UConn IMS
Early in her career, Rouge attempted to major in both music and science. “At some point, I realized I had to pick one, and I am happy I chose science as I find it very rewarding.” After earning her B.S. in biochemistry from Boston College and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Dr. Rouge continued her postdoctoral studies at Northwestern University in the Chemistry Department. Her research at the University of Colorado was centered on energy related applications of nanomaterials. “Interestingly, I still used RNA and nanoparticles as I do today, but instead of using them in biological systems, we used them to build inorganic water soluble catalysts from metal precursors.”
Her experience through other highly interdisciplinary laboratories, she says, formed her current areas of research focus that interface both biomolecules and chemistry. “It’s a highly interdisciplinary area, requiring aspects of chemistry, biochemistry and materials science…My biochemistry interest was influenced most by my experiences with nucleic acids and aptamers during my Ph.D. in Boulder. I’d say my lab’s current focus on therapeutics came out of my more recent experiences working with Dr. Chad Mirkin at Northwestern. There, I worked closely with researchers in the medical school, seeing a route between the chemistry I did at the bench, and delivery of these materials into a mouse model.”
“I experienced the excitement of seeing the biological outcomes of their delivery and that we could silence genes using the constructs we designed in the lab. It’s why I am interested in having a translation component to our research here at UConn, and I am excited to have partnered with researchers at the health center to pursue these goals.”
Dr. Rouge and her research group are currently focusing on new ways to target nanomaterials in biological systems and are interested in studying the way in which biomolecules such as RNA and DNA are affected structurally and functionally by being attached to nanoparticles. This has important implications for their future use in what’s referred to as bionanoscience and the area of personalized medicine.
The Rouge research group, consisting of four graduate students, two undergraduate chemistry majors and one postdoctoral associate, are developing new attachment strategies that are more biocompatible for placing important and therapeutically relevant RNA, DNA and peptides to the surface of nanoparticles. The assistant professor says that their “goal is to limit the negative chemical and structural consequences of chemically modifying these biomolecules when they are placed on nanomaterials.”
She continues, “It’s an exciting time in which the idea of personalized medicine is starting to become a reality.” For instance, it is now possible to program a sequence of RNA to correct a protein expression problem in a person’s cells that may be causing them to have a specific disease. The ability to do that accurately and with limited off target effects is connected to how well the RNA sequence can target and interact with the gene of interest. Rouge further explains that “nanomaterials have been shown to help us deliver RNA sequences. However, we want to develop ways to ensure the integrity of that interaction by improving the way RNA are assembled on the nanoparticles and presented to cells, thereby improving their efficacy, and limiting unwanted off target effects.” The Rouge research group collaborates with Dr. Ying Li in Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Roger Thrall at the UConn Health Center. They are also excited to begin a nanomaterials-based collaboration with Dr. Eugene Pinkhassik’s group.
This semester, she teaches a graduate-level biological chemistry course and chemistry to non-chemistry undergraduates. In working with students, Rouge has only positive things to say. “They bring enthusiasm to learn new things and I get to share that enthusiasm back at them in wanting to share my research ideas and goals. They ask questions that help fuel interesting discussions. It is fun to share with them what I have learned, and, as a very young lab just starting out there is plenty of energy day to day that makes research in the group exciting.”
Of course, Dr. Rouge had similar positive experiences while she was a student. “I have been fortunate to have had several very supportive and inspirational scientific mentors throughout my educational experience, and I know that their mentorship has been important to getting me where I am today. I strive to keep that kind of scientific rigor in the way I work with my own graduate students.”
UConn, she says, is a research driven university that values education. In her time here so far, she has enjoyed meeting other scientists and learning about their work. This coming year, Rouge says she is looking forward to watching her collaborations grow, eager to incorporate her research with that of other scientists and researchers in the future.