Photo of Esther Gomez

Esther Gomez

Associate Professor

Affiliation(s):

  • Chemical Engineering
  • Biomedical Engineering

410 Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building

ewg10@psu.edu

814-867-4732

Personal or Departmental Website

Google Scholar Profile

Research Areas:

Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology; Interfaces and Surfaces

Interest Areas:

Mechanobiology; Structural Characterization of Biological Assemblies Using Advanced X-ray Scattering Tools: The interplay of chemical and mechanical signals acts to control cell behavior and function and the progression of disease; X-ray scattering for the characterization of biological assemblies, including plant cell walls and proteins in solution.

 
 

 

Education

  • BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Florida, 2002
  • Ph D, Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2007

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Jessica L *Sacco and Esther W Gomez, 2024, "Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity and epigenetic heterogeneity in cancer", Cancers, 16, (19), pp. 3289
  • Chetana Tamadaddi, Juseok Choi, Masoud Ghasemi, Seong H Kim, Enrique Daniel Gomez, Esther W Gomez and Charles Anderson, 2024, "NST3 induces ectopic transdifferentiation, forming secondary walls with diverse patterns and composition in Arabidopsis thaliana", Annals of Botany, pp. mcae153
  • Chinmay S *Sankhe, Jessica L *Sacco, Jacob *Lawton, Ryan Fair, David Vidotto Rezende *Soares, Mohammed K.R. Aldahdooh, Enrique Daniel Gomez and Esther W Gomez, 2024, "Breast cancer cells exhibit mesenchymal-epithelial plasticity following dynamic modulation of matrix stiffness", Advanced Biology, 8, (9), pp. 2400087
  • Jingyi Yu, Joshua T *Del Mundo, Guillaume Freychet, Mikhail Zhernenkov, Eric Schaible, Chenhui Zhu, Esther W Gomez, Enrique Daniel Gomez and Daniel J Cosgrove, 2024, "Dynamic structural change of epidermal cell walls under strain", Small, 20, pp. 2311832
  • Oskar Siemianowski, Sintu *Rongpipi, Joshua T *Del Mundo, Guillaume Freychet, Mikhail Zhernenkov, Enrique Daniel Gomez, Esther W Gomez and Charles Anderson, 2024, "Flexible pectin nanopatterning drives cell wall organization in plants", JACS Au, 4, (1), pp. 177–188
  • Sintu *Rongpipi, William J Barnes, Oskar Siemianowski, Dan *Ye, Joshua *Del Mundo, Sydney Duncombe, Xiaoran Xin, Chenhui Zhu, Michael F Toney, Ying Gu, Charles Anderson, Enrique Daniel Gomez and Esther W Gomez, 2024, "Matrix polysaccharides affect preferred orientation of cellulose crystals in primary cell walls", Cellulose, 31, pp. 1397-1415
  • Brock Hunter, Jessica L *Sacco, Kira *Katterle, Joy Kirigo, Thomas Wood, Esther W Gomez and Christian Pester, 2024, "Photoactive polymer coatings for antibacterial applications", European Polymer Journal, 213, pp. 113090
  • Yu Xia, Stephanie Cutler, Ibukun Osunbunmi, Sarah E Zappe, Esther W Gomez, Stephanie B Velegol and Minkyung Lee, 2024, "The Impact of Applied Improvisation on Undergraduate Engineering Students' Professional Development", Advances in Engineering Education
  • Jessica L *Sacco, Zachary *Vaneman and Esther W Gomez, 2023, "Extracellular matrix viscoelasticity regulates TGFß1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and apoptosis via integrin linked kinase", Journal of Cellular Physiology, 239, (2), pp. e31165
  • Derrick Butler, Chinmay S *Sankhe, Pouya Soltan Khamsi, Esther W Gomez and Seyedehaida Ebrahimi, 2023, "Solution-Processed Graphene Films for Electrochemical Monitoring of Extracellular Nitric Oxide Released by Breast Cancer Cells", 2D Materials, 11, pp. 015021
  • X Guo, A Plant, Joshua *Del Mundo, J H Litofsky, B Liu, R Hallman, Esther W Gomez, Michael Hickner, Y Lee and Enrique Daniel Gomez, 2023, "Fully conjugated block copolymers enhance thermal stability of polymer blend solar cells", Polymer, 288, pp. 126465
  • Ava *Self, Megan *Farell, Laximicharan Samineni, Manish Kumar and Esther W Gomez, 2023, "Two-Dimensional Materials for Combination Therapy to Address Challenges in the Treatment of Cancer", Advanced NanoBiomed Research, pp. 2300070
  • Sintu *Rongpipi, William Barnes, Oskar Semianowski, Joshua T *Del Mundo, Cheng Wang, Guillaume Freychet, Mikhail Zhernenkov, Charles T Anderson, Esther W Gomez and Enrique Daniel Gomez, 2023, "Measuring calcium content in plants using NEXAFS spectroscopy", Frontiers in Plant Science, 14, pp. 1212126
