NOVO NORDISK FOUNDATION-SPONSORED VISITING SCHOLAR FELLOWSHIP RESEARCH PROJECT - 2018

Visiting Scholar: Anton Smith (Aarhus University)

Stanford Faculty Advisors: Eric Appel (Materials Science and Engineering), Andy Spakowitz (Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering)
 

Biomimetic polymers facilitating biopharmaceutical applications

Therapeutic peptides and proteins are a major frontier in the development of new therapies.  This includes treatments for endocrine disorders, cancer, and autoimmune diseases to name a few.  These endeavors are challenging due to the inherent instability of the proteins, which makes production and design of stable formulations difficult.  In addition to this, tailoring the pharmacokinetic properties of therapeutic proteins adds another level of complexity in the clinical translation.  Anton works towards creating a toolbox of synthetic polymers that can address these challenges.  Using recent advances in controlled radical polymers, he aims to create polymeric chaperones and excipients to ease production and increase stability of therapeutic proteins.  This is done in tandem with developing protein-polymer hybrids, allowing control of the pharmacokinetic properties of the protein.