Date/Time
Date(s) - 03/21/2024
4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location
HPNP 1404
Categories
Shah Lecture: Thursday, March 21, 2024, 4-5 PM | UF HPNP 1404
Reception/Dinner Following the Lecture: Thursday, March 21, 2024, 5-7 PM | UF HPNP Lobby
Can’t attend in person? Join us via Zoom.
NOTE: Reception attendees must pre-register.
Lecture Title: TRANSLATION OF MICRONEEDLE TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE LAB TO THE CLINIC
Mark R. Prausnitz, Ph.D.
Regents’ Professor, J. Erskine Love Jr. Chair in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Director of the Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery
Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract:
Many tissue barriers that limit access to the body exist on the micron length scale. We are therefore developing microneedle technologies that selectively cross these barriers in a minimally invasive way to improve drug delivery and other medical applications.
In this presentation, we will discuss the development of microneedle patches to simplify vaccination, as exemplified in clinical trials of influenza vaccination and measles/rubella vaccination; the adaptation of microneedles to serve as electrodes for an ultra-low-cost method of electroporation using a piezoelectric device for DNA vaccine delivery; incorporation of microneedles into millimeter-scale particles called STAR particles that enable increased drug delivery to the skin over large areas for dermatological applications; use of microneedles “in reverse” to collect interstitial fluid from the skin as a novel source of biomarkers; and development of hollow microneedles for targeted drug delivery to the eye that forms the basis for an FDA-approved product to treat ocular inflammation.
Bio:
Dr. Mark R. Prausnitz is Regents’ Professor, Regents’ Entrepreneur and J. Erskine Love, Jr. Chair in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He researches biophysical methods of drug delivery using microneedles, lasers, ionic liquids, and other microdevices for transdermal, ocular and intracellular delivery of drugs and vaccines. He has published more than 330 journal articles, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and has co-founded eight start-up companies including Micron Biomedical and Clearside Biomedical.