  • Joshua *Del Mundo, Sintu *Rongpipi, Hui Yang, Dan *Ye, Sarah Kiemle, Stephanie Moffit, Charles L Troxel, Michael F Toney, Chenhui Zhu, James D Kubicki, Daniel J Cosgrove, Esther W Gomez and Enrique Daniel Gomez, 2023, "Grazing-incidence diffraction reveals cellulose and pectin organization in hydrated plant primary cell wall", Scientific Reports, 13, pp. 5421
  • Elise B Gilcher, Nathaniel Kuch, Joshua T *Del Mundo, Samantha Ausman, Leoncio Santiago-Martinez, Catherine Clewett, Esther W Gomez, Enrique Daniel Gomez, Thatcher W Root, Brian G Fox and James A Dumesic, 2023, "Evolution of the cellulose microfibril through gamma-valerolactone assisted co-solvent and enzymatic hydrolysis", ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 11, (8), pp. 3270-3283
  • Sarah Freeburne, Jessica L *Sacco, Esther W Gomez and Christian Pester, 2023, "Effects of surface-immobilization on photobleaching of xanthene dye photocatalyst", Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, pp. 2300283
  • Sandeep M *Nalluri, Chinmay S *Sankhe, Joseph W *O'Connor, Paul L *Blanchard, Joelle *Khouri, Steven H *Phan, Gage *Virgi and Esther W Gomez, 2022, "Crosstalk between ERK and MRTF-A signaling regulates TGFß1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition", Journal of Cellular Physiology, 237, (5), pp. 2503-2515
  • Ishita Chakraborty, Sintu *Rongpipi, Rakesh , Sib Sankar Mal, K K Mahato, Esther W Gomez, Enrique Daniel Gomez and Nirmal Mazumder, 2022, "An insight into microscopy and analytical techniques for morphological, structural, chemical, and thermal characterization of cellulose", Microscopy Research and Technique, 85, pp. 1990-2015
  • Jeffrey A Julien, Martin G Fernandez, Katrina M Brandmier, Joshua T *Del Mundo, Carol M Bator, Lucie A Loftus, Esther W Gomez, Enrique Daniel Gomez and Kerney Jebrell Glover, 2021, "Rapid preparation of nanodiscs for biophysical studies", Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 712, pp. 109051
  • Michele Fromel, Raymond L Crisci, Chinmay S *Sankhe, Danielle Reifsnyder Hickey, Timothy B Tighe, Esther W Gomez and Christian Pester, 2021, "User-Friendly Chemical Patterning with Digital Light Projection Polymer Brush Photolithography", European Polymer Journal, 158, pp. 110652
  • Sintu *Rongpipi, Joshua *Del Mundo, Enrique Daniel Gomez and Esther W Gomez, 2021, "Resonant X-ray scattering of biological assemblies", MRS Communications, 11, (1), pp. 1-17
  • Dan *Ye, Sintu *Rongpipi, Sarah Kiemle, William Barnes, Arielle Chaves, Chenhui Zhu, Victoria Norman, Alexander Liebman-Peláez, Alexander Hexemer, Michael Toney, Alison Roberts, Charles Anderson, Daniel J Cosgrove, Esther W Gomez and Enrique Daniel Gomez, 2020, "Preferred crystallographic orientation of cellulose in plant primary cell walls", Nature Communications, 11, pp. 1420
  • Megan *Farell, Ava *Self, Christine Guza, Hyewon Song, Luigi *Apollon, Esther W Gomez and Manish Kumar, 2020, "Lipid-functionalized graphene loaded with hMnSOD for selective inhibition of cancer cells", ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12, (11), pp. 12407-12416
  • Chao Lang, Dan *Ye, Woolchul Song, ChenHao Yao, Yu-Ming Tu, Clara Capparelli, Jacob LaNasa, Michael A Hickner, Esther W Gomez, Enrique Daniel Gomez, Robert Hickey and Manish Kumar, 2019, "Biomimetic separation of transport and matrix functions in lamellar block copolymer channel-based membranes", ACS Nano, 13, (7), pp. 8292-8302
  • Sintu *Rongpipi, Dan *Ye, Enrique Daniel Gomez and Esther W Gomez, 2019, "Progress and opportunities in the characterization of cellulose - an important regulator of cell wall growth and mechanics", Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, pp. 1894
  • Dan *Ye, Sintu *Rongpipi, Joshua H Litofsky, Youngmin Lee, Tyler Culp, Sang-Ha Yoo, Thomas N Jackson, Cheng Wang, Esther W Gomez and Enrique Daniel Gomez, 2019, "Aluminum oxide free-standing thin films to enable nitrogen edge soft X-ray scattering", MRS Communications, 9, (1), pp. 224-228
  • Dan *Ye, Thinh P Le, Brooke Kuei, Chenhui Zhu, Peter H Zwart, Cheng Wang, Enrique Daniel Gomez and Esther W Gomez, 2018, "Resonant soft x-ray scattering provides protein structure with chemical specificity", Structure, 26, pp. 1-9
  • Shixin Huang, Mohamadamin Makarem, Sarah N Kiemle, Yunzhen Zheng, Xin He, Dan *Ye, W , Enrique Daniel Gomez, Daniel J Cosgrove and Seong H Kim, 2018, "Dehydration-induced physical strains of cellulose microfibrils in plant cell walls", Carbohydrate Polymers, 197, pp. 337-348
  • Dan *Ye, Sarah N Kiemle, Sintu *Rongpipi, X Wang, Cheng Wang, Daniel J Cosgrove, W and Enrique Daniel Gomez, 2018, "Resonant soft x-ray scattering reveals cellulose microfibril spacing in plant primary cell walls", Scientific Reports, 8, pp. 12449
