REU Site: Polymeric Nanostructures for Delivering Drugs and Imaging Agents

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TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Molecular biology has yielded a wealth of therapeutic molecules with potential to treat diseases and correct genetic defects, provided delivery and release issues can be resolved. Moreover, complexes of polymers with imaging agents have potential for unraveling structure-image relationships that may enable sufficient contrast to non-invasively monitor biodistribution of co-encapsulated drugs. This REU will focus on SYNTHESIS of well-defined polymers for delivering drugs and imaging agents, the ENGINEERING that characterizes assembly, structure and properties of polymer-drug-imaging agents, and the PHYSICAL SCIENCE that defines relationships among structure, release rates and mechanisms, and image sensitivity and contrast. This REU, funded by the Division of Materials Research of the NSF, will provide opportunities for 8 undergraduates to conduct 11 weeks of research on macromolecular drug and imaging agent complexes. The program is designed to instill in students a life-long motivation to create new materials and discover physical phenomena through the joys of research. Focus will be on science and engineering with added emphasis on building leadership, interdisciplinary teamwork and communications skills, and experiencing the gratification derived from integrating their science into the community. Particular focus will be on technical writing. The program includes a leadership workshop for the graduate student mentors, a community-building retreat with an ethics workshop, a short course on Principles of Polymeric Materials in Medicine and Biology, communications seminars and development of REU leadership skills through mentoring K-12 students in our Youth Experiencing Science (YES) program. At least 50% of our REUs will be women or minorities to ensure that they learn to work with a diverse group to prepare them for professional careers. The students will have opportunities to present their findings at a conference during the follow-up year.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Over the past about two decades, biologists and chemists have discovered a myriad of drugs that include small molecules and also larger therapeutic proteins and nucleic acids (i.e., DNA/RNA). Polymeric materials are needed to form complexes with many of these new drugs to improve their delivery to the necessary sites in the body. Such complexes can potentially offer sustained controlled release over long times, lower toxicities due to lower doses required, and protection against degradation through attack by physiological components such as enzymes or the immune system. Thus, this REU will focus on preparing well-defined polymers for delivering drugs and imaging agents, methods to assemble them into the required complexes with the drugs, and investigations of the physical principles that define relationships among their structure, release rates, and image sensitivity in the cases of delivering new bioimaging agents. The program, funded by the Division of Materials Research of the NSF, will provide opportunities for 8 undergraduates to conduct 11 weeks of research on drug and imaging agent complexes. The program is designed to instill in students a life-long motivation to create new materials and discover physical phenomena through the joys of research. Focus will also emphasize leadership principles, building interdisciplinary teamwork and communications skills that include technical writing, and learning to integrate their science into the community through mentoring K-12 students in our Youth Experiencing Science (YES) program. At least 50% of our REUs will be women or minorities to ensure that they learn to work with a diverse group to prepare them for professional careers.