Seminar Series
“Nanoparticles, the Central Nervous System, and Opportunities for Therapy”
Rachael Sirianni, Ph.D.
Professor, Vice Chair of Research
Department of Neurological Surgery, UMass Chan Medical School
Monday, September 09, 2024
GP 1002
12:00pm – 12:50pm
Abstract: The blood-brain barrier (BBB) remains a primary obstacle to effective treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disease, preventing most peripherally circulating substances from reaching the brain parenchyma at effective levels. Although progress has been made to chemically modify small molecules, biologics, and nanoparticle systems to target their delivery across the BBB, robust, generalizable approaches have not been realized. What are the real barriers to CNS drug delivery, and how can we engineer new therapeutics – or perhaps the body itself – to enable treatment of neurological and neurosurgical conditions? This talk will overview principles of CNS drug delivery and describe various approaches, past and present, to enable effective treatment of disease. This work will highlight examples of nanoparticle engineering for primary and metastatic brain cancer, brain injury, cognition, and neuroprotection, as well as tissue engineering work focused on modeling the ultrastructure and physiology of the subarachnoid space. These ideas are presented with a forward-thinking outlook to challenge the next generation of scientists to think differently about how biomedical engineers can develop new technologies for the CNS and impact clinical care.
Biography: Dr. Rachael Sirianni is appointed as Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Neurological Surgery in UMass Chan Medical School, where she also serves as founding Director of Bridging Engineering and Medicine (BEAM), a workforce development initiative designed to enhance translational training opportunities and collaborative research for undergraduate engineers within the UMass system. Dr. Sirianni earned her doctorate in Biomedical Engineering from Yale University in 2008, which was followed by a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship in Diagnostic Radiology at the Yale School of Medicine. Since 2011, her faculty career has engaged multiple hospitals, research centers, and academic institutions to develop a research program that balances fundamental investigation and engineering science with translationally oriented therapeutic development work in the central nervous system (CNS). Dr. Sirianni’s Laboratory for Nanomedicine carries strength in nanoparticle engineering, tissue and cellular targeting, imaging, and preclinical models of CNS disease, including specific medical interest in pediatric neuro-oncology and neuroprotection. Dr. Sirianni has recently shifted interest from traditional BBB targeting and local delivery strategies in the CNS toward engineering nanoparticles for effective small molecule delivery to the CNS via cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), i.e., intrathecal administration. In sum, this CNS-oriented research program been continuously funded by federal sources for the past decade, yielding over 40 primary research articles, 5 patented technologies, and new clinical trials focused on intrathecal chemotherapy in otherwise untreatable pediatric brain cancer.
For a zoom link please contact Kate Harrison at kharrison@wpi.edu