Faculty

The research in my lab revolves around the designing biocompatible, biodegradable therapeutic polymers for specific disease states. I believe that nanotherapeutics, utilizing smart drug delivery systems offers us new and innovative ways to treat disease states which might not be amenable to conventional therapeutics. The research in my lab focuses on designing intelligent nanocarriers to meet specific therapeutic challenges which are currently unaddressed. The design and creation of these nanotherapeutics rests not only on the polymeric chemistry needed to bring them into existence but also a fundamental understanding of the biology and physiology of the disease state that must be considered in engineering these polymers. The design and testing of these intelligent nanocarriers will incorporate concepts from polymer chemistry, in vitro characterization techniques, passive and active targeting strategies and imagining techniques to validate and quantify the efficacy and distribution of these carriers in vivo. Thus my research will be highly multi-disciplinary involving a combination of polymer chemistry, biopharmaceutics and preclinical testing. Thus, I view my work as translating bench side research into viable treatment options that can be applied in the clinic. Currently the work in my lab is specifically focused on cancer therapy. The paradigm for treating cancers has changed considerably during the last decade as new, emerging research suggesting alternate ways to treat and potentially cure cancers. These new paradigms include curbing the angiogenic effects of cancerous tissue, active targeting to cancerous tissue and finding ways to eliminate cancer stem cells.