Department Seminar – Dr. Anjali Sharma

About the event

Speaker: Dr. Anjali Sharma

Host: Dr. Cliff Berkman

Title: Dendrimer Nanomedicines for Unmet Clinical Needs

Abstract: Poor transport of therapeutics across various physiological barriers limits the development of effective treatment options for central nervous system and ocular disorders, cancer, and beyond. The primary challenge is achieving clinically relevant therapeutic exposure at the site of injury, which is often difficult due to physiological barriers such as blood brain barrier or blood tumor barrier, that are hard to overcome. Another challenge lies in selective delivery of drugs, like a magic bullet, to diseased cells or sub-cellular locations without impacting healthy cells or tissues, to enhance the efficacy of drugs and reduce systemic side-effects. Dendrimer nanoparticles have various attributes of this ‘magic bullet’ if designed rationally based on the disease. Learning from disease pathology, the focus of research in The Sharma Lab (Translational Nanomedicines Research Laboratory) is to develop clinically translatable nanostructures capable of overcoming multiple biological barriers for precise therapy delivery. Our research focuses on creating minimally invasive, cell-targeted nanomaterials using simple yet effective designs, biocompatible building blocks, and cost-efficient starting materials while leveraging highly efficient chemical transformations. This talk will provide insights into our ongoing efforts to develop rationally designed, scalable, disease-directed nanostructures for targeted drug delivery and imaging applications, addressing critical unmet clinical needs.