Drug Eluting Contact Lenses

描述(由申请人提供)：在完成眼科实习后，我开始在马萨诸塞州眼耳医院(MEEI)获得为期两年的独特的角膜奖学金。在第一年里，我几乎只在麻省理工学院兰格实验室的基础科学研究方面工作，导师是Daniel Kohane医学博士和Claes Dohlman博士。除了角膜组织工程项目，我们还开发了一种药物洗脱隐形眼镜。我的主要临床兴趣是角膜疾病的治疗。对于大多数患者来说，除了眼科手术后使用抗生素等药物的局部解决方案(滴剂)之外，别无选择。此外，绷带隐形眼镜经常与抗生素一起使用。这项研究将致力于创造一种新的眼部给药模式：药物洗脱隐形眼镜。台式研究将继续进行设计修改和药物释放研究的实验，然后进入动物实验。体内研究遵循从研究药物洗脱隐形眼镜在正常生理条件下的作用到用于治疗疾病(细菌性角膜炎和青光眼)的自然进展。这项在化学工程、微生物学和眼科药物输送方面的指导性研究项目，结合适当的课程工作，旨在培养解决医学问题和眼科药物输送的生物技术方法的能力。我将在我目前的导师丹尼尔·科恩(Daniel Kohane)和詹姆斯·乔多什(James Chodosh)的指导下继续这项研究。科哈恩是聚合物药物输送方面的专家，詹姆斯·乔多什是动物疾病模型方面的专家。MEEI是眼科研究的领先者。麻省理工学院兰格实验室提供世界一流的聚合物技术教育。这项研究将在一个科学家和临床科学家团队的支持下进行，他们已经在大学环境中指导了100多名私人侦探。我与团队成员已经建立的个人关系将因他们在各自领域的专业知识而得到丰富。他们将帮助我完成研究目标，并指导我的职业发展。因此，这个项目将培养必要的能力和方法，以培养我成为一名独立的调查员，并可能成为下一代临床医生-科学家的领导者。相关性(见说明书)：药物洗脱隐形眼镜将提供眼药水的替代方案，后者是一种低效的递送系统，难以自我给药，含有导致过敏的防腐剂，与眼睛接触的时间有限，并且不能用于许多药物。更重要的是，它们将提供用一系列目前无法滴注的药物治疗眼病的可能性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): After completing my ophthalmology residency, I began a unique 2 year cornea fellowship at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary (MEEI). During the first year, I worked nearly exclusively on basic science research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the Langer Lab, mentored by Daniel Kohane, MD, PhD and Claes Dohlman, MD, PhD. Along with cornea tissue engineering projects, we developed a drug-eluting contact lens. My principal clinical interest is in the treatment of cornea diseases. For most patients there is no alternative to topical solutions (drops) for medications such as antibiotics used after eye surgery. In addition, bandage contact lenses are often used in conjunction with antibiotics. This research will endeavor to create a new mode of ocular drug delivery: drug-eluting contact lenses. The benchtop research will continue with experiments in design modification and drug release studies before progressing to animal studies. The in vivo research follows a natural progression from studying the drug-eluting contact lens's effect under normal, physiologic conditions to its use as a treatment of disease (bacterial keratitis and glaucoma). This mentored research project in chemical engineering, microbiology, and ocular drug delivery, in conjunction with the appropriate coursework, aims to develop competence in biotechnological approaches to medical problems and ocular drug delivery. I will continue the research under my current mentor Daniel Kohane, an expert in polymer drug delivery, and James Chodosh, an expert in animal disease models. MEEI is a leader in ophthalmic research. MIT's Langer lab offers a world-class education in polymer technology. The research will be conducted with the support of a team of scientists and clinician-scientists who have mentored over a 100 private investigators in university settings. The personal relationship that I already have with the team members will be enriched by their expertise in their respective fields. They will help me to accomplish the research aims and mentor my career development. Thus, this program will foster the abilities and approach necessary to train me to become an independent investigator and possibly a leader in the next generation of clinician-scientists. RELEVANCE (See instructions): Drug eluting contact lenses would provide an alternative to eye drops, which are inefficient delivery system that can be difficult to self-administer, contain allergy-inducing preservatives, have a limited contact time with the eye, and cannot be used for many medications. More importantly, they would offer the possibility of treating eye diseases with a host of medications that cannot currently be delivered in a drop form.