Q&A with Dr. Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit: Tailoring Delivery of Gene Therapies to Lung Cells
October 16, 2024Dr. Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit of the University of Michigan is developing biodegradable nanoparticles that can carry gene therapies directly to lung cells to hopefully treat diseases like cystic fibrosis.
For Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit, PhD, one research conference changed her entire career trajectory.
As a postdoctoral trainee, she attended a cystic fibrosis (CF) conference to represent her principal investigator, even though Piotrowski-Daspit hadn’t been focused on CF research in the lab. “After being introduced to the CF community and the tight-knit and very supportive group of researchers at this meeting, I was totally sucked in to this new world, and I’ve honestly never looked back” she said.
Cystic fibrosis is a progressive genetic disorder that causes severe damage to organs such as the lungs. Piotrowski-Daspit, now an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, received a 2024 PhRMA Foundation Faculty Starter Grant in Drug Delivery for her work to develop biodegradable nanoparticles that can carry therapeutics directly to the afflicted lung cells, ideally correcting the root cause of the underlying genetic disease.
Watch this video to learn about Piotrowski-Daspit and her research.
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