A new class of synthetic lipids for drug, gene, and vaccine delivery
Triazine lipids for gene, drug, and vaccine delivery
Lipids with diverse headgroups provide a powerful tool to generate structure activity relationships focused on improved drug, gene, and vaccine delivery. Cyanuric chloride serves as a versatile linker to attach lipid tails and a variety of small molecule moieties that serve as headgroups to achieve a compositionally diverse array of lipids with distinct biophysical properties to exploit in in vitro and in vivo applications.
Cardiovascular biomarker analysis in humans
Strategies to improve detection of potentially fatal cardiovascular events can have a profound impact on the long term health and wellness of patients. The role of the immune system is recognized as a significant driver of cardiovascular disease progression, and the role of specific components of the immune system continue to be revealed. To complement these studies we have examined the antibody profiles from patients with coronary artery disease and have identified an antibody profile that correlates with reduce progression from major adverse cardiovascular events. Continued efforts to characterize this immune profile and understand the factors leading to their induction, as well as their role in humans will provide new avenues for disease detection and therapeutic intervention.
Liposomal drug delivery to modulate immune responses
Liposomal delivery of small molecule therapeutics that modulate immune responses have the potential to significantly improve outcomes after a heart attack. In collaboration with the Abdel-Latif, Feola and Gensel Labs, we have developed a liposomal formulation containing azithromycin that shifts macrophage polarization toward a reparative phenotype. When administered to mice after a heart attack, the immune modulatory effects improve survival and reduce the adverse remodeling effects after a heart attack. These data offer significant promise to reduce the inflammation associated with heart attacks in patients with the goal of improving long term survival.
