W. Mark Saltzman
Goizueta Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and of Chemical Engineering; Department Chair, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests
Bio-compatible polymers, drug delivery systems
Research Summary
We are studying the use of novel drug delivery systems, which are based primarily on biocompatible polymers. Our current studies focus on three different clinical applications of these materials:
- for local delivery of potent agents such as chemotherapy in tumors or paracrine growth factors in tissue repair;
- for enhancing the delivery and/or presentation of antigens to the immune system for vaccination; and
- for non-viral DNA expression in cells and tissues.
Extensive Research Description
W. Mark Saltzman is the Goizueta Foundation professor and the
department chair of biomedical engineering at the Yale School of Engineering
and Applied Science. His research
focuses on developing the most economical, transportable and accessible methods
for disease prevention and methods to more effectively deliver chemotherapy to
the most aggressive forms of brain tumors. Dr. Saltzman’s research interests include controlled drug
delivery to the brain, polymers for supplementing or stimulating the immune
system, cell interactions with polymers, and tissue engineering. He studies how to create safer and more
effective medical and surgical therapy based on tissue engineering. Dr. Saltzman worked with an
interdisciplinary team to develop what is now the standard of care for treating
brain tumors.
Dr. Saltzman received his S.M. and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. He was
elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Biological and Medical
Engineers and was named the Britton Chance Distinguished Lecturer in
Engineering and Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Saltzman served as a member of the
surgery and bioengineering study section at the National Institutes of Health
and has authored two textbooks and more than 100 peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Saltzman was honored with the
Distinguished Lecturer Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society.
Selected Publications
- Woodrow KA, Cu Y, Booth CJ, Saucier-Sawyer J, Wood MJ, and Saltzman WM. Intravaginal gene silencing using biodegradable nanoparticles densely loaded with small-interfering RNA, Nature Materials 8:526-533 (2009).
- Liu J, Jiang Z, Zhang S, and Saltzman WM. Poly(omega-pentadecalactone-co-butylene-co-succinate) nanoparticles as biodegradable carriers for camptothecin delivery, Biomaterials 30:5707-5719 (2009).
- Cartiera MS, Johnson KM, Rajendran V, Caplan MJ, and Saltzman WM. The uptake and intracellular fate of PLGA nanoparticles in epithelial cells, Biomaterials 30:2790-2798 (2009).
- Cu Y and Saltzman WM. Controlled surface modification with poly(ethylene glycol) enhances diffusion of PLGA nanoparticles in human cervical mucus. Molecular Pharmaceutics 6:173-181 (2009).
- Shen, H., Hu, Y.Y., and Saltzman, W.M. (2006). DNA diffusion in mucus: effect of size, topology and charge of DNAs. Biophysical J. 91:639-644.
- Neeves, K.B., Lo, C.T., Foley, C.P., Saltzman, W.M., and Olbricht, W.L. (2006). Fabrication and characterization of microfluidic probes for convection enhanced drug delivery. J. Controlled Release 111:252-262.
