From Bench to Bedside: Making medicines to mend maladies

Cell membranes are protective barriers that control what enters and exits cells. Some substances, like antibiotics, can punch tiny holes in these membranes, damaging or killing cells. Using simplified membrane models, we study how proteins interact with membranes and form pores. These models also create droplet compartments for exploring protein production. By adding specific molecules, we trigger protein production and pore formation, enabling droplet communication. This research holds exciting potential for drug development and synthetic biology.

Close your eyes and imagine a round particle with a diameter of 1 mm. Got it? Now try to imagine a particle one hundred thousand times smaller than that. Impossible? This would be a nanoparticle; defined by top scientists as “very small things.” I will discuss how nanoparticles, aside from keeping tennis balls intact when being smashed down a Wimbledon court by Carlos Alcaraz, can be manufactured to make nanomedicines. How did nanomedicines in the form of vaccines saved us further grief from COVID-19 and how we in the School of Pharmacy are trying to use nanoparticles to design new nanomedicines targeting cancer

When it comes to disease, it should be clear who the bad guys are right? They are the ones behaving badly, causing symptoms and needing to be removed. But what happens if the heroes start serving the villains? Cancer cells are like this, manipulating normal, often helpful cells, to survive and even thrive. In this talk I will explain how these microscopic mobsters corrupt their neighbourhoods in an attempt to avoid treatment, as well as discuss how researchers in the School of Pharmacy are trying to better understand and interfere with these relationships to improve treatments for patients.

Viruses are just like dragons. Like dragons, in their “wild type” (disease causing) form they cause destruction, ailment and even mortality. But, just like in the film “How to train your Dragon”, it is possible to train viruses to do great good. In this talk, I will explain how my lab are learning in great detail about viruses, how they infect healthy cells, and using this information to reprogramme them so that they seek out and destroy cancer cells, rather than cause disease.