Drug Delivery | Research Interests

Name	Email	PhD Program
Ebacher, Anna Rose EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Drug Delivery, Molecular Medicine, Translational Medicine	“I am interested in improving the delivery of biologics and small molecules to their targets through nanoparticle, biomolecular and cellular engineering. Specifically, I would like to address the difficulties associated with drug delivery to the brain or mitigate the off-target effects of oncoimmune therapies.”
Bhuiyan, Zubair EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Biochemistry, Biophysics, Cell Biology, Drug Delivery	“I am interested in applying protein design and engineering principles to develop novel therapeutics that can either be delivered as recombinant molecules or via gene delivery. Current computational design tools and high-throughput screening methods are greatly enhancing our ability to identify advantageous molecular features in protein therapeutics. I’d like to apply these tools to identify specific molecular properties that lead to superior cell/tissue targeting specificity and increased therapeutic index.”
Andersen, Sawyer EMAIL	PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST Biochemistry, Drug Delivery, Translational Medicine	“I am interested in translation research that can impact patient’s lives directly. I plan to work in the field of RNA biology to bring new genomic medicines to the clinic. I am interested in RNA structure, noncoding RNAs and how RNA can be used as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool.”
Sengupta, Soma WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Neuroscience RESEARCH INTEREST Drug Delivery, Drug Discovery, Neurobiology	I am building a career in both clinical and translational research of brain tumors, primary and those resulting from metastasis. Clinically, I primarily see adult brain tumor patients and conduct/initiate clinical trials to meet the needs of this patient population. On the research side, I have a long-standing research interest in clinically-important membrane transport proteins. I conducted genetic and biochemical research on transporters, channels, and pumps during my doctoral research at the University of Cambridge, my postdoctoral study at Yale University, and various institutions (Yale, Johns Hopkins University, Cambridge) while training in medicine at Cambridge. Membrane transport proteins I have worked on include the proton-ATPase (mentor: C. Slayman) and the TAP transporter (mentor: P. Lehner), which are critical to antigen processing. After receiving my medical degree, I pursued advanced medical and additional research training in the U.S. (Johns Hopkins, Harvard) and received continuous funding from the NIH to pursue this research (NINDS-R25, NCI-K12, NINDS-K08). My first independent appointment as an Assistant Professor, Neuro-oncologist was at Emory University in 2016. At the University of Cincinnati, I was the Associate Director of the UC Brain Tumor Center and a recipient of the Harold C. Schott Endowed Chair. At this time, my lab is focused on: (1) the development of a therapeutic approach for the treatment of primary and pediatric brain tumors, as well as cancers that commonly metastasize to the CNS (lung and melanoma); and (2) translation of technological advances that may impact treatment and quality of life in patients with cancer.
Rowe-Conlon, Sarah WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Antibiotics/Antivirals, Bacteriology, Diabetes, Drug Delivery, Drug Discovery, Pathogenesis & Infection, Pharmacology, Translational Medicine	My lab studies recalcitrant bacterial infections and antibiotic treatment failure. Focusing on bacteremia and wound infection, we utilize a range of in vitro, tissue culture and mouse models to understand the precise nature of treatment failure and exploit this knowledge to modulate antibiotic activity in the host environment. My long-term goal is to bring improved therapeutic strategies to the bedside.
Perry, Jillian WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Pharmaceutical Sciences RESEARCH INTEREST Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, Immunology, Nanomedicine, Translational Medicine	Our lab is broadly interested in utilizing high resolution 3D printing to develop novel drug delivery carriers for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Current research interests lay in manufacturing biodegradable porous hydrogel scaffold implants for cell/drug delivery for the treatment of recurrent brain cancer. We are actively investigating biomaterial properties for passive cell/drug loading into scaffolds as well as developing materials and methods to support conjugation strategies for actuated release mechanisms.
