Location
Innovation Lab Atrium
Start Date
4-2-2025 2:00 PM
End Date
4-2-2025 3:30 PM
Presentation Date
2 April 2025, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Biography
Noah Sparks is a senior chemical engineering student with a passion for medical research. Noah believes that no treatment is perfect, and it is only through continual research that more patients can be helped. Research holds a special place for Noah not only because of the joy of discovery but it is how he believes he can make the lives of others better. Over the course of his undergraduate years, he has built up experience with drug transport particles that culminates in his senior research. He hopes to take this experience as an OURE Fellow and apply it to a future career in the biochemical research field.
Meeting Name
2025 - Miners Solving for Tomorrow Research Conference
Department(s)
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Document Type
Poster
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
event
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 The Authors, All rights reserved
Included in
Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering Commons, Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons
Carrier Analysis of ALC Lipid Nanoparticles with Lung Cancer Drug
Innovation Lab Atrium
Comments
Advisor: Hu Yang
Abstract:
Recently polarized lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have been used to advance the field of drug transport and delivery. For instance, Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine uses ALC LNPs to transport an mRNA drug to the target site. In this study I synthesized ALC LNPs carrying a chemotherapy drug called Paclitaxel (Pac) to attempt to enhance the therapeutic treatment of lung cancer. In previously conducted research ALC LNPs demonstrated a high transfection efficiency (~93%) for lung cancer, showing they could be used for treatment. My ALC LNPs were analyzed to obtain their size, zeta potential, drug encapsulation efficiency, drug release rate, and cytotoxicity and then compared against free drug samples. The findings indicate ALC LNPs are capable of encapsulating Paclitaxel efficiently (85% encapsulation), reducing cytotoxicity, and controlling drug release. This suggests that ALC LNPs can enhance therapeutic effects and reduce side effects of chemotherapy drugs by increasing circulation time and controlling drug release.