03/04/2026
By Susan D'Amore
Title of Lecture: Drugs and Their Delivery: Implications for Billions of Patients and Trillions of Dollars in Healthcare Costs
Presenter: Professor Samir Mitragotri
School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Harvard University
Wyss Institute
• When: Thursday, April 9, 2026
3:30 p.m.: Welcome Reception
4:00 p.m.: Lecture
• Where: Ball Hall 214, UMass Lowell, 185 Riverside Street
Abstract:
The quest for new therapies to treat human diseases almost always prompts academia and industry to search for new drug molecules. However, a drug molecule must be paired with an appropriate delivery strategy to transform a candidate drug molecule into a successful drug product. Drug delivery is limited by the body’s biological barriers, which manifest in multiple forms, including challenges associated with drug administration and achieving adequate drug concentrations at the target site. These constraints often limit drug efficacy and, ultimately, patient benefit.
Our research focuses on understanding the body’s biological barriers and developing strategies to overcome them. I will describe the use of ionic liquids to address key biological barriers and enable the delivery of a broad range of therapeutics. Ionic liquids allow precise control over local hydrophobic and ionic interactions within the body, providing a powerful means to modulate biological barriers. I will present the scientific foundation of ionic liquids for therapeutic applications, their ability to overcome multiple biological barriers, their clinical outcome in addressing unmet medical needs, and the future opportunities they present.
Biosketch:
Samir Mitragotri is the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. His research focuses on drug delivery and has led to the development of new technologies for delivering small molecules, proteins, nucleic acids, and cells. Over the years, he has introduced multiple technologies, including low-frequency ultrasound, liquid microjets, ionic liquids, cellular hitchhikers, and cellular backpacks, to enable drug delivery across multiple biological barriers and to diverse therapeutic targets.
Samir is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and the World Academy of Sciences. He is also an elected Fellow of American Association of Advancement of Science, Controlled Release Society, Biomedical Engineering Society, and American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. His work has led to the founding of over a dozen biotechnology companies that have advanced his technologies into the clinic. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, India, and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
For more information, contact Susan_Damore@uml.edu