Richmond, Virginia, United States
Oral inhalation (OI) is a promising alternative to traditional routes of administration for the regional and systemic delivery of therapeutics to and through the lungs. Even greater opportunities may lie ahead if recent advances in nanomedicine can be translated to such non-invasive delivery routes. For example, the rate of dissolution of poorly water soluble drugs can be greatly enhanced by decreasing the size (increasing the surface area) of drug crystals. Poorly water soluble drugs have wide application in treating lung diseases. Polymeric nanocarriers (PNCs) can also be used as efficient vehicles for the delivery of nucleotides and other therapeutic biomolecules. Moreover, PNCs can be designed so as to target specific cell organelles or for the controlled release of therapeutics, which could find applications in treating a host of diseases including cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis, and other systemic diseases such as diabetes.
Department of Pharmaceutics School of Pharmacy & Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering School of Engineering