| Title | Development of a novel drug formulation for the treatment of lung cancer. |
|---|---|
| Supervisors | not found cdes10 Alexander Mullen |
| Research Area | Drug discovery, formulation and delivery, Health and Well-being |
| Description | There are 1.3 million new cases of lung cancer per year world-wide and it has one of the lowest survival rates. In this project we will reformulate an existing cancer drug into a drug delivery system to target the drug to the cancer cells. One way to improve the therapeutic outcome is to reformulate existing drugs into a drug delivery system which could directly target the lung tumours and/or modify the in vivo pharmacokinetic profile so that the drug resides at the tumour site at therapeutic concentrations for longer to ameliorate or resolve disease. The type of drug delivery system can depend on the route of administration and in this project both the pulmonary and oral routes will be investigated. This project will involve production on novel drug formulations and the assessment of their characteristics e.g. drug entrapment, pharmacokinetic profile and in vitro and in vivo efficacy against different cancer cell lines. |
| Techniques Used | The project will involve a range of techniques aseptic tissue culture, maintenance of cancer cell lines, in vivo and in vivo studies, the use of the IVIS® imaging system and molecular studies and HPLC studies. The candidate would require a Home Office animal licence to cover the intended in vivo studies. |
| References | 1. Pontes JF, Grenha A. Multifunctional Nanocarriers for Lung Drug Delivery.Nanomaterials (Basel). 2020 Jan 21;10(2). pii: E183. 2. Carter KC, Puig-Sellart M. Nanocarriers Made from Non-Ionic Surfactants or Natural Polymers for Pulmonary Drug Delivery. Curr Pharm Des. 2016;22(22):3324-31.3. 3. Scott FJ, Puig-Sellart M, Khalaf AI, Henderson CJ, Westrop G, Watson DG, Carter K, Grant MH, Suckling CJ. An evaluation of Minor Groove Binders as anti-lung cancer therapeutics. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2016 Aug 1;26(15):3478-86. |
| Conditions | Applicants should possess or be about to obtain a 1st class or 2:1 Honours degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline in addition to receipt of satisfactory references and an IELTS score of 6.5 where appropriate. |
| Bench Fee | Running costs of £10000 p.a. will be associated with this project in addition to University tuition fees. |
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