Freeman, Ronit WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Applied Physical Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry RESEARCH INTEREST Biomaterials, Biophysics, Cancer Biology, Cell Biology, Cell Signaling, Drug Delivery, Drug Discovery, Nanomedicine, Translational Medicine	My lab focuses on developing bioinspired molecular constructs and material platforms that can mimic proteins and be programmed to respond to stimuli resulting from biomolecular recognition. Major efforts are directed to design peptide- and nucleic acid-based scaffolds or injectable nanostructures to create artificial extracellular matrices that can directly signal cells.
Bai, Wubin WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Biomedical Engineering RESEARCH INTEREST Biomaterials, Biophysics, Drug Delivery	Our research focuses on both fundamental and applied study of soft materials and nanomaterials, develop fabrication approaches to enable hybrid integration of multi-materials towards high-performance electronic and photonic systems, innovate new technology that can intelligently immerse electronics and photonics into biological systems, and create new tools and devices to address unmet clinical needs and improve human healthcare. Our lab fosters a collaborative environment that converges expertise/interests from various backgrounds including materials science and engineering, electrical engineering, physics, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and biomedical engineering. We provide hands-on learning, enjoy making practical tools, and aspire to transform scientific advancements into societal solutions.
Fenton, Owen EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Pharmaceutical Sciences RESEARCH INTEREST Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, Drug Discovery, Nanomedicine, Translational Medicine	The broad aim of research in the Fenton Laboratory is to develop and evaluate synthetic drug delivery platforms to treat neurodegenerative disorders in the brain using RNA therapeutics. RNA therapeutics represent a particularly promising class of therapeutics for neurodegenerative management given their ability to tune levels of specific protein expression in living systems. For example, protein downregulation can be achieved by administering short interfering RNAs (siRNAs); alternatively, proteins can be upregulated by messenger RNA (mRNA) administration. Despite this promise, fewer than 0.05% of the world’s clinically approved drugs are RNA therapeutics, and their translation to neurodegenerative disorders in the brain warrants further study at the fundamental and clinical levels. To address these challenges, our group focuses on the discovery and development of molecular carriers and technology platforms to improve the targeting, safety, and efficacy of RNA drugs within target cells. Specifically, our group leverages an interdisciplinary approach to develop lipid nanoparticles (LNP) as well as soft matter hydrogel platforms that can serve as carrier systems and/or drug delivery models for RNA drugs. Further, our group also explores the development of technological platforms to further expand the potential of RNA drugs within resource limited settings. Lastly, given that mRNA drugs can be engineered to encode for virtually any polypeptide or protein based antigen, our group also aims to leverage our platformable LNP technologies for the study and prevention of cancers and infectious disease. In undertaking such an approach, the goal of our research is to equip students with fundamental skillsets for the development of next generation drugs while simultaneously developing clinically-relevant carrier platforms and technologies for the study, prevention, and treatment of human disease.
Benhabbour, Rahima WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Pathobiology & Translational Science RESEARCH INTEREST Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, Nanomedicine, Pharmacology	Dr. Benhabbour’s academic research focuses on development of novel tunable delivery platforms and polymer-based devices to treat or prevent a disease. Her work combines the elegance of organic and polymer chemistry with the versatility of engineering and formulation development to design and fabricate efficient and translatable nanocarriers and drug delivery systems for cancer treatment and HIV prevention. Dr. Benhabbour has also Founded her startup company Anelleo, Inc. (AnelleO) in 2016 to develop the first 3D printed intravaginal ring as a platform technology for women’s health. Current technologies in development in Dr. Benhabbour’s Lab include: – 3D Printed intravaginal ring technology: A) Multipurpose prevention technology (MPT) for prevention of HIV/STIs and unplanned pregnancy. – Polymer based ultra-long-acting injectable implant for HIV prevention and treatment. – Combinatory chitosan/cellulose nanocrystals thermoresponsive hydrogel system: A) Sub-Q or intraosseous injectable for treatment of osteoporosis; B) Bio-ink for 3D bioprinting; C) Scaffold for stem cell delivery (e.g. iNSCs for treatment of post-surgical glioblastoma. – Mucoadhesive thin film for treatment of vulvodynia. – Targeted nanoparticles and hydrogel scaffolds for treatment of NSCLC.

Research Interest: Drug Delivery