Biomaterials Science and Technology - Targeted Therapeutics

Prof. Prakash has developed a unique expertise in the multidisciplinary fields of peptide therapeutics, targeted drug delivery, nanomedicine and biology (fibrosis and cancer). In recent years, the significance of fibrosis in cancer has been much highlighted in driving the tumor progression and metastasis. The crosstalk between tumor cells and stromal cells such as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) as well as extracellular matrix (ECM) is essential to maintain and stimulate the tumor growth and progression. The lab of Prof. Prakash is, on the one hand, uncovering the underlying biology of tumor stroma interaction, and on the other hand, developing innovative technologies to target specific tumor stromal cells to develop new therapeutics. His lab has three major research themes –

• Peptide technologies to inhibit fibrosis and re-program the tumor microenvironment (e.g. short integrin targeting peptide)
• Nanomedicine to target specific cells within the tumor microenvironment and deliver therapeutics (e.g. microRNA delivery, protein and peptide delivery)
• Technologies emulating the tumor microenvironment (e.g. multicellular tumor spheroids, 3D bioprinted tumor models)

KEYWORDS: tumor microenvironment, peptide therapeutics, fibrosis, nanomedicine, pancreatic tumor

Prof. Dr. Jai Prakash

• University of Twente TechMed Centre
• Department of Biomaterials Science and Technology Drienerlolaan 5                                                       
• 7500AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
• Phone: +31 53 4893096                                        
• E-mail: j.prakash(at)utwente.nl
• web: www.prakash-lab.com