Bioelectronic materials and devices for smart drug delivery (BioEMat)

Millions of people suffer from neurological disorders for which there are few, if any, viable treatment options. Meanwhile, many promising drugs designed to treat neurological disorders fail in late-stage testing because of the inability to reach the desired target within the brain and/or due to interactions with healthy regions that cause serious side effects. I have developed an innovation solution to these problems: a minimally invasive bioelectronic device that can electrophoretically deliver drugs when and where they are needed. My most recent research demonstrated that such a device can prevent seizures by delivering inhibitory neural transmitters to the seizure source. These results have evoked visions of a platform technology for personalized medicine that could revolutionize treatment for neurological disorders, including epilepsy. However, there are significant challenges related to materials and device engineering that require further break-throughs for this technology to reach its full potential. These challenges include overcoming electrode capacitance limitations, engineering implants to respond to biomarkers of disease, and realizing long term
tissue compliance and efficacy of drug delivery. I will leverage my extensive experience with state-of-the-art materials, devices and neurological applications to take a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary approach to overcoming these critical challenges. The research plan will comprise developing new bioelectronic materials and device concepts and validating them in disease models for epilepsy - a disorder for which 30% of patients do not respond to conventional drug treatments. Altogether these efforts will accelerate electronically controlled drug delivery devices towards large-scale implementation in the clinic to the benefit of the many who are afflicted with intractable neurological disorders.