Our group currently focuses on two broad research areas:

Infectious Diseases

We seek to develop methods to improve protection against infectious diseases at mucosal surfaces. To infect mucosal tissues, such as the lungs, GI tract and female reproductive tract, pathogens must penetrate viscoelastic mucus coatings. We seek to improve understanding of the interactions between pathogens and mucus, and use this knowledge to develop methods for trapping pathogens in mucus secretions.  Trapped pathogens would be readily eliminated via natural mucus clearance mechanisms or other degradative processes, thus preventing them from infecting cells and tissues in the first place.

Lymphatic Drug Delivery

We seek to engineer nanoparticles that facilitate therapy and imaging of cancer cells in the lymph. Lymphatics are the first site of metastasis for most solid cancers. At the time of diagnosis, many tumors have already infiltrated into the lymphatic circulation. Unfortunately, cancer cells in the lymph are difficult to target by systemically administered drugs, and non-specific delivery of chemo drugs to the lymph strongly suppresses the immune system due to the abundance of immune cells in lymph nodes. Conventional drug carriers delivered systemically likewise do not readily access the lymph (they are too large to penetrate across intersititial space in tissues), a problem exacerbated by the poor lymphatic drainage of most tumors. To overcome these shortcomings, we seek to carefully elucidate the various interactions between nanoparticles and lymphatic tissues to engineer nanoparticles that can traverse biological barriers and directly target cancer cells in the lymph, carrying with them therapeutic or imaging contrast agents.

For more info, please contact Sam.