey, reduce unnecessary testing, and improve outcomes for patients — especially those with rare or hard-to-treat conditions. Their work exemplifies how engineering and computer science can come together to solve some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare, bringing hope to millions of patients worldwide. USING AI TO FIND NEW PURPOSES FOR EXISTING DRUGS WINTER 2026 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING 6 “COMPUTERS ARE GREAT AT SIFTING THROUGH LARGE DATABASES OF FACTS TO FIND CONNECTIONS BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT CONCEPTS, FOR EXAMPLE, BETWEEN A GENE AND A DISEASE OR BETWEEN A DRUG AND A PHENOTYPE.”
In a field where surgical outcomes are often unpredictable and chronic pain can persist despite multiple interventions, Morgan Giers is helping to reshape the landscape of spine care. As an assistant professor of bioengineering at Oregon State University and co-founder of the startup Spine by Design, Inc. Giers is leveraging predictive modeling, machine learning, and advanced imaging to bring precision and personalization to spinal treatment. Her research is rooted in a simple but powerful question: Can we match the right patient to the right procedure — and do it before the first incision is made? THE PROBLEM WITH SPINE SURGERY Spine surgery in the U.S. has a troubling track record. Procedures like spinal fusion and microdiscectomy often fail to relieve pain, with some patients undergoing multiple surgeries over numerous years — a population Giers refers to as “frequent flyers.” These patients bounce between specialists, often without lasting relief. “The average age for spine surgery is in the early forties,” Giers said. “These are people who still want to run marathons or lift their kids. When surgery fails, it’s not just disappointing — it’s life-altering.” PREDICTING REHERNIATION — AND PREVENTING IT One of Giers’ most impactful projects to date centers on reherniation after microdiscectomy, a common surgery involving the removal of the portion of a herniated disc compressing a nerve root. Her team analyzed data from over 350 patients, identifying key risk factors such as disc height index, body mass index, lumbar lordosis angle, herniation type, and smoking status. Using a regression model, they predicted with 97% accuracy which microdiscectomy surgeries resulted in reherniation. Furthermore, in a prospective study, Giers’ model helped reduce reherniation rates from 4% to 1%. But the results weren’t consistent across institutions — highlighting a deeper issue in spine care: measurement variability. ENGINEERING A SMARTER FUTURE FOR SPINE CARE 7 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING WINTER 2026
“Different people draw lines differently on spine images,” Giers said. “Even with the same instructions, the results vary. That’s a huge problem when you’re trying to build predictive models.” To solve this, her lab, led by former graduate student Sonia Ahrens, H.B.S. bioengineering measurement methods using the center-of-mass and orientation of discs, a more robust and errortolerant method than previous clinical standards relying on discrete disc edges. These tools improved consistency and laid the groundwork for integration into neural networks for automated analysis. FROM LAB TO STARTUP: THE BIRTH OF SPINE BY DESIGN This work emerged from Giers’ postdoctoral collaboration with surgeons at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona, who had amassed large datasets but lacked the tools to analyze them. Initially brought in to run stats on the data for a journal article, Giers realized the potential for something bigger. “I saw that the reherniation risk was predictable,” she said. “That’s when I knew we had something.” Unfortunately, after starting at Oregon State, Giers repeated the study with multiple institutional partners and found the results were not repeatable because of the large variation between the way individual clinicians take spine measurements. That’s when she knew she could leverage her image-processing background to standardize spine measurements between institutes, not just as a precursor for the reherniation risk prediction, but for the entire spectrum of spine care. Thus, the idea for Spine by Design was born. Encouraged by Charla Triplett, who earned a master’s in bioengineering at Oregon State, has sat on the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering’s Industry Advisory Board for 19 years, and is currently the CEO of Spine by Design, Giers transitioned from academic publishing to entrepreneurship. The company’s intellectual property centers on how spine measurements are taken, rather than the predictions themselves. Morgan Giers (left) and graduate student Rachel Thompson prepare a bovine vertebral disc section for analysis. WINTER 2026 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING 8
This distinction allows Spine by Design to focus on standardizing imaging metrics, a critical step toward broad functionality and clinical adoption. Today, the company is in its early stages but its vision is bold: to integrate predictive modeling into hospital systems and electronic medical records, helping physicians make datainformed decisions. Having already developed their alpha software in collaboration with Romania-based Synaptiq.io, the team’s next step is planning a multi-institutional trial to validate their models across diverse patient populations and imaging systems. The company has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the Oregon State Advantage Accelerator and is preparing for its first formal fundraise. PHENOTYPING AND MACHINE LEARNING Another frontier in Giers’ research is phenotyping degenerative disc disease. By analyzing 21 variables from 95 pre-surgical patients, her team, led by former postdoctoral researcher Liudmila Bardonova and Joseph Chen, M.S. three distinct clusters with different tissue characteristics, demographics, and outcomes. This work could revolutionize treatment selection, allowing physicians to tailor interventions based on a patient’s unique