Engineering Extracellular Vesicles for Drug Delivery, Bio-Imaging and Therapy

• Applicant: Dr. Ulrike Kauscher
• Subject Area: Pharmacy ; Biochemistry ; Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry ; Biomaterials
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 319069186

Extracellular vesicles are nanosized, cell-derived entities that have enormous potential for drug delivery due to their natural ability for content delivery to cells and lack of immunogenicity. However, these vesicles are an untapped opportunity which has not yet been investigated from a material engineering point of view. With my expertise in organic and supramolecular chemistry I propose to engineer these natural derived particles to form a new and unique drug delivery platform. The Stevens group is a world leading research group on the development of biomaterials for applications in regenerative medicine that will provide unique experience and equipment for carrying out the proposed project. By partnering my experience on vesicle modification with the internationally recognised research programme of the Stevens group, this project will introduce an efficient drug delivery system directed at cancerous tissue.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professorin Molly Stevens, Ph.D.