Science at the Edge
Engineering Seminar
October 25th, 2013
11:30 a.m.
Room 3540 Engineering
Building
Refreshments served at 11:15 a.m.
W. Mark Saltzman
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Yale University
Polymer materials for
delivery of
antibodies and nucleic acids
Abstract
There
is an urgent need to develop new strategies for the prevention
and protection
against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) – particularly
safe,
female-administered approaches. We have investigated the use
of biocompatible
materials fabricated into vaginal rings or nanoparticles as
delivery vehicles
for antibodies and genetic agents in the female reproductive
tract. Our work has
focused on two platforms using
polymers as vehicles for delivery of agents: 1) vaginal rings
made of
poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate), and 2) non nanoparticles made
of poly(lactic-co-glycolic
acid) (PLGA). Vaginal rings
are safe and effective vehicles for long-term, local delivery
of antibodies,
whereas nanoparticles provide protection against nucleic acid
degradation in
the vaginal environment, penetration through mucus barriers,
and intracellular
delivery in tissues. We
have further
enhanced the properties of PLGA particles for nucleic acid
delivery by
incorporating internal and surface modifications. First, we modified the
polymer to achieve
enhanced encapsulation efficiency and a highly controllable
strategy for
release of nucleic acids from the particles.
Second, we functionalized the nanoparticle surfaces
with ligands to
either improve transport within the cervical mucosa or to
increase
mucoadhesion. In our latest work, we have shown that these
nanoparticles
produce site-specific gene editing of human cells in vivo
when they are
loaded with triplex forming oligonucleotides and donor DNAs.
With
collaborators, we have taken the first steps to apply these
technologies to
prevention and treatment of HSV and HIV infections.
Bio
W.
Mark Saltzman is an engineer and educator. Dr. Saltzman’s
research in the
fields of drug delivery, biomaterials, nanobiotechnology, and
tissue
engineering is described in over 200 research papers and 15
patents. He is the
author of three textbooks: Biomedical Engineering
(2009), Tissue
Engineering (2004), and Drug Delivery (2001).
The
grandson of Iowa farmers, Mark Saltzman earned degrees in
chemical engineering
(B.S. Iowa State University 1981 and M.S. MIT 1984) and
medical engineering
(Ph.D. MIT 1987). He served on the faculty at Johns Hopkins
(1987-1996),
Cornell (1996-2002), where he was the first BP Amoco/H.
Laurance Fuller Chair,
and Yale, where he has been the Goizueta Foundation Professor
since 2002. He
became the founding chair of the Yale’s Department of
Biomedical Engineering in
2003.
Dr.
Saltzman has been recognized for his excellence in research
and teaching. He
received the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
Teacher-Scholar Award (1990);
the Allan C. Davis Medal (1995); the Controlled Release
Society Young
Investigator Award (1996); and the Professional Progress in
Engineering Award
from Iowa State University (2000). He has been elected a
Fellow of the American
Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (1997); a
Fellow of the
Biomedical Engineering Society (2010); and a Member of the
Connecticut Academy
of Science & Engineering (2012). He has delivered over 200
invited lectures
including the Britton Chance Distinguished Lecture at the
University of
Pennsylvania (2000) and the Distinguished Lecture of the
Biomedical Engineering
Society (2004).
Dr.
Saltzman has taught dozens of college courses including Heat
& Mass
Transfer, Material & Energy Balances, Introduction to
Biomedical
Engineering, Drug Delivery & Tissue Engineering,
Physiological Systems, and
Molecular Transport & Intervention in the Brain. His
course Frontiers of
Biomedical Engineering is available to everyone through Open
Yale Courses
(http://oyc.yale.edu).
For further
information
please contact Prof. Christina Chan, Department of Chemical
Engineering and
Materials Science at [log in to unmask]
Persons with disabilities have the right
to request and
receive reasonable accommodation. Please call the Department of
Chemical
Engineering and Materials Science at 355-5135 at least one day
prior to the
seminar; requests received after this date will be met when
possible.