Valeria Milam, PhD, MS

Biography

Valeria Milam, PhD, MS, is an associate professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Milam holds a secondary appointment in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University School of Medicine.

Dr. Milam is a member of the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute. She is affiliated with the Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing, Regenerative Engineering and Medicine, Integrated Cancer Research Center, and Center for Drug Design Development and Delivery.

Education

Dr. Milam received her PhD and her MS from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois. She conducted her postdoctoral studies at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Titles & Roles

• Associate Professor, School of Materials Science and Engineering

  Georgia Institute of Technology
• Associate Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering

  Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University

Research

Dr. Milam's current research interests focus on designing and characterizing colloids functionalized with biologically-relevant macromolecules such as oligonucleotides and cellular adhesion molecules. The specific recognition between matching macromolecules such as complementary DNA strand pairs allows for programmable adhesion between either complementary particle surfaces or between complementary particle and matrix interfaces. Using a variety of biocompatible and biodegradable materials as the colloidal substrate, these biocolloids will serve as building blocks to fabricate novel material constructs ranging from stimuli-responsive hybrid materials to therapeutic delivery vehicles.