Dr. Meredith Mintzer (Boston University)
Dr. Meredith Mintzer, a Postdoctoral Fellow from the laboratory of Prof. Mark Grinstaff, Boston University, Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr Mintzer is using Izon’s instruments in research into drug delivery systems. The Grinstaff group pursues highly interdisciplinary research in the areas of biomedical engineering and macromolecular chemistry with the goal of elucidating the underlying fundamental chemistry and engineering principles of drug delivery systems.
What are the main research interests of your group?
One of the major efforts in the Grinstaff group focuses on designing new nanoparticle compositions that possess an alternative delivery mechanism whereby a hydrophobic to hydrophilic transition is triggered by a physiologic stimulus, resulting in swelling of the nanoparticles and rapid release of their contents. The potential benefit of this approach is the intracellular release of the drug, giving high local concentrations at the site of delivery with low systemic exposure.
How are you using the qNano in your research?
To characterize the expansile nanoparticles synthesized by the Grinstaff group, it is essential that we effectively measure the diameter of the particles both before and after the swelling occurs. While our initial studies evaluated the size of the nanoparticles using dynamic light scattering, limitations with this technique led us to look for alternative measuring strategies. Fortunately, the qNano allows us to determine the diameter of the nanoparticles as well as measure the concentrations of different sized particles as a sample expands and becomes more polydisperse.
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