(6hi) Engineering Lipid and Polymer-Based Nanomaterials for Drug, Protein and Gene Delivery

Nanoparticle-based delivery systems have been demonstrated to be advantageous for solubilizing drugs for systemic delivery, improving the stability of therapeutic agents against enzymatic degradation, prolonging blood circulation lifetime, achieving site-specific drug targeting and controlled/sustained drug release, avoiding drug resistance mechanisms and facilitating cell uptake. Cumulatively, these effects serve to enhance the bioavailability and reduce the side-effects of the bioactive molecules. Materials including (but not limited to) lipid and lipid-like molecules (lipidoids), synthetic polymers and biomacromolecules, carbon and silica based nanoparticles, and metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have been developed for drug delivery. Each delivery system has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. My work has been focused on the development of safe and efficient lipid and polymer-based nanomaterials for therapeutic agents delivery, including small molecular drugs, peptides and proteins, and nucleic acids.

Research Interests: drug delivery, nanomedicine, protein/peptide delivery, DNA/RNA delivery, biomaterials, lipids, polymer chemistry, organic and supramolecular chemistry, nanotechnology, boimedical imaging, pharmaceutical science

Teaching Interests: organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology, pharmaceutical science, bioengineering, molecular biology