Leveraging commensal microbes for novel therapeutics

Our research interests lie at the intersection of polymer chemistry/drug delivery, microbiology, and the microbiome/bioinformatics. Specifically, we use polymer chemistry and rational materials design principles to engineer responsive carriers for therapies to target microbiota communities. We develop novel therapies to address diseases at a range of distal tissues that are associated with microbiota composition.

 Major research thrusts

We are interested in designing novel stimuli-responsive polymeric materials as carriers for a range of cargo to target and influence the composition of the microbiome/metabolome. Our materials are used to target different microbiome microenvironments (gut, vaginal) to address localized and systemic disorders (antimicrobial resistant infections, GI disorders, cancer, bacterial vaginosis, neurological disorders).

We are also interested in characterizing material-microbe interactions and improving our understanding of how the chemical composition of the material influences the microbiome community that it comes in contact with.

We use cutting edge multi-omics (shotgun metagenomics, metabolomics, 16S rRNA sequencing) bioinformatic tools and anaerobic culturing to determine the therapeutic effect of novel materials and molecules on the microbiota.