In-vitro sensing of aerosol delivery and efficacy of chemotherapy drugs targeting lung disease

Respiratory diseases are among the most deadly diseases and have a high global prevalence [1, 2]. For treatment, the delivery of aerosolized drugs to target the endobronchial or pleural space, respectively for lung cancer or mesothelioma, has shown promise. However, further studies on drug screening and delivery efficacy are required. The design of in vitro biomimetic lung models, which incorporate 3D cell cultures on scaffolds for sensing, is thus an interesting topic to investigate. The proposed PhD project will explore the intersection of biology and engineering, aiming to bridge the gap and support the acceleration of targeted therapies for lung disease treatment. Exploiting the combined expertise from Daly's and Owens' group, we will build a greater understanding of (i) droplet delivery to tissue phantoms and tissue, (ii) aerosol delivery within the relevant respiratory spaces, (iii) in vitro chemotherapeutics tracking within tissue, and (iv) in vitro sensing of drug efficacy. The design and fabrication of a clinically-informed in vitro platform will be used to study aerosol delivery of chemotherapy drugs to biomimetic tissue phantoms and organotypic cultures. High magnification and high frame rate imaging combined with theoretical simulations will provide a basis for droplet-tissue interactions, and real-time monitoring of cell growth and aerosol delivery will be assessed with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and subsequent downstream analysis.