Fluorescence microscopy of a cluster of cells
Research

How cells decide to grow, age, or respond to a drug.

My work moves from basic mechanisms to therapies: what controls a cell’s fate, and how to get the right molecule to the right cell, safely.

Three questions

What the work is about
Fluorescent cell nuclei
Aging

Why do cells age?

I study what decides how long a cell keeps working, and whether we can slow that down.

Microscopy of cells in amber tones
Cancer

How does cancer escape the brakes?

I study the controls that stop cells from dividing, and how tumours get around them.

Pipetting in a lab
Drug delivery

How do we reach the right cell?

The goal is to get a therapy to its target in a form the body accepts.

How it connects

One question underneath
What controlsa cell’s fate?AgingDoes the cell keep going?MetabolismHow does it