We are awarded a Northwestern University George M. O’Brien Kidney Core Center (NU GoKidney) Pilot and Feasibility Grant. NU GoKidney is a kidney research center that fosters research leading to the discovery of novel nephrotherapeutics that will transform the prevention and treatment of kidney diseases and eventually lead to cures.
The center’s goal is to identify potential therapeutic targets for kidney diseases, test them in preclinical studies and ultimately advance them to human studies. Our proposal titled “Targeted Drug Delivery to Podocytes for the Treatment of Nephrotic Syndrome” was one of three top applications selected for funding.
The funded proposal aims to develop podocyte-targeted nanoparticles (NPs) to deliver a new class of drugs, podocyte ER calcium stabilizers (see the 2019 publication in PNAS here; WU patent application submitted in June 2019). The development of the new drug was funded in a $1.8M DoD grant in 2019 to mitigate podocyte ER calcium leak and injury. To accomplish the research goals, we will utilize the NU GoKidney Therapeutic Design & Development Core and collaborate with Evan Scott, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering &Microbiology-Immunology at Northwestern University-Evanston, Illinois, who is a leading scientist in NP-mediated drug delivery.