Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery
The Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery Cluster Area seeks to create and apply cutting-edge biomaterials for high-impact biomedical applications and to create paradigm-changing approaches and systems for advanced drug delivery.
Novel biomaterials are created to solve critical issues of the field: guide tissue regeneration, design highly selective, robust and biocompatible sensors, and alter surface chemistry to improve tissue/device interfaces. Likewise, we thrive to deliver difficult drugs (proteins, peptides, siRNA, insoluble anticancer drugs, vaccine antigens) in a targeted manner and to hard-to- reach places (cancer cells, brain, eye, lymph nodes) for prolonged periods of time (controlled release) in order to maximize therapeutic efficacy.
Our efforts in biomaterials include designing novel polymer-protein and polymer lipid composites for sensing of influenza virus, prostate cancer antigen and antibiotics. Surface engineering of biomaterials can lead to creation of non-wettable surfaces to control protein and cell adhesion, stem cell culture and differentiation. We blend and modify biocompatible polymers to improve mucoadhesion and stability of entrapped drug molecules. We cross-link phospholipid bilayers and develop lipid-peptide complexes to alter cell processing of biomaterials. We collectively contributed to an extensive toolbox of drug delivery platforms such as mucoadhesive gels, biodegradable implants, multicompartmental polymer nanoparticles, cross-linked liposomes for antigen delivery, and lipoprotein nanodisks. These platform technologies deliver a wide range of drug molecules and vaccine antigens with a focus on large molecule stability and delivery.
Multi-phasic particles of different shapes can be manufactured with precise control over particles geometry by the Wettability Engendered Templated Self-assembly (WETS) method.
Related Press Releases & Articles
- November 18, 2022 / Award
Moon receives Biosciences Initiative award
Congratulations to James Moon on being named a 2022 winner of the MBioFAR Award, which recognizes exceptional mid-career faculty in the biosciences.
- August 30, 2022 / Press Release
Durable coating kills the COVID virus and other germs in minutes
Polyurethane locks in the antimicrobial power of tea tree and cinnamon oils. The new technology from the Tuteja lab could start making public spaces safer within a year.
- August 12, 2022 / Press Release
Neuroregeneration and Cognition Challenge Seed Fund Awards
We are pleased to announce the funding selections for the MNI-BI 2022 Neuroregeneration and Cognition Challenge seed fund competition.
- August 4, 2022 / Award
2022 BI Innovator Awards
Congratulations to the 2022 BI Innovator Award Recipients. BI Innovator awards recognize members of the BI research community who are active participants in the research, innovation and translational ecosystem at BI and making a difference in our community.
- August 1, 2022 / Press Release
New members join BI’s External Advisory Board
BI welcomes Carl Gordon and Natasha Shervani of OrbiMed as new members of its External Advisory Board.
- June 22, 2022 / Award
$2.38M to test nano-engineered brain cancer treatment in mice
Joerg Lahann and Colin Greineder are part of the research team that received funding from the NIH to study a new nanomedicine that crosses the blood-brain barrier, engages the immune system and kills cancer cells may offer hope for treating the most aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma.
- June 10, 2022 / Press Release
New delivery method allows slow-release of broader array of peptide drugs in the body
A new study from the Schwendeman lab describes one of the first entirely new drug delivery microencapsulation approaches in decades.
- October 7, 2021 @ 9:00 am
BI Distinguished Lectureship Series with Dr. John S. Condeelis
Join us on October 7for a Distinguished Lecture by Dr. John S. Condeelis
- October 1, 2021 / Press Release
Moon Lab Developes New Nanoparticle
The new nanoparticle discovery will revolutionize intravenous cancer immunotherapy.
- August 3, 2021 / Award
Carlos Aguilar receives NSF CAREER Award
The project is entitled “CAREER: Understanding the Interdependence of the Microenvironment and Nuclear Organization in Stem Cell Aging.”
- July 22, 2021 / Press Release
BioInnovations in Brain Cancer launches faculty search
The BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Initiative (BIBC) at the University of Michigan invites applications for a tenure-track position at any level in brain cancer biology and technology research (including, drug/molecular transport/imaging in the brain tissue; translation-focused glioma, epigenetics and/or scRNA-seq research; and non-viral nucleic acid delivery).
