NDSU has been awarded a grant of $351,764 from the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation Program, funded under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009.
The grant, under the direction of Sanku Mallik, professor of pharmaceutical sciences, will provide highly specialized equipment for faculty, graduate and undergraduate research in biomaterials. The award will fund an automatic isothermal titration microcalorimeter. Currently 10 faculty researchers and more than 40 graduate and undergraduate students at NDSU and the University of South Dakota are studying the interactions of peptide nanofibers, lipid- and polymer-based nanoparticles with proteins, DNA fragments, aptamers, antibodies and groundwater contaminants.
The research collaboration includes Shek Hang Law and Jagdish Singh, NDSU Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Dean Webster, NDSU Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials; and Daniel Engebretson, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of South Dakota.
The instrumentation will be located in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Instrumentation Core Facility in Sudro Hall at NDSU. The new equipment at NDSU also is expected to benefit high school students affiliated with NDSU’s science outreach programs, such as the North Dakota Governor’s School and the Indians in Pharmacy program to encourage careers in science and technology. The equipment also will be used in undergraduate and graduate courses in pharmaceutical sciences and coatings and polymeric materials.
The instrumentation will enhance several research programs currently under way, including:
• Research on methods to attach anti-cancer drugs to nanoparticles and targeting molecules so particles only enter the cancer cells
• Research in the areas of diagnostics, drug design and drug delivery for the prevention and treatment of cancer
• Drug delivery research efforts directed toward mechanistic studies for developing novel delivery technologies for biotechnologically derived molecules (e.g., peptide, protein and plasmid DNA)
• Research to develop biodegradable and biocompatible smart polymeric delivery systems that can release encapsulated proteins over months
• Research leading to formulations of liposome based artificial antibodies that have the potential to inhibit and detect any protein to a very high degree of selectivity, as usually accomplished by natural antibodies
• Developing assays that ultimately can enable screening for disease in humans and animals
• Research to design novel polymer-based materials on a molecular level that will impact the design of new high-performance materials
“Enhancing instrumentation and research infrastructure strengthens the ability of faculty researchers to contribute to knowledge in their fields and generate discoveries. It also increases research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students,” says Philip Boudjouk, vice president for research, creative activities and technology transfer at NDSU. “In addition, the equipment enhances opportunities for future research collaborations.”