Disease Context & Challenges - Glioblastoma has a poor prognosis, with fewer than 5% of patients surviving 5 years post-diagnosis due to the blood-brain barrier hindering chemotherapy delivery [1] - Neuro HIV affects up to 50% of people living with HIV due to the inability of anti-retroviral therapies to cross the blood-brain barrier and suppress viral replication in the brain [1] Technology & Approach - The research focuses on using red blood cells as a natural transport mechanism to deliver drugs across the blood-brain barrier [1] - Ionic liquids are used to coat nanoparticles, facilitating their attachment to red blood cells for transport [1] - Nanoparticles are designed to protect the drug cargo and the body from potential toxicity [1] Experimental Results - In vivo experiments showed that ionic liquid-coated nanoparticles achieved a 46% brain penetration rate, significantly higher than the 1% achieved by nanoparticles without ionic liquid coating [2] - Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy confirmed the distribution of anti-retroviral drugs throughout the brain tissue after delivery via ionic liquid-coated nanoparticles [2] Future Directions - The technology has the potential to treat and potentially cure diseases beyond cancer and HIV, including mental health conditions, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's [2] - Future applications include delivering molecules that harvest light to eradicate tumors, as well as biological molecules like enzymes or gene therapies [2]

Pharmaceutical Industry Trends & Future Directions - The pharmaceutical field is dynamic, with innovations like hydrogels for prolonged drug effects and biodegradable implants for long-term drug delivery [20] - Micro needles, similar to nicotine patches, offer a less invasive drug delivery method [21] - Personalized medicine, driven by AI, is an upcoming trend, tailoring therapies based on individual genetic codes [21] - Nanoparticles are being explored for targeted cancer treatment, aiming for better therapeuticity and reduced harm to normal cells [19] - Lipid nanoparticles are crucial for mRNA vaccines, delivering RNA to help the body battle diseases [17] Drug Development & Treatment Advancements - The development of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for the first pandemic (likely referring to HIV/AIDS) took 15 years [16] - The development of mRNA vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic took less than a year [16] - Nanoparticles can be functionalized in various shapes to reach inaccessible parts of the body, potentially revolutionizing medicine [18] Personal Journey & Passion in Pharmaceutics - Passion is defined as being fascinated by something to the point of losing track of time [3] - The speaker's initial plan was not pharmaceutics, but a desire to help people and save lives, influenced by family experiences with breast cancer, led to this path [5][6] - The speaker shifted from wanting to be in corporate to wanting to be in the lab, focusing on the scientific aspects of drug creation [8] - Pursuing a master's in the US was chosen due to better funding and infrastructure compared to India [9]