Women in Cancer Research Mini Seminar Series: Stavroula Sofou

Description

Dr. Stavroula Sofou, an associate professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and an associate faculty member at the Institute for NanoBioTechnology, will give a talk entitled "Impenetrable Tumors and Untargetable Cancers: Engineering Nanocarrier Surfaces to do the (Apparently) Impossible" as part of the Women in Cancer Research Mini Seminar Series.

This series is hosted by the Johns Hopkins Physical Sciences-Oncology Center.

Dr. Sofou's team's research uses model lipid membranes in the form of vesicles to study phase transitions; the goal is to use phase separated lipid domains to direct the vesicles' surface topography and functionality, and the vesicles' membrane permeability and fusogenicity. Integration of these processes on nanometer-sized lipid vesicles used as drug delivery carriers may precisely control their interactions with diseased cells increasing therapeutic efficacy while minimizing toxicities.

Examples of improving the therapeutic potential in chemotherapy and alpha-particle radiotherapy will be presented using vesicles that bind SINGLE cell surface receptors, and engineered approaches to overcome transport limitations in solid tumors.