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Nanotechnology for Drug Delivery

02 December 2015

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The Department of Chemistry at the Faculty of Science welcomed Dr. Walid Saad, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering,American University of Beirut to a seminar entitled "Nanotechnology for Drug Delivery: Drug Nanoparticle Formation via Flash Nanoprecipitation” on Wednesday Dec. 2nd, 2015, 2:00 pm.

Abstract

Our research interests are centered on the use of nanotechnology for drug delivery. In particular, our work focuses on developing formulation solutions for poorly soluble and poorly bioavailable drugs and drug candidates. Several active molecules showing promising in vitro therapeutic activity, including anti-cancer properties, suffer from poor solubility and bioavailability. In order to address this limitation, we exploit the self-assembly behavior of polymers for the formation of controlled-size and stable nanoparticles of cancer drugs, which exhibit improved bioavailability. Moreover, in the case of cancer drugs, nanoparticles offer enhanced delivery to tumors through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect attributed to nanoparticles.
We use a recently developed technique termed Flash NanoPrecipitation (FNP) for the production of controlled size, high yield nanoparticles of anti-cancer drugs.
In this talk, an overview of FNP will be presented, as well as several examples demonstrating control of particle size, particle stability, and in vivo efficacy in the case of the anti-cancer paclitaxel. General strategies for the formulation of actives via FNP will be discussed.