Drug Delivery Consortium
Although designing and processing drugs and genes are essential for effective therapy, inadequate ability to deliver these molecules to targeted locations in the body remains a significant limitation of modern medicine. Cancer chemotherapy is plagued by side effects caused by chemotherapeutic delivery not just to tumors, but to hair follicles, intestinal walls and other sensitive parts of the body. Gene therapy is under attack for the toxicity of viruses used to deliver DNA into cells.
To address these delivery problems, we are using chemical, biological and physical methods to guide drug and gene delivery. Our chemical methods primarily involve encapsulating drugs or genes into microscopic particles made of polymers. In this way, drugs such as insulin can be protected from degradation by enzymes in the body and can be slowly released over time. We are also encapsulating vaccines in these particles so they can be taken orally, instead of by injection.
The biological approaches to drug delivery at CD4 involve using nature's drug delivery system - the virus. As shown by the extensive annual flu epidemics, viruses are highly specialized and efficient at delivering genes into cells in the body, but can sometimes have unwanted side effects. We are therefore modifying viruses or using small pieces of viruses to effectively deliver genes that treat cancer without the danger of immune reactions or other problems.
The third component of our drug delivery effort uses physical methods. Ultrasound and electric fields have been shown to drive drugs more effectively into cells and tissue. We are therefore studying the use of electric fields to deliver proteins into the intestine wall to treat inflammatory bowel diseases and ultrasound to deliver genes into blood vessels to prevent their re-blockage (i.e., restinosis) after treatment of atherosclerosis. Finally, we have used the technology of the microelectronics industry to make microscopic needles that can painlessly inject drugs into the body.
Faculty - Drug Delivery
Julia
Babensee, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Ravi
Bellamkonda, Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Andrei
Federov, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Dennis Hess, La Roche Chair and Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Joe
LeDoux, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Todd
McDevitt, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Larry
McIntire, Wallace Coulter Chair and Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Carson
Meredith, Associate Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Valeria Milam, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Niren
Murthy, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Shuming
Nie, Wallace Coulter Chair, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Mark
Prausnit, Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Athanassios
Sambanis, Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Z. John Zhang, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
