Developing new approaches for effective delivery of proteins

Supervisor: Dr Changkui Fu

Proteins are amongst the most important classes of therapeutic agents and have been widely used for the treatment of a variety of diseases including cancer. However, many proteins have poor solubility and stability, and often display high toxicity. This significantly limits the bioavailability of such proteins. This project aims to develop new approaches to enhance protein properties by conjugating advanced polymers to improve their bioavailability. We will establish new methods to develop new-generation protein-polymer conjugates to achieve effective and efficient delivery of proteins to treat diseases. The project covers the aspects of chemistry, polymer science, nanotechnology and pharmaceutical science.