Ram I Mahato, PhD
Parke-Davis Professor, UNMC Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Principal Investigator, Nanomedicines and Translational Research Laboratory
402-559-5422
402-559-5673
Our laboratory in the College of Pharmacy has expertise in pharmaceutics and drug delivery, molecular and cell biology, biochemistry, polymer chemistry, colloid science, and medicine. This allows us to take a multidisciplinary approach for successful research and training students and post-doctoral fellows. Our research is focused on the following areas: (i) Micelle and Nanoparticulate Drug Delivery, (ii) Oligonucleotides, siRNA, miRNA and Gene Delivery (iii) Synthesis of Novel Polymers, Lipopeptides, Lipopolymers and Cationic Lipids, (iv) Construction of Gene and shRNA Expression Systems, and (v) Design and synthesis new compounds to overcome chemoresistance and inhibit hedgehog signaling pathway. These systems are being tested in the following disease areas: Cancer (pancreatic, prostate, melanoma and medulloblastoma), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and liver fibrosis, and type 1 diabetes.
We attempt to understand how the individual components of delivery and expression systems would influence the disease state. Our goal is to determine the effects of treatment upon tumor vascular permeability and drug deposition, and the molecular mechanisms involved when tumor blood vessels or tumor stroma are disturbed during therapy. We optimize the therapeutic index of antitumor drugs and decrease their toxicity to normal tissues by adding functionalities for molecular recognition of the target tissue or stimuli-responsive release of the payload at the disease site. We are also working to overcome multi drug resistance in tumors by targeting cancer stem cells.