Event
BIOE Seminar: Dr. Andrew Mikhail, NIH
Friday, November 3, 2023
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room #2121
Jenna Mueller
mueller7@umd.edu
Andrew Mikhail
National Institutes of Health
Research Scientist
Engineering Biomaterials-based Drug Delivery Systems at the Nano-, Micro-, and Macro- Scales
Abstract
The concept of the “magic bullet”, proposed over a hundred years ago, envisioned a drug delivery system that could “bring therapeutically active groups to the organ in question”. Due to the toxic and non-specific nature of most chemotherapeutic agents, this concept is highly relevant to pharmacologic cancer therapy. Re-envisioned today, this concept requires optimization of drug delivery systems to provide spatio-temporal control of an expanding repertoire of anti-cancer agents. Moreover, next generation drug delivery systems may serve not only as inert drug carriers but as active agents or adjuvants with intrinsic immunologic or bioactive properties. Advancements in clinical imaging and minimally invasive devices now provide access to nearly all tissues and organs in the body, enabling local drug delivery with real-time imaging feedback regarding treatment coverage and adequacy. In this lecture, examples will be presented of drug delivery systems including liposomes, embolic drug-eluting microspheres, and hydrogels, with an emphasis on image-guidance and implications for immunomodulation. Translational research tools, such as a preclinical woodchuck hepatocellular carcinoma model and specimen-specific tissue sectioning molds for improved radiologic-pathologic correlation, will also be discussed.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Andrew S. Mikhail, PhD, is a Staff Scientist at the Center for Interventional Oncology in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center. His research goals include developing minimally invasive image-guided drug delivery systems, as well as drug-device combinations for treatment of cancers of the liver, bladder, and colon. Dr. Mikhail has expertise in multi-functional biomaterials, such as nano- and macro-scale injectable biomaterials, for applications in drug delivery and tissue engineering. He is particularly interested in leveraging engineering principles to design and evaluate next-generation biomaterials-based drug delivery systems and devices that enhance the safety and efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Mikhail completed undergraduate and master’s degrees in chemical engineering with specializations in biomaterials and biomedical engineering. In 2013, he received a doctoral degree from the University of Toronto after completing a collaborative program in pharmaceutical sciences and biomedical engineering. Dr. Mikhail completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Interventional Oncology at the NIH before becoming a Staff Scientist in 2020.
