Nonviral Gene Delivery
The delivery of biologics and nucleic acids are at the forefront of modern medicine. Although 70% of gene therapy clinical trials have been conducted using viral delivery agents, the recent approval of Onpattro confirms the viability of nonviral carriers. We are developing novel polymers, small molecules, and NPs for nucleic acid delivery. The multivalency of our polymers and nanoparticles combined with the ability to adjust the cation density, hydrophobicity, and hydrophilic shielding creates, what we believe to be, a promising portfolio of synthetic gene delivery agents that fall outside the lipid nanoparticle space.
Hybrid Materials from Biopolymers
Biopolymers are readily available, renewable, frequently biocompatible, and functional group rich. We are interested in utilizing our strong foundation in organic and polymer chemistry to manipulate the structure of biopolymers in order to invent new hybrid materials. We anticipate these new hybrid materials will exhibit interesting supramolecular chemistry as well as find practical applications as biomaterials.
Organoboron Chemistry
We have a longstanding interest in organoboron chemistry. Our particular focus inside of this large research space is the chemistry of boroxines–anhydrides of boronic acids. Boroxine 6-member rings systems are assembled reversibly under mild conditions. Their tripodal substitution pattern makes them ideal molecular scaffolds for the assembly of macromolecular architectures. We seek to advance the utility of boroxines as core motifs in molecular architectures. We seek to design and synthesize complex molecular designs that feature boroxines prominently and take advantage of their reversible assembly and Lewis acidty.
We have published several papers in this area. Please use the links below to explore our work in organoboron chemistry: