Papavasiliou
Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) professor of biomedical engineering Georgia Papavasiliou, PhD, and her team are developing a novel ointment to treat chronically infected diabetic wounds that fail to heal, such as diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). They have received a second round of funding from the Pilot and Feasibility Program at University of Chicago’s Diabetes Research and Training Center to advance their work. The team’s approach examines the problems with current ointment manufacturing processes and forges a new path for controlled and sustained delivery of multiple therapeutics from a single ointment.
As most diabetic wounds develop a bacterial biofilm that makes bacteria stick together as well as to surfaces, including the wound bed, Papavasiliou has been collaborating with Associate Professor Seok Hoon Hong, PhD, from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, to identify compounds that will both disperse an existing biofilm and suppress its regrowth.
Papavasiliou and S.C. Johnson Professor of Chemical Engineering Fouad Teymour, PhD, have developed a polymerization process to produce biocompatible ointments that contain multiple types of hydrogel nanoparticles. Each nanoparticle type can be precisely constructed to encase each drug and release it for the desired duration needed to perform its therapeutic mechanism of action. The nanoparticles are produced within the ointment phase, and the entire product can be delivered directly to wounded tissue to release the drugs on a set schedule for up to 40 days.
The team is currently testing a version of the ointment that contains 3 drugs with different functions, aiming to eradicate biofilms and, at the same time, promote blood vessel growth to stop the cycle of reinfection.
