About the Project
A critical drawback of current anticancer chemotherapy is that the drugs are delivered not only to malignant cells but also to healthy ones. Existing treatments would be by far more specific and efficient if the drugs could be carried and released selectively to the tumor site under local related stimuli or external triggered activation mechanisms. The present PhD project will focus on the development of stimuli-responsive polymers that can respond to cellular stimuli such as the enzymatic action (i.e. enzymatic degradation, glucose oxidase, etc.), the pH of the tumor environment, and the presence of radical oxygen species in combination with local heat that is generated by inorganic nanoparticles (magnetic nanoparticles or photo-ablation nanoparticles).
These polymers can act as nanocontainers for drug molecules. Furthermore, the inclusion of inorganic nanoparticles within the polymer will add additional advantages: i) the magnetic nanoparticles will facilitate the delivery of the nanocontainers by physical forces to the tumor site and they will act as hyperthermia agents; ii) the inorganic nanoparticles will promote the production of ROS under stimulation (magnetic heat or UV laser irradiation), and, consequently, they will facilitate the opening of the drug containers; iii) the presence of photo-sensitive molecules/nanoparticles potentiates the heat generated by the magnetic nanoparticles.
The candidate will mainly work on the preparation of the right stimuli-responsive polymers and will have control over the composition, disassembly, physical properties, and biodegradability. He/she will also develop strategies for combining polymers with inorganic nanoparticles, and for controlling the assembly of such nanoparticles and drug molecules.
Requirements: We are seeking candidates with expertise in polymer chemistry (polymerization techniques, experience in polymer grafting techniques on nanoparticles, design and control on polymer aggregate formations), polymer characterization techniques (NMR, GPC, HPLC Mass spectrometry, IR spectroscopy) and inorganic characterization techniques (TEM, XPS, XRD). Expertise in the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles is also desirable.
Online application till June 12th, 2018
Information and application at https://www.studenti.unige.it/postlaurea/dottorati/XXXIV/EN/