pathology rather than generalized symptoms. “We treat all spine patients the same,” Giers said. “But not all back pain is the same. We need to understand where the degeneration starts and how it progresses to know the best course of treatment.” A VISION FOR INTELLIGENT SPINE CARE Ultimately, Giers envisions a future where spine care is intelligent, personalized, and predictive. Patients would be evaluated using standardized metrics, matched to the best procedure, and monitored with AI-driven tools. “We’re many years away,” she said. “But that’s my career goal, building a comprehensive system that guides each patient to their best possible outcome.” CRYOPRESERVATION AND THE FUTURE OF SPINE RESEARCH In collaboration with Adam Higgins, associate professor of bioengineering, Giers’ lab is working to improve the way that scientists study spinal disc degeneration — a leading cause of disability — by developing a method to preserve donated human intervertebral discs for research. Picking up work initiated by Ward Shalash, Ph.D. bioengineering ’22, bioengineering Ph.D. student Rachel Thompson is now leading the way in applying a technique called cryopreservation, which involves freezing discs to -135°C to bring the cells into a suspended state. A major challenge is that without proper preparation, the chemicals used in the cryopreservation process can damage cells. To overcome this problem, Thompson applies compression to the discs before freezing, allowing the protective chemicals to penetrate more effectively—much like how a sponge soaks up liquid. The results have been striking. Discs that are both compressed and cryopreserved show significantly higher cell viability compared with those that are frozen without compression. This breakthrough could dramatically improve the reliability of spine research and accelerate the development of new treatments for chronic back pain. OREGON STATE ENGINEERING WINTER 2026 9
OREGON STATE EXPERTISE HELPS INDUSTRY PARTNER REFINE A WEARABLE EEG SYSTEM For people with epilepsy, simply knowing when a seizure will occur could make a huge difference for their quality of life and reduce the risk of bodily harm. Although some people have warning signs, seizures are generally unpredictable and potentially life-threatening. Epilepsy affects around 2.9 million adults and 465,000 children nationwide and costs billions in healthcare expenditures, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “About a third of the people with epilepsy experience recurrent seizures despite treatment, making post-diagnostic seizure monitoring extremely important,” said V John Mathews, professor of electrical and computer engineering. Mathews teamed up with Epitel Inc., a Salt Lake City-based health solutions company, to improve the algorithms for the company’s wearable device that detects and monitors seizures caused by epilepsy. The Information Processing Group that Mathews leads specializes in signal processing and machine learning. “Seizure detection uses electroencephalogram data, and that data is nothing but signals,” Mathews said. “Engineers can do a lot to help with diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of diseases using biological signals including EEGs, electrocardiograms, and electromyograms.” A DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUS SEIZURE MONITORING Current EEG systems are bulky and impractical for daily use. So, Epitel created a single-channel EEG system that is capable of continuously recording EEGs while a person continues their daily activities. The company’s first system had four sensors. Mathews’ team worked on a new system that has just one. The device, called Epilog, is being developed for two purposes. One is to warn people with epilepsy of an oncoming seizure so they can take actions that will help prevent harm. A warning system would also contact caregivers or family members in the case of a seizure. A second purpose is to support epileptologists to more efficiently review long-term data, which could help to identify triggers of seizures. “Working with companies enables us to translate our research into commercial products,” Mathews said. “In this case, the company was already on a IMPROVING SEIZURE MONITORING WITH MACHINE LEARNING WINTER 2026 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING 10
LEFT Left to right: Electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. students Nazifa Tabassum and Karthik Gopalakrishnan with V John Mathews. RIGHT Electroencephalogram data shows normal resting brain activity transform in to an electrical storm during an epileptic seizure. Mathews and his team are developing algorithms to detect and characterize seizure activity from EEG data, with the ultimate goal of predicting seizure onset in real time. path to commercialization. So, knowing that what we do could be used in practice is very satisfying.” BUILDING BETTER ALGORITHMS Mathews and his team improved the company’s seizure detection by developing three algorithms. Performance evaluation of the new algorithms showed both higher sensitivity and lower false alert rates than competing algorithms. Their contributions included a twostage algorithm for seizure detection that focused on electrographically focal seizures; an algorithm for determining the seizure types from EEG data; and an algorithm to improve seizure detection decisions through post-processing the preliminary outputs of the system. To train and test the algorithms, Epitel provided data from over 700 people. Data for each person typically spanned 3 to 6 days of continuous recording. The team attributed the improved performance to three key enhancements. First, their machine learning model included memory at the input that analyzed EEG features from adjacent segments. Secondly, the iterative learning system utilized the decisions made for prior segments. Finally, adding the second stage further analyzed segments in the region where the seizure starts. The combination of all three together provided the best results. BEYOND THE RESULTS “This project provided a great opportunity for the graduate students and postdoctoral researcher to get experience working with a company,” Mathews said. The team included Shini Renjith, who finished her postdoctoral work at Oregon State, and Karthik Gopalakrishnan and Nazifa Tabassum, doctoral students in electrical and computer engineering who are continuing work on the project. This research is focused on seizure detection only, but the team has already started on the next step which is seizure prediction before onset. Mathews says the goal is to give people enough warning prior to an oncoming seizure so they can take precautionary measures. “The efforts not only address a critical gap in epilepsy management but enable the translation of seizure alerting and seizure forecasting into inpatient and outpatient settings,” said Mark Lehmkuhle, founder and CTO of Epitel. 11 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING WINTER 2026