  • Tyler Culp, Dan *Ye, M Paul, A Roy, M Behr, S Jons, S Rosenberg, Cheng Wang, Esther W Gomez, Manish Kumar and Enrique Daniel Gomez, 2018, "Probing the internal microstructure of polyamide thin-film composite membranes using resonant soft X-ray scattering", ACS Macro Letters, 7, pp. 927-932
  • Sandeep M *Nalluri, Joseph W *O'Connor, Gage A *Virgi, Samantha E *Stewart, Dan *Ye and Esther W Gomez, 2018, "TGFß1-induced expression of caldesmon mediates epithelial-mesenchymal transition", Cytoskeleton, 75, (5), pp. 201-212
  • Chao Lang, Yue-xiao Shen, Jacob A LaNasa, Dan *Ye, Woochul Song, Tawanda J Zimudzi, Michael A Hickner, Enrique Daniel Gomez, Esther W Gomez, Manish Kumar and Robert Hickey, 2018, "Creating Crosslinked Lamellar Block Copolymer Supporting Layers for Biomimetic Membranes", Faraday Discussions, 209, pp. 179-191
  • Akanksha V *Gupta, A N Brigeman, W and Thomas N Jackson, 2018, "Simple polymethylglutarimide microfluidic channels with hydrogel-assisted fluid exchange", IEEE Transactions on NanoBioscience, 17, (2), pp. 97-101
  • D Jake Follmer, Esther W Gomez, Sarah E Zappe and Manish Kumar, 2017, "Evaluation of a Research Experiences for Undergraduates program in Chemical Engineering indicates benefit from a collaborative model", Chemical Engineering Education, 51, pp. 145-150
  • D Jake Follmer, Sarah E Zappe, Esther W Gomez and Manish Kumar, 2017, "Student Outcomes from Undergraduate Research Programs: Comparing Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Models", SPUR: Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research, 1, (1)
  • D Jake Follmer, Sarah E Zappe, Enrique Daniel Gomez, Esther W Gomez and Shane E Haydt, 2017, "Changing the Conversation: impact of a seminar-based classroom innovation on student perceptions of engineering", International Journal of Engineering Education, 33, pp. 519-526
  • Virginia Aragon-Sanabria, Steven E *Pohler, Vikram J Eswar, Matthew *Bierowski, Esther W Gomez and Cheng Dong, 2017, "VE-Cadherin Disassembly and Cell Contractility in the Endothelium are Necessary for Barrier Disruption Induced by Tumor Cells", Scientific Reports, 7, pp. 45835
  • Joseph W *O'Connor, Krunal *Mistry, Dayne *Detweiler, Clayton *Wang and Esther W Gomez, 2016, "Cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion promote alpha smooth muscle actin expression during TGFß1-induced epithelial-myofibroblast transition via Notch and MRTF-A signaling", Scientific Reports, 6, pp. 26226
  • Sandeep M *Nalluri, Joseph W *O'Connor and Esther W Gomez, 2015, "Cytoskeletal signaling in TGFb-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition", Cytoskeleton, 72, (11), pp. 557-569
  • Joseph W *O'Connor, Patrick N *Riley, Sandeep M *Nalluri, Parth K *Ashar and Esther W Gomez, 2015, "Matrix rigidity regulates TGF-beta-induced epithelial-myofibroblast transition by controlling cytoskeletal organization and MRTF-A localization", Journal of Cellular Physiology, 230, pp. 1829-1839
  • Thinh P Le, Zhengrong Shang, Lizhu Wang, Nanwen Li, Sameer Vajjala Kesava, Joseph W *O'Connor, Ying Chang, Chulsung Bae, Chenhui Zhu, Alexander Hexemer, Esther W Gomez, Alberto Salleo, Michael A Hickner and Enrique Daniel Gomez, 2015, "Miscibility and acid strength govern contact doping of organic photovoltaics with strong polyelectrolytes", Macromolecules, 48, pp. 5162-5171
  • Eric Weidert, Steven E *Pohler, Esther W Gomez and Cheng Dong, 2014, "Actinomyosin contraction, phosphorylation of VE-cadherin, and actin remodeling enable melanoma-induced endothelial cell-cell junction disassembly", PLoS One, 9, pp. e108902
  • Joseph W *O'Connor and Esther W Gomez, 2014, "Biomechanics of TGFbeta-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition: implications for fibrosis and cancer", Clinical and Translational Medicine, 3, (23)
  • Joseph W *O'Connor and Esther W Gomez, 2013, "Cell adhesion and shape regulate TGF-beta1-induced epithelial-myofibroblast transition via MRTF-A signaling.", PLoS One, 8, (12), pp. e83188
  • Esther W Gomez, Qike K Chen, Nikolce Gjorevski and Celeste M Nelson, 2010, "Tissue geometry patterns epithelial-mesenchymal transition via intercellular mechanotransduction", Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, 110, pp. 44-51
  • Esther W Gomez, Nathan G Clack, Hung-Jen Wu and Jay T Groves, 2009, "Like-charge interactions between colloidal particles are asymmetric with respect to sign", Soft Matter, 5, pp. 1931-1936
  • Esther M Winter and Jay T Groves, 2006, "Surface binding affinity measurements from order transitions of lipid membrane-coated colloidal particles", Analytical Chemistry, 78, pp. 174-180

