April 2024 - Wilson Poon attended the 2nd CryoEM Train the Trainer Workshop hosted by Harvard Medical School and funded by NIGMS IPERT Program.
New Opentrons Flex Automated Liquid Handler
April 2024 - The new Opentrons Flex automated liquid handler has been installed in DESTINATION Lab
NIH R21 Grant Awarded
March 2024 - DESTINATION lab (co-I) will work with Prof. Katja Michael (PI), Prof. Igor Almeida (co-I) and Prof. Rosa Maldonado (co-I) on an awarded NIH R21 grant - "A novel gene-based immunotherapy inducing melanoma destruction"
November 2023 - Wilson Poon attended NASA Better Together Conference 2023 in San Jose
Volunteering at Orange and Blue Day 2023
October 2023 - DESTINATION Lab volunteered at UTEP's Orange and Blue Day 2023
Attendance at BMES 2023
October 2023 - Wilson Poon and Hannia Balcorta attended the 2023 BMES Annual Meeting in Seattle. Hannia Balcorta presented her research poster on additive biomanufacturing with nanoparticles
Attendance at Material Science and Technology Technical Meeting 2023
October 2023 - Veronica Contreras attended the 2023 Material Science &Technology Technical Meeting in Columbus. to present her research poster on the effect of patient-specific blood biomarkers on nanoparticle-cell interactions
September 2023 - Updated group picture of the DESTINATION Lab with new members Deepali Bisht (BME PhD), Mario Mata Corral (BME MS), Angel Gallegos (COURI MERTIUS UGRA), and Jael Chavez (NIH U-RISE UGRA)
DESTINATION Lab 1st Anniversary
August 2023 - DESTINATION Lab celebrated its 1-year anniversary
NASA MUREP Grant Awarded
August 2023 - DESTINATION lab (co-I) will work with Prof. Sylvia Natividad Diaz (PI) and Prof. Binata Joddar (co-I) on an awarded NASA MUREP MPLAN grant - "Human 3D microfluidic cardiovascular tissue model in microgravity conditions for simulation of tissue-specific response to environmental stressors"
New COURI SURPASS UGRA
May 2023 - Damian Alvarez was awarded a COURI SURPASS award and joins the DESTINATION lab as a summer UGRA
Senior Design Team Poster Presentation
April 2023 - DESTINATION Lab's senior design team students presented their lipid nanoparticle project poster to the UTEP MMBME Industry Advisory Board
Lab Renovations Completed
March 2023 - DESTINATION lab renovations are finally completed and fully operational for chemical synthesis and biological experimental work
Volunteering at MMBME Open House
March 2023 - DESTINATION lab volunteered at the UTEP MMBME Open House
Invited Talk at MD Anderson Cancer Center
February 2023 - Wilson Poon gave an invited talk at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston
URI Pilot Grant Awarded
January 2023 - DESTINATION lab was awarded an internal pilot grant through the University Research Institute on "Developing chemical tags to track lipid nanoparticles in cells and tissues". Hannia Balcorta joins the lab as a UG RA on this project
New MME MS Student
January 2023 - Veronica Contreras joined DESTINATION lab as its first MME MS student.
Attendance at BMES 2022
October 2022 - Wilson Poon, Imelda Holguin, and Damien Alvarez attended the 2022 BMES Annual Meeting in San Antonio
Lab Group Photo - Fall 2022
September 2022 - DESTINATION Lab is formed with 7 undergraduate students joining: Jose Salazar, Mario Mata Corral, Imelda Holguin, Veronica Contreras, Damian Alvarez, Salma Ramirez, & Jose Gonzalez
Connect With Us
The University of Texas at El Paso
College of Engineering
Metallurgy Building, Room M301G
500 W University Ave
El Paso, Texas 79968