Engineered Polymers for Nucleic Acid Therapies

Nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA offer exceptional opportunities to fight against infectious and genetic diseases. To use nucleic acids effectively in a clinical setting, one needs to use effective delivery vehicles that can deliver the nucleic acids into the diseased cells. This project will develop effective delivery systems for this purpose. The delivery systems will be used to deliver RNA and DNA based therapeutic agents in 2 diseases, namely Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and hematological cancers. We will develop specific drugs against these diseases and test them in culture and animal models of the diseases. Successful completion of this project will advance the therapies towards clinical testing.

Faculty Supervisor:

Hasan Uludag;Vinay Prasad

Student:

Amarnath Praphakar Rajendran;Daniel Nisekar;Mohammad Nasrullah

Partner:

RJH Biosciences Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Alberta