Nanomedicine for obstetrics: a posse ad esse

Dr. Biana Godin earned her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel. During her Ph.D. studies, Dr. Godin focused on designing a non-invasive treatment for the hard-to-treat deep skin infections and on nasal delivery of proteins. She completed postdoctoral fellowship in Cancer Nanotechnology at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston. Her postdoctoral research focused on design and evaluation of injectable nanotherapies for cancer treatment and imaging. Later, Dr. Godin joined the Department of Nanomedicine at Houston Methodist Research Institute. Current research in Dr. Godin's lab, funded by federal and foundation grants, focuses on developing physiologically relevant in vitro and in vivo disease models and exploiting physical and biological mechanisms to improve currently available therapeutic options in oncology, infectious diseases and obstetrics. Dr. Godin considers herself a translational scientist on the interception of biological and physical sciences, with the ultimate goal of bringing advanced and safe therapies and therapy personalization methods into the clinic to benefit patients. Dr. Godin has > 200 scientific publications, received multiple federal and foundation-based grants and participated in national and international grant review panels. She holds academic positions at the Department of Nanomedicine and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Institute of Academic Medicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute, as well as Adjunct Faculty at the Department Of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston.

Obstetrics, focusing on childbirth and maternal health, possesses many clinical challenges. Conditions such as preterm labor (PTB) and preeclampsia have higher neonatal/maternal mortality rates than cancer and require novel personalized therapies.

In pregnancy, maternal and fetal systems are interconnected through the placenta. Many therapeutics have low molecular weight (LMW), freely crossing the placenta and leading to severe fetal effects. For example, indomethacin, a tocolytic preventing PTB, can cause cardiac and renal fetal toxicities, while ACE inhibitors for preeclampsia treatment have severe fetal/maternal adverse reactions. Minimizing fetal exposure can be achieved by using nanoparticles targeting the drug’s site of action, the uterus for tocolytics and the kidneys for ACE inhibitors. Nanoparticles are significantly larger than LMW drugs, thus, remaining in the maternal compartment without crossing to the fetus. Here, our studies on design and evaluation of nanoparticles for PTB and preeclampsia prevention and the pathway for translating these studies to the clinic will be discussed.

Another challenge in obstetrics is therapy personalization based on patient’s predicted response. For instance, no current technologies can personalize PTB therapy. Deregulation in myometrium contractility is a basis for PTB and other conditions. We have designed a model of myometrial cells for the evaluation of uterine contractility, based on three-dimensional bioprinting of patient-derived cells with magnetic nanoparticles into rings. The system can be used as a tool for high-throughput testing of agents for PTB simultaneously.

While employing principles of nanomedicine in obstetrics is still in its infancy, it could significantly improve the current clinical practices.

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep34710
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/18/4/683

This seminar will NOT be livestreamed or recorded.