Category: Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery
$2.4 Million NIH Grant to Support Study of Tumor Penetration by Nanogel
August 10, 2015UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy nanomedicine researchers received a five-year grant to study whether the properties of certain nanomaterials would improve the delivery of cancer treatments to their tumor targets. The $2.42 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health will fund a collaborative research effort between scientists at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as well as at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The researchers plan to study whether the use of a drug-carrying nanoparticle material they’ve designed called the core-shell nanogel can better penetrate tumors. “The whole idea of this … Read more
School Receives T32 Grant for Training Program in Cancer Nanotechnology
July 13, 2015A federal grant awarded to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will help grow the workforce of scientists and doctors working in cancer nanotechnology through the launch of a new postdoctoral training program. The University has received a $1.8 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to create a postdoctoral training program within the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery researchers. The program will be run in collaboration with the Carolina Institute for Nanomedicine, the Carolina Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. The award, a … Read more
UNC Team Uses Cellular Bubbles to Deliver Parkinson’s Meds Directly to Brain
May 4, 2015Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have used exosomes — tiny bubbles of protein and fat produced naturally by cells — to bypass the body’s defenses and deliver a potent biopharmaceutical directly to the brain to treat Parkinson’s disease. Elena Batrakova, PhD, and her colleagues at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery extracted exosomes from immune cells and successfully loaded them with the enzyme catalase, a potent antioxidant that counters the neuron-killing inflammation responsible for Parkinson’s and other degenerative neurological disorders. Their work was published in the Journal of Controlled … Read more
Two Professors Included in Highly Cited Researchers List
June 6, 2014Thomson Reuters’s 2014 Highly Cited Researchers list includes two UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy professors. Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, PhD, and Elena Batrakova, PhD, are among the top one percent cited in their subject field. Kabanov and Batrakova are members of the School’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery. Two UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy professors are the most often-cited scientists in the world, according to the Thomson Reuters 2014 Highly Cited Researchers list. Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, PhD, and Elena Batrakova, PhD, are among eighteen UNC professors to be included in this year’s group, which comprises researchers who are in the top … Read more
New UNC Research Building Dedicated
March 27, 2014Many of UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s research programs have a new, state-of-the-art home as the University dedicated Marsico Hall, the newest building—and one of the largest—on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus on Thursday, March 27. Formerly called the IRB building or the BRIC building, Marsico Hall will house basic and translational research across several disciplines and will feature cutting-edge imaging equipment that will fundamentally advance knowledge of cancer and many other complex diseases. More than two dozen pharmacy faculty members are setting up laboratories in Marsico Hall to take advantage of its capabilities and the opportunities for collaboration with their colleagues … Read more
Mumper Receives Alumni Award from University of Kentucky
January 27, 2014Russell Mumper, PhD, vice dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has been named as the 2013 recipient of the 2013 University of Kentucky Outstanding Graduate Program Alumnus for the Pharmaceutical Sciences award. The award recognizes graduates of the UK graduate program for their accomplishments and contributions to scholarship, education, and research in the pharmaceutical sciences. Mumper will receive the award at the University of Kentucky on January 31, 2014. This marks the second time a School faculty member has received the honor. Kim Brouwer, PharmD, PhD, the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor and chair of the Division of … Read more
Kabanov Named a Member of Elite European Academy
November 25, 2013Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, PhD, has been named a member of the Academia Europaea, joining a distinguished group whose members include fifty-two Nobel Laureates. Kabanov is the Mescal S. Ferguson Distinguished Professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He also oversees the School’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery and codirects the Carolina Institute for Nanomedicine. Academia Europaea has about 3,000 members, which include leading experts from the physical sciences and technology, biological sciences and medicine, mathematics, the letters and humanities, social and cognitive sciences, economics, and law. New members are nominated by their peers and are evaluated based on … Read more
AAPS Honors Huang with Distinguished Pharmaceutical Scientist Award
November 18, 2013Leaf Huang, PhD, is the 2013 recipient of the Distinguished Pharmaceutical Scientist Award given by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. Huang is a Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor in the School’s Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics and is a member of the Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He received the award from AAPS President Anthony J. DeStefano, PhD, during the opening session of the 2013 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition. “This award is the highest distinction awarded by the most prominent organization of pharmaceutical scientists in the world,” says Bob Blouin, PharmD, dean … Read more
Sam Lai Receives Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering
October 31, 2013Assistant Professor Sam Lai, PhD, is a recipient of a 2013 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, a five-year, $875,000 award that recognizes the nation’s most innovative young scientists. Lai is one of only sixteen recipients nationwide selected from a pool of 100 scientists who are nominated by fifty major research universities. His work combines biophysics and immunology to investigate how antibodies secreted into mucus may interact with mucus constituents to reinforce the body’s first line of defense against pathogens. Lai’s goal is to harness these insights to engineer next-generation antibodies and vaccines for improved protection and therapy at mucosal surfaces. … Read more
Lai Receives Development Award to Study PEG Immunity
January 30, 2013Sam Lai, PhD, has received a $7,500 UNC Junior Faculty Development Award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study the prevalence and properties of preexisting immunity in humans to PEGylated drugs, which could potentially diminishes the efficacy of many PEGylated nanomedicines and therapeutics. PEGylated therapeutics are obtained by modifying drug molecules with polyethylene glycol, or PEG, which markedly reduces interactions with blood proteins and helps the drugs remain active in the bloodstream for longer. However, animal studies suggest that the immune system can develop antibodies against PEG, which can neutralize the polymer’s stealth properties. Preexisting immunity … Read more