Supervisor:
Program of Study:
PhD, Molecular and Macromolecular Sciences
Project Title:
Peptide conjugated chemotherapeutics for breast cancer treatment
Scholarships and/or awards:
- BHCRI GIVETOLIVE Graduate Award – 2024 $17,850
Lay Research Summary:
Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer in women worldwide. Chemotherapy, radiation and surgery are the most common types of treatments for breast cancer patients. Unfortunately, high toxicity, low selectivity, and a wide range of undesired side effects are commonly associated with these therapies. Immunotherapy, where the patient’s own immune system is exploited to eliminate tumor cells, has become one of the most prominent cancer treatment approaches, in the last decade. Cancer immunotherapy can stimulate and/or promote the immune system of the body to attack and kill tumor cells, with the goal of improving anti-tumor immunity, while reducing off-target effects of chemotherapeutics. However, establishing strategies that maintain patient safety and can successfully modulate the immune response remains challenging. Peptide-based materials hold great promise as immunomodulatory agents for the treatment of cancer. This research is aimed to synthesize immunomodulatory peptides conjugated chemotherapeutics and to evaluate their immunomodulation and anticancer efficacies.
Career aspirations:
My elder brother passed away from cancer when he was 41 years old. Involvement in the field of cancer research gives me and my family hope that others will not have to go through the same tragedy.
Location:
University of Prince Edward Island
Publications:
Polymer brushes: Synthesis, characterization, properties and applications.. Progress in Materials Science. .https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2022.101000
Biomimetic and hydrophilic vitamin B5 analogous methacrylamide polymers prevent surface fouling. ACS applied Polymer Materials. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.1c01505
Synthesis and Characterization of 4-arm Star-Shaped Amphiphilic Block Copolymers Consisting of Poly(ethylene oxide) and Poly(ε-caprolactone). RSC Advances https://doi.org/10.1039/C8RA05000G
Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy of Clotrimazole by Delivery through Poly(ethylene oxide) block-poly(ε-caprolactone) Copolymer Based Micelles. Journal of Applied Polymer Science https://doi.org/10.1002/app.47769
Chromatographic Characterization of Amphiphilic Di- and Tri-block Copolymers of Poly(ethylene oxide) and Poly(ε-caprolactone)’ Journal of Separation Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1002/jssc.201800465
Morphological selectivity of the films of linear and star-shaped poly (ε-caprolactone). Journal of Material Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05735-8
The selectivity of Poly(2-vinylpyridine-block-methyl methacrylate) Copolymer Films: An AFM study. RSC Advances https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA00831D
Preparation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)-doped epoxy-based thin PDLC films (smart glass). Polymer Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-021-03670-5
Star-shaped Poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(caprolactone) Conjugated Silver Nanoparticles: Colorimetric Probe for Cephalexin in Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Samples. Microchemical Journal https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2019.104048
A Novel and Efficient Colorimetric Assay for Quantitative Determination of Amlodipine in Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Samples. Chemistry Select https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.201902334
Study of Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) Thin Film Technology for Smart Electronic Devices https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11664-023-10749-4
Why only half of the added ansa-metallocene catalyst active in the E/P/diene polymerization: catalyst evaluation in terms of active center [Zr]/[C*] fraction and polymerization propagation rate constants. Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part A. https://doi.org/10.1080/10601325.2023.2212704.