Veronica Montgomery

BME PhD Thesis Proposal Presentation

Date: July 14

Time: 2-4 pm

Location: Bluejeans (join info at end of email) 

Committee members: Mark Prausnitz (advisor), Mark Styczynski, Neha Garg, James Dahlman, Krish Roy

Title: Engineering the Skin Microbiome for Drug Delivery 

Abstract: 

Topical drug delivery is convenient for patients because the skin is a highly accessible tissue that allows simple self-application of therapies. However, topical drug delivery formulations are limited in their ability to deliver drugs for long periods of time, which limits their suitability for chronic conditions. The skin microbiome, which consists of many commensal species of bacteria that can colonize the skin for months to years, could be used to address these limitations if commensal bacteria were engineered to act as a long-term drug delivery platform for the skin. The objective of this proposal is to evaluate a bacteria-based drug delivery platform for topical therapy using Bacillus subtilis, a genetically tractable organism that is found in the skin microbiome. The feasibility of using Bacillus subtilis as a skin drug delivery platform will be assessed using in vitro and in vivo skin models, with green fluorescent protein as a proof of concept. Finally, two potential applications of this platform will be explored by engineering Bacillus subtilis to overproduce the antifungal molecule iturin A and the mosquito repelling molecule 2-phenylethanol.

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Meeting ID

645 365 153

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