PhD Defence Sarah N. Swilley

Keywords: hydrogen sulfide, nitroxyl, persulfide, drug delivery
 

"Degradable Polymers for the Controlled Delivery of Bioactive Small Molecules"

Polymers, long chains of repeating units, are found everywhere. While most people associate polymers with plastic water bottles or shopping bags, researchers have developed ways to harness the power of these long-chain molecules for drug delivery. Common examples of polymer drug delivery systems include nicotine patches and controlled-release drug capsules such as Allegra D. The potential for this industry can be seen by the sheer magnitude of money that has been put toward drug delivery devices – the market is expected to reach $2.2 trillion within by 2026. In this dissertation we highlight three separate projects focusing on the delivery of bioactive small molecules from polymer systems. When a drug/prodrug is used in a drug delivery system, the release rate and location, circulation time, and other critical properties are carefully tuned. In the case of the work reported here, we set out to develop different delivery systems to control the release of hydrogen sulfide, persulfides, and nitroxyl. 

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