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, but review of applications will begin on October 1, 2021.
- July 20, 2021 / Article
Tuteja Lab publishes review on repellent surface in Science
The Tuteja lab publishes a new review in Science on liquid-repelling surfaces and coatings.
- June 25, 2021 / Press Release
Tessier Lab Discovers New Protein Engineering Method
Researchers in the Tessier lab found a simple method for identifying nanobodies with drug-like properties suitable for preventing COVID-19 infections, which likely can be used to develop nanobodies against other viruses and disease targets.
- May 21, 2021 / Press Release
Faculty Promotions
Congratulations to James Moon, Sunitha Nagrath, Anna Schwendeman and Anish Tuteja on being promoted to Professor!
- May 17, 2021 / Award
2021 BI Innovator Awardees
Congratulations to the 2021 BI Innovator Award Recipients. BI Innovator awards recognize members of the BI research community who are active participants in the research, innovation and translational ecosystem at BI and making a difference in our community.
- April 1, 2021 / Article
Recent BI Publications
Publications from BI Research Groups in March
- March 1, 2021 / Article
Recent BI Publications
Publications from BI Research Groups in February
- February 1, 2021 / Article
Recent BI Publications
Publications from BI Research Groups in January
- December 9, 2020 / Award
Nick Kotov Elected to National Academy of Inventors
Professor Nick Kotov was elected to the 2020 Class of Fellows by the National Academy of Inventors
- December 1, 2020 / Article
Recent BI Publications
Publications from BI Research Groups in November
Our Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery Researchers
Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery Publications
Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery Technology
Cell and Tissue Engineering
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Learn MoreBioInnovations in Brain Cancer
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Joerg Lahann
Wolfgang Pauli Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering Research Focus: Single Cell Technologies, Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery, BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Contact Information:lahann@umich.eduResearch in the Lahann Lab focuses on surface engineering, advanced polymers, biomimetic materials, engineered stem cell microenvironments, drug delivery, and nano-scale self-assembly.
Jinsang Kim
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Macromolecular Science and Engineering and Chemistry; Director Academic Programs, Macromolecular Science and Engineering Research Focus: Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery Contact Information:jinsang@umich.eduKim’s Smart Functional Polymer Lab explores functional polymeric materials and their nanostructural assembly to develop advanced polymeric objects. The research focuses on the rational molecular design, chemical and/or biological synthesis, and molecular assembly of functional polymers.
James Moon
J. G. Searle Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Professor of Biomedical Engineering Research Focus: Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery, BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Contact Information:moonjj@umich.eduThe Moon Group develops therapeutics and diagnostics at the interface of immunology and engineering. Research addresses drug delivery systems for enhancing delivery of antigen and adjuvant to lymphoid organs and manipulating immune functions in the context of cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmunity.
Anish Tuteja
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Macromolecular Science and Engineering, and Chemical Engineering Research Focus: Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery Contact Information:atuteja@umich.eduThe Tuteja Group research is in surface science, including developing super-omniphobic surfaces (surfaces on which liquids bead up and roll- off). They have developed a novel technique to fabricate nano- and micro- particles of any size, shape, or chemistry. The developed particles’ shape, size, and composition can be used to engineer bio-distribution, skin or lung uptake, intra-cellular localization, and cell response.
Steven Schwendeman
Ara G. Paul Professor and Department Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Professor of Biomedical Engineering Research Focus: BioInnovations in Brain Cancer, Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery Contact Information:schwende@umich.eduThe Schwendeman Group develops advanced polymer-based controlled drug delivery approaches including vaccine delivery from poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA); PLGA nanoparticle formulation; and development of mucoadhesive polymers/formulations for intraoral and intranasal delivery.
Peter Tessier
Albert M. Mattocks Professor of Pharmacy; Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemical Engineering Research Focus: Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery, Nanotechnology, BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Contact Information:ptessier@umich.eduThe Tessier lab aims to develop next generation technologies for designing, discovering, engineering, characterizing, formulating and delivering biologics ranging from small affinity peptides to large monoclonal antibodies for molecular imaging, diagnostic and therapeutic applications.