Conference Proceedings

  • Shawna Dory, Luis Delgado, Stephanie Cutler, Sarah E Zappe, Esther W Gomez and Stephanie B Velegol, 2023, "Examining Gender Inclusivity through Sense of Belonging in a Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program at a Large, Research University", American Society for Engineering Education
  • Joseph C Tise, Sarah E Zappe, Esther W Gomez, Manish Kumar, Rachel MV Croninger and Stephanie Cutler, 2019, "Work-in-Progress: An exploration of students' conceptualization of research after participating in an undergraduate research experience", American Society for Engineering Education
  • Joseph C Tise, Kirsten S Hochstedt, Sarah E Zappe, Esther W Gomez and Manish Kumar, 2018, "Lessons Learned from a Chemical Engineering REU: The Importance of Training Graduate Students who are Supervising REU Students", American Society for Engineering Education
  • D Jake Follmer, Sarah E Zappe, Manish Kumar and Esther W Gomez, 2016, "Examining student outcomes from a research experiences for undergraduates (REU) program: Year two results", American Society for Engineering Education
  • D Jake Follmer, Sarah E Zappe, Esther W Gomez and Manish Kumar, 2015, "Preliminary evaluation of a research experience for undergraduates (REU) program: A methodology for examining student outcomes", American Society for Engineering Education
  • Sarah E Zappe, Melissa D Marshall, Enrique Daniel Gomez, Esther W Gomez and Angela Lueking, 2012, "Using student ambassadors to relay themes from Changing the Conversation in Engineering First-Year Seminars", American Society for Engineering Education

Research Projects

Honors and Awards

  • PSEAS Outstanding Teaching Award, Penn State Engineering Alumni Society, 2019
  • NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation, 2018

Service

Service to Penn State:

Service to External Organizations:

 


 

About

The Penn State Department of Chemical Engineering, established in 1948, is recognized as one of the largest and most influential chemical engineering departments in the nation.

The department is built upon the fundamentals of academic integrity, innovation in research, and commitment to the advancement of industry.

Department of Chemical Engineering

121 Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA 16802

Phone: 814-865-2574