PhD Thesis Project

Diabetes mellitus affected 422 million people worldwide in 2014, and its prevalence is continuing to grow. To better treat this disease by mimicking healthy pancreas function, I have been developing glucose-responsive insulin delivery systems. The enzyme glucose oxidase serves as a sensor that converts glucose to gluconic acid, reducing the pH of the microenvironment when glucose levels are high. Nanoparticles containing insulin and glucose oxidase degrade under these acidic conditions, resulting in on-demand insulin release.

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Master’s Thesis Project

Although first discovered in the context of disease, protein nanofibrils have been found to play several naturally beneficial roles. Their robust mechanical properties have led to the exploration of their use in artificial protein-based materials. During my Master’s thesis, I used microfluidic techniques to fabricate core-shell microgels stabilized by protein fibrillation and demonstrated their potential utility for applications in drug delivery.