particular aspect — say surface chemistry, shape or size — we can then evaluate each iteration’s relative toxic potential within a week or so,” Harper said. This proactive approach helps companies avoid releasing potentially hazardous products into the market. One key insight has been the importance of surface chemistry. “There are certain chemistries that if you add them, you can make even cellulose toxic,” Harper said. That early finding from her lab reveals that even seemingly benign materials can become harmful with the wrong chemical modifications underscores the need to evaluate not just what a material is made of, but how it’s engineered. NANOPARTICLES MEET THE ENVIRONMENT Nanotechnology has become ubiquitous in consumer products, agriculture, and medicine, yet its environmental footprint remains poorly understood. Harper’s At Oregon State University, Stacey Harper has built a career at the intersection of cutting-edge nanotechnology and environmental health. Her research focuses on a deceptively simple question: When engineered materials shrink to the nanoscale, what happens when they encounter living systems? “There are now all of these cool new, precisely engineered nanomaterials used in everything from energy storage to medical equipment,” said Harper, a professor of environmental engineering. “But we have no idea if they are safe for humans.” Harper’s lab uses embryonic zebrafish as a window into human health. These tiny, transparent, fast-developing organisms allow her team to observe developmental disruptions in real time, enabling her team to rapidly screen new nanomaterials for risks. “If manufacturers can send us a series of nanomaterials that are tweaked in one THE HIDDEN HAZARDS TOP Left to right: Miranda Jackson, Ph.D. student in toxicology, Megan Dodge, Ph.D. student in chemical engineering, Stacey Harper. OPPOSITE Harper’s lab uses nanoparticle tracking analysis software to measure the size and concentration of nanoparticles in environmental samples. OF THE NANO WORLD WINTER 2026 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING 12
Pacific Northwest. Working with the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, her consortium has been testing replacement chemicals and developing filtration strategies to capture toxic runoff from roadways before it reaches waterways. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVES? Harper’s team is now probing biodegradable and bio-based plastics, often marketed as environmentally friendly alternatives. Early findings complicate that narrative. “The bio-based ones degrade much faster,” Harper said. “But they make a lot more nanoscale plastics than the other ones. Once they’re at the nanoscale, it’s going to be next to impossible to remove them from an aquatic system, even a drinking water system.” She and her students are also studying how sunlight and biofilms alter the breakdown lab is tackling this gap with model microcosms — small, simplified ecosystems of algae, bacteria, daphnia (tiny water fleas), and zebrafish embryos. These models allow Harper’s team to study not just one organism, but entire communities, revealing how nanoparticles move across food webs. Harper’s group also investigates nanotechnology-enabled pesticides, which use existing active ingredients in nanoscale formulations to alter their behavior in the environment. While these may not directly increase toxicity, Harper cautions that they can change exposure patterns for aquatic organisms in unpredictable ways. NANOPLASTICS: AN EMERGING THREAT Beyond engineered nanoparticles, Harper’s group is turning to a more insidious issue: nanoplastics. Unlike engineered materials, these particles are born from the breakdown of everyday plastics. They are vanishingly small and alarmingly difficult to detect. Recent research has revealed that nanoplastics may be even more harmful than microplastics, penetrating tissues and disrupting cellular processes in ways scientists are only beginning to understand. Harper’s lab is at the forefront of this work. One focus has been on tire-wear particles, an overlooked but significant contributor to aquatic pollution. Harper explained that a chemical called 6PPD, widely used in tires, has been linked to mass die-offs of salmon in the of plastics. In some cases, light-triggered algae growth creates protective coatings that slow degradation, further compounding the problem. A RESPONSIBILITY TO SHARE Harper’s work is supported by major funders like the National Science Foundation and USDA, and she is committed to sharing her findings with both the scientific community and the public. Her lab has developed a knowledgebase of nanomaterial-biological interactions to help researchers worldwide understand the risks and behaviors of these materials, paving the way for predictive models that regulators and manufacturers can use. Ultimately, Harper’s research is driven by a sense of responsibility. “We view all of these human health and environmental health concerns as one, because, in the end, we are part of the environment,” she said. 13 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING WINTER 2026
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