Event
BIOE Seminar: Sticky Solutions: Engineering Retention for Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy
Friday, October 16, 2026
9:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room #2121
Sara Molinari
saramol@umd.edu
Juliane Nguyen
Professor and Vice Chair
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sticky Solutions: Engineering Retention for Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy
Abstract
A persistent challenge in treatment delivery is ensuring that drugs, cells, and microbes accumulate and persist at diseased sites long enough to provide substantial therapeutic benefit.
In the heart, this limitation has constrained the efficacy of therapeutics, such as nanocarriers and cells, for myocardial infarction. To address this, we developed an in situ crosslinking strategy where each administered dose of therapeutic acts as a capturing surface for subsequent doses, thereby amplifying targetable surface area and creating localized depots. Using this approach, we engineered Zippersomes, extracellular vesicles derived from mesenchymal stem cells. We equipped them with complementary leucine zippers that bind tightly to one another. Zippersomes showed increased accumulation and prolonged retention in the heart, leading to substantial improvements in cardiac function. Similarly, we created ZipperCells, mesenchymal stem cells engineered to display zipper proteins on their surface. These cells migrate to damaged tissue, where zipper-mediated binding creates “living depots” that persist at the injury site and promote tissue repair.
Beyond the heart, a similar challenge arises in the gastrointestinal tract, where therapeutic microbes must compete against trillions of resident bacteria and are rapidly cleared. To address this, we engineered the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii to bind extracellular matrix proteins enriched at sites of inflammation. This targeted strategy prolonged gut residence, supported robust microbial persistence, and yielded substantial improvements in both inflammatory markers and histological recovery in models of colitis.
Bio
Dr. Juliane Nguyen is Professor and Vice Chair in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also serves as the founding director of the NIH-funded C3 Drug Delivery CTSA T32 Predoctoral Training Program. Dr. Nguyen leads an interdisciplinary lab to develop biotherapeutics for myocardial infarction, colitis, cancer, and other diseases by merging molecular engineering with pharmaceutical sciences. She has overseen a portfolio of research projects totaling more than $24 million. Dr. Nguyen has received several honors recognizing her leadership and impact in drug delivery and pharmacoengineering. She received the Controlled Release Society (CRS) Samyang Award for innovations and contributions to the field of drug delivery (2026) and was elected by the members of the Controlled Release Society to serve as Director-at-Large (2026–2029). She was named a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and a Fellow of the Controlled Release Society (CRS). Her earlier distinctions include the Galenus Guest Professorship at ETH Zurich, the AAPS Emerging Leader Award, the Biomedical Engineering Society-CMBE Young Innovator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, the UB Exceptional Young Investigator Award, and the NYSTAR Faculty Award. Dr. Nguyen is passionate about mentoring and training the next generation of scientists. She has advised more than 90 trainees (postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, and undergraduate students) many of whom have gone on to leadership positions in academia, industry, and government. She also organized the inaugural “Future Leaders Launchpad,” an initiative focused on preparing young scientists for academic and industry leadership through mentorship, career strategy, and networking opportunities. She served as a member of the NIH Drug and Biologic Therapeutic Delivery (DBTD) and Gene and Drug Delivery (GDD) study sections (2021-2025). Additionally, Dr. Nguyen is the Executive Editor of Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, the Associate Editor of CMBE, and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Controlled Release.
