Josh Ramsey
Assistant Professor

TEACHING INTERESTS:

Dr. Ramsey is currently teaching the graduate level mass transfer course (CHE 5213).  He enjoys teaching the classical chemical engineering courses and relating their principles to process engineering as well as biological systems.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Engineering Novel Gene Delivery Vectors

Delivery of genetic material in a safe and efficient manner remains a significant hurdle in the field of gene therapy.  While viral vectors have traditionally provided an efficient means of delivering therapeutic genes, issues surrounding immunogenicity and pathogenicity have hindered their advancement beyond clinical trials.  Cationic lipid- and polymer-based gene delivery vectors are generally considered safer, but lack the ultimate efficiency required of a vector.  Our lab is interested in investigating possible ways to improve upon the currently available gene delivery vectors.  Specifically, we are exploring the potential benefits of a hybrid vector engineered from viral components and synthetic polymer.

Improving Industrial Relevant Enzymes and Microorganisms

Advancement of our understanding of biological systems has led to greater use of enzymes and microorganisms in industrial relevant settings.  The demands on an industrial agent (temperature, pH, solvent, etc.), however, are often not in line with the native capabilities of an enzyme or organism.  In order for such an enzyme or organism to be industrially useful it is sometimes necessary to adapt, or evolve, the agent to function in a new environment.  Directed evolution is a technique that has been used to successfully re-engineer enzymes for a variety of industrial applications.  Such enzymes show enhanced or novel substrate activity, improved stability in organic solvents, or greater thermostability.  Our lab is interested in using this technique to produce novel enzymes and microorganisms that meet the growing demand for industrially relevant enzymes and microorganisms.

RECENT PAPERS:

Scientific Journals:

J.D. Ramsey, M.L. Gill, T.J. Kamerzell, E.S. Price, C.K. Johnson and C.R. Middaugh, “Using Empirical Phase Diagrams to Understand the Importance of Dynamics to Protein Stability: an IgG Case Study.” in preparation (2008) 

J.D. Ramsey, H.N. Vu and D.W. Pack, “Top-Down Approach for Construction of Hybrid Polymer-Virus Gene Delivery Vectors.” submitted (2008) 

T.J. Kamerzell, J.D. Ramsey and C.R. Middaugh, “Immunoglobulin Dynamics, Conformational Fluctuations, and Non-linear Elasticity and Their Effects on Stability.” Journal of Physical Chemistry B, (2008) 

C. R. Middaugh and J.D. Ramsey, “Analysis of Cationic-Lipid-Plasmid-DNA Complexes. Analytical Chemistry 79, 7240-7248 (2007) 

H.N. Vu, J.D. Ramsey and D.W. Pack, “Engineering of a Stable Retroviral Gene Delivery Vector by Directed Evolution.” Molecular Therapy 16, 308-314 (2007)  

Patents: