February 26, 2025
Written by Safa Tonuzi
Dr. Owen Fenton takes on big concepts at the smallest levels possible – molecularly.
Fenton, assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, is taking on a large task. Rather than targeting a single disease, he’s addressing low oxygen environments – a common characteristic of many conditions from cancer to respiratory diseases and circulatory disorders.
Fenton recently received a 5-year $1.91 million R35 Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health to investigate and manipulate cells in low oxygen environments using lipid nanoparticles. This grant allows Fenton and his fellow researchers to have more flexibility in research, which is a huge benefit for the lab.
Rather than alleviating symptoms, Fenton’s approach reimagines how genetic medicine aims to cure disease at its root cause by working with the body’s own genetic code.
“DNA in many ways is like a big recipe book,” said Fenton.
“We’re interested in targeting unifying traits of multiple types of diseases,” said Fenton. With the funding, Fenton and his team can apply the research to broader concepts that will cover a larger scope of factors yielding better results.
Beyond examining how genetic medicine performs in low-oxygen environments, Fenton’s lab also developed innovative nanoparticles that don’t just deliver genetic instructions but also supply cells with the metabolic “currency” needed to follow those instructions in oxygen-poor environments.
“We’re delivering mRNA with ATP, which is the currency that cells use to turn mRNA into a protein,” said Fenton. This approach allows treatment at lower, safer, and more effective dosing regimens.
His research also reflects a changing landscape in medicine following the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought mRNA technology into the spotlight. Fenton has been working with mRNA and lipid nanoparticles since 2012.
Having prior years of experience, Fenton looks forward to having his team develop more effective solutions for those living with or affected by conditions characterized by low oxygen environments.
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