Start Date: | 4/4/2014 | Start Time: | 4:00 PM |
End Date: | 4/4/2014 | End Time: | 5:30 PM |
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Event Description Yinghui Zhong, PhD, assistant professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems at Drexel University, will discuss how traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) causes partial or complete loss of sensory, motor, and autonomic functions below the injury site. Currently, there are no effective treatments for SCI. Many mechanisms and molecules contribute to secondary injury. However, current treatment strategies are highly specific, targeting only one or a few elements in the injury cascades and have been largely unsuccessful in clinical trials. Minocycline (MH) is a highly promising therapeutic agent for SCI because it has been shown to target a broad range of secondary injury mechanisms and protect neural tissue from multiple neurotoxic insults after SCI via its anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-apoptotic properties. However, the inability to translate the high doses (45-90 mg/kg) of MH used in experimental animals to tolerable doses (3-6 mg/kg) in human patients limits its clinical application for SCI treatment. Dr. Zhong and her team's laboratory developed a novel drug delivery mechanism: metal ion binding-mediated interaction. This mechanism allows controlled and sustained release of drugs that have high binding affinity for metal ions from biocompatible and biodegradable natural polymers. Based on this mechanism, they have developed novel MH-containing particles for local delivery of high dose, bioactive MH that systemic administration cannot achieve, while avoiding the deleterious side effects from systemic exposure. Further, an injectable hydrogel was used for particle encapsulation and local administration. For more info, please visit: www.biomed.drexel.edu. |
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Location: Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building (PISB), Room 120, located at the corner of 33rd and Chestnut Streets. |
Audience: AlumniInternational StudentsCurrent StudentsFacultyProspective StudentsPublicStaffGraduate Students |
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