Nasal to brain delivery through designed functional polymeric nanocarrier

This project is lead by:

Mr. Nawfel Abdullah

Thesis Title: “Investigating the delivery and mechanisms of novel dementia and glioblastoma therapeutics.”

PhD Student – Thurecht Group, University of Queensland

Profile

Summary

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) acts as one of the most protective and impeding barriers to be overcome for material delivery to the brain. In the case of treating different neurodegenerative diseases this can often make brain-targeted delivery of many neurotherapeutics exorbitantly challenging. However, a nasal to brain administration route involving the olfactory region offers an advantageous, brain-directed, fast drug transportation pathway that successfully circumvents the BBB. Hyperbranched polymers (HBP) are promising drug delivery vectors due to their structural flexibility and multi-functionality whereas choline and its derivatives are well-recognized for their potential absorption-enhancing properties. Hence, the main objectives of this ongoing study is to evaluate the possible role of a choline-based mucoadhesive hyperbranched polymeric nanocarriers in facilitating the nose-to-brain delivery. Further we will be able to study it as an experimental neurotherapeutic as well as to determine the precise brain-targeted drug delivery mechanism with a major focus on olfactory pathway following the drug’s intranasal (IN) administration compared to its simple solution.

People

This project is a PhD project for Nawfel Abdullah, for which I am a co-supervisor. This project is a result from my initial work in preparing nanomaterials for the treatment of brain cancer. People other than Nawfel and myself who are involved in the project are listed below with their roles and affiliations (see affiliations by superscript below).

  • Dewan T. Akhter1,2,3 – Co-supervisor and polymer chemist
  • Nicholas L. Fletcher1,2,3 – Co-supervisor and imaging specialist
  • Craig A. Bell1,2,3 – Co-supervisor and polymer chemist
  • Kristofer J. Thurecht1,2,3,4 – Primary supervisor

Affiliations

  1. Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
  2. Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
  3. ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent BioNano Science and Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
  4. ARC Training Centre for Innovation in Biomedical Imaging Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia