Carin Helfer

After receiving her degree from Case Western Reserve University, Carin A. Helfer, Ph.D., was employed as a research tire compounder at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio. She left Goodyear to pursue a Ph.D. in Polymer Science at The University of Akron, and her graduate studies involved fluorescence spectroscopy and computer simulations to investigate the conformations of profisetinidin dimers, which are biomaterials and a class of condensed tannins. During her postdoctoral studies at The University of Akron, Dr. Helfer used coarse-grain modeling to study the conformations of synthetic polymers. At The University of Akron, she also held positions focused on science education outreach to middle and high school students and as a Research Scientist in Biomedical Engineering before joining Professor Judit Puskas’ laboratory as a Research Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. In her current position, she is interested in understanding structure-property relationships of polymers, in particular natural rubber, with a focus on sustainability and medical applications, including targeted delivery of medicines from polymers for breast cancer treatment.