Kurt is a chemical engineer who specializes in large-scale therapeutic nanocarrier formulation and processing. For his PhD in the Prud’homme lab at Princeton University, he contributed to the engineering design and implementation of a clinical manufacturing line for ultra-low-cost antimalarial nanocarriers that can be taken orally. He also developed a technique to capture hard-to-encapsulate peptide and protein biologic therapeutics into nanocarriers with tunable drug release rates.
During his Schmidt Science Fellows Placement in the Lowry lab at Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Kurt will bring his nanoformulation expertise to the problem of safely and efficiently delivering agrochemicals to plants. By formulating organic agrochemical nanocarriers made from sustainable, biodegradable materials and tracking how they move to plants and soils, he aims to reduce the quantity of agrochemicals applied to crops without sacrificing their efficacy.
Kurt is motivated to find scientifically rigorous, industrially-relevant engineering solutions to large-scale problems. He plans to lead an academic research group that works on major delivery problems in both pharmaceutics and agriculture.