Education
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico -Mayaguez, 2015 - 2020
PhD Student, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers University, 2020 - Present
Research Interests
Drug delivery, disease treatment, infectious diseases, cancer, gene/cell therapy
Research Summary
Bacterial biofilms pose a huge challenge to the medical industries since it shields bacteria from hostile environments and lethal antimicrobials, which is increasingly concerning with the rise of already antibiotic resistant strains. Our lab focuses on Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) biofilms, primarily in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disorder caused by a mutation in the CF transmembrane regulator (CFTR) protein, which leads to the accumulation of thick and viscous mucus in the lungs and other organs. PA is the leading cause of chronic infections in CF patients. Due to the thick mucosal and biofilm barriers poor treatment efficacy of antimicrobials is achieved, even at significantly high concentrations. Our lab studies the potential use of polyelectrolyte surfactant (PS) nanoparticles for enhanced and controlled delivery of antimicrobials through the mucus and biofilms. With this in mind we have developed a small library of PS that are currently being tested for nanoparticle stability, size, release, surfactant properties, and biofilm eradication efficiency. Preliminary results demonstrate that some of these formulations form stable nanoparticles and enhance biofilm eradication. In parallel, we are developing artificial mucus that can compare to that of cystic fibrosis patients in terms of composition and viscoelastic properties. Our goal is to use this to model the transport of these nanoparticles through the mucus layer by means of a transwell assay.