Shaked Eliyahu

Education:

B.Sc in Chemical Engineering specialize in Biochemical Engineering.

Nano Main Field: 

One of the known mucoadhesive polymers used as a drug carrier is chitosan (CS). It exhibits low toxicity and biocompatibility. Chitosan nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used as carriers for drug delivery systems. Heparin is a natural polysaccharide used as an anticoagulant for treatment of thromboembolic disorders and demonstrates no oral bioavailability. Heparin can be administrated only via parenteral route. Compared to unfractionated heparin, Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH) has better subcutaneous bioavailability and longer half-life, therefore, LMWH is commercially used. Non-invasive drug delivery systems are being developed to further improve the bioavailability of LMWH in an attempt to avoid the inconvenience as well as the side effects associated with injections. Our group has previously developed the concept of acrylated polymers, and showed that molecules carrying unsaturated polyehtylene glycol di-acrylate (PAGDA) side chains have the ability to interact covalently with mucin. In this study we intend to use acrylated chitosan that may be a suitable candidate for mucoadhesive drug delivery system for LMWH.

Research Interests:

Nano-particles, chitosan, low molecular weight heparin,