Briana Simms, PhD
Fine-Tuning Lipid Nanoparticles for Better Drug Delivery
Summary
Lipid nanoparticles are tiny particles made of fats (lipids) that are used in a various medical and scientific applications. One can imagine them as small, fat-filled bubbles that can deliver medicines or vaccines in the body. Recently, they were used to deliver vaccine ingredients safely into cells as a primary component of the COVID-19 vaccine. While effective, these lipid nanoparticles are comprised of a mixture of lipids, which decreases their overall efficiency to deliver to the targeted location in the body. To address this problem, my lab is developing a synthetic lipid nanoparticle made of a single component that allows us to fine-tune the nanoparticle’s properties, such as size and flexibility, to improve its ability to deliver medicines. This allows us to identify the exact properties we need to deliver medicines to a specific site in the body and then fine-tune the lipid nanoparticle to match those properties.
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This funding means that I get to design and develop a new generation of lipid nanomaterials alongside my friend and colleague, while empowering the next generation of stem scholars. It’s truly the best of all worlds.
