Sunny Lu
BME PhD Defense Presentation

Date: 2025-11-13
Time: 3:30 PM-5:30 PM
Location / Meeting Link: IBB Suddath Room / https://gatech.zoom.us/j/96201482890

Committee Members:
Mark Prausnitz, PhD (Advisor); Marcus Cicerone, PhD; James Dahlman, PhD; Ravi Kane, PhD; Gitika Panicker, PhD 


Title: Development of Microneedle Patches for HPV Vaccination and Dry Powder API Fabrication

Abstract:
Drugs are most commonly administered through the oral route or through injections. However, oral administration can lead to low bioavailability of the drug and is not suitable for many drugs, whereas injections can lead to low patient compliance due to needle phobia, pain, and expertise required for administration. An alternative for these routes is a microneedle patch (MNP) which contains an array of needles that are each hundreds of microns in length. MNP is easy to administer, can help increase the thermostability of drugs, and can dissolve after administration so that no biohazardous sharps waste is generated after use. In the first part of this thesis, we aim to formulate a MNP for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine delivery and thermostabilization to help improve access to HPV vaccine, especially in developing regions. In this study, we were able to fabricate MNPs for delivery of adjuvant-free, bivalent HPV vaccine that was stable at 40 °C for 6 months and that was as immunogenic as commercial adjuvanted HPV vaccine in in vivo mouse model. In the second part of this thesis, we developed a new approach for MNP fabrication that eliminates the need to dissolve and dry sensitive drugs during the fabrication process. In this approach, MNPs were made by suspending drug particles in an organic solvent with dissolved polymer guided by a workflow we developed to select organic solvents and polymers to enable rational design of the suspension formulation. Using this approach, we were able to fabricate MNPs for delivery of a variety of drugs, such as lyophilized tetanus toxoid vaccine, methotrexate, and insulin.