Dendrimer-dextran adhesive scaffold embedded with polyester nano particles loaded with siRNA

Conventional means for drug administration fail to provide efficacious drug delivery with clinical benefits. Systemic therapy, in particular, results in extremely deleterious side effects. Local therapy can prevent systemic toxicity while enabling effective and confined concentration and retention of the therapeutic agent. However, the means by which to attain ideal release kinetics, targeting, and cell penetration remain elusive. We are investigating how smart degradable polymer-based controlled drug delivery systems can be used to obtain targeted, sustained and tunable release kinetics. We study how specific target tissue environment affect material performance and hence drug release, in order to rationally design materials that will perform in an efficacious and predictive manner in vivo. Our work spans the full cycle of research and development of in vitro design and prototype of innovative systems, prediction through mathematical modeling of transport properties from these devices, ex vivo and in vivo application of the delivery platforms in a variety of diseases, including potential therapeutic treatment for cancer and cardiovascular disorders.