Kuroda's CV

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Kenichi Kuroda, Ph.D.

Department of Biologic & Materials Sciences
University of Michigan School of Dentistry
1011 North University , Room 2223
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Office: 734-936-1440
Home: 734-998-1433
Fax: 734-647-2110
kkuroda@umich.edu

EDUCATION
                      
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA , 2003, Ph.D. in Chemistry              
Thesis title: Thermally Responsive Polymers and Their Applications
Advisors: Profs. Timothy Swager and Toyoichi Tanaka
Kyoto University , Kyoto, Japan , 1997, M.Eng. in Biological Chemistry
Thesis title: Gelation of hydrophobized polysaccharides
Advisors: Profs. Junzo Sunamoto and Kazunari Akiyoshi
Kyoto University , Kyoto, Japan , 1995, B.Eng. in Polymer Chemistry
Advisors: Profs. Junzo Sunamoto and Kazunari Akiyoshi

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Department of Biologic & Materials Sciences, Ann Arbor, MI
Assistant Professor, 2006-present
Research topics: Polymer antimicrobials, macromolecular drug carriers, cell membrane probes. 
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Philadelphia, PA
Postdoctoral Research, 2003-2006
Advisor: Prof. William DeGrado

  • Synthesized antimicrobial synthetic polymers
  • Studied applications for antimicrobial materials and medicine
  • Characterized synthetic polymers using spectroscopic methods
  • Evaluated antimicrobial activity via biological assays

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry and Department of Physics, Cambridge, MA
Graduate Research Assistant, 2000-2003
Advisor: Prof. Timothy Swager

  • Investigated new water-soluble conjugated polymers for sensing biomolecules
  • Synthesized conjugated polymers further modified with temperature-sensitive polymers
  • Investigated optimal reaction conditions for polymerizations
  • Examined solution properties by spectroscopic methods (NMR, fluorescence and UV absorption measurements)

Graduate Research Assistant, 1997-2000
Advisor: Prof. Toyoichi Tanaka

  • Developed catalysts using polymer gels
  • Studied volume phase transitions in polymer gels
  • Investigated metal ion absorption by polymer gels 

Kyoto University , Department of Polymer Chemistry, Kyoto, Japan

Graduate Research, 1994-1997

Advisors: Profs. Junzo Sunamoto and Kazunari Akiyoshi

  • Synthesized hydrophobically modified polysaccharides and characterized them by spectroscopic methods and light scattering techniques
  • Investigated gel formation of the polymers in water by rheological methods

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Kyoto University, Japan , 1997

Teaching Assistant

Laboratory instructor for undergraduate organic chemistry course  

PUBLICATIONS

Journal articles

  • Palermo, E and Kuroda, K, Biomacromolecules, 2009, accepted (in press)

  • Sovadinova, I; Palermo, E; Mpiga, P; Kuroda K, Biomaterials, 2009, submitted

  • Ivanov, I.; Vemparala, S.; Pophristic V.; Kuroda, K.; DeGrado, W. F.; McCammon, J. A. and Klein, M. L. “Characterization of non-biological antimicrobial polymers in aqueous solution and at water-lipid interfaces from all atom molecular dynamics,” J Amer. Chem. Soc., 2006, 128, 1778.

  • Kuroda, K. and DeGrado, W. F. “Amphiphilic polymethacrylate derivatives as antimicrobial agents,” J Amer. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127, 4128.  

  • Kuroda, K. and Swager, T.M. “Fluorescent semiconducting polymer conjugates of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide for thermal precipitation assays,” Macromolecules 2004, 37, 716. 

  • Kuroda, K. and Swager, T.M. “Synthesis of a nonionic water soluble semiconductive polymer,” Chem. Comm. 2003, 26.

  • Kuroda, K.; Fujimoto, K.; Sunamoto, J. and Akiyoshi, K. “Hierarchical self-assembly of hydrophobically modified pullulan in water: Gelation by networks of nanoparticles,” Langmuir 2002, 18, 3780.
  • Alvarez-Lorenzo, C.; Guney, O.; Oya, T.; Sakai, Y.; Kobayashi, M.; Enoki, T.; Takeoka, Y.; Ishibashi, T.; Kuroda, K.; Tanaka, K.; Wang, G.Q.; Grosberg, A.Y.; Masamune, S. and Tanaka, T. “Reversible adsorption of calcium ions by imprinted temperature sensitive gels,” J. Chem. Phys. 2001, 114, 2812.
  • Alvarez-Lorenzo, C.; Guney, O.; Oya, T.; Sakai, Y.; Kobayashi, M.; Enoki, T.; Takeoka, Y.; Ishibashi, T.; Kuroda, K.; Tanaka, K.; Wang, G.Q.; Grosberg, A.Y.; Masamune, S. and Tanaka, T. “Polymer gels that memorize elements of molecular conformation,” Macromolecules 2000, 33, 8693.
  • Wang, G.Q.; Kuroda, K.; Enoki, T.; Grosberg, A.; Masamune, S.; Oya, T.; Takeoka, Y. and Tanaka, T. “Gel catalysts that switch on and off,” P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2000, 97, 9861.
    2. Deguchi, S.; Kuroda, K.; Akiyoshi, K.; Lindman, B. and Sunamoto, J., “Gelation of cholesterol-bearing pullulan by surfactant and its rheology,” Colloid Surface A 1999, 147, 203.
  • Akiyoshi, K.; K., Sasaki, Y.; Kuroda, K. and Sunamoto, J.  “Controlled association of hydrophobized polysaccharide by cyclodextrin,” Chem. Lett. 1998, 93. 

Review article

Meeting abstracts

  • Kuroda, K, and DeGrado, W. F. “Antimicrobial synthetic polymers: Amphiphilic polymethacrylate derivatives,” Polymer Preprints 228th ACS National Meeting, 2004. 

  • Kuroda, K. and Swager, T. M. “Thermally controlled aggregation of poly(phenylene-ethynylene)-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) block copolymer,” Polymer Preprints 224th ACS National Meeting, 2002.

PATENT
  • Kuroda, K. and DeGrado, W. F. Patent Application “Antimicrobial Copolymers and Uses Thereof,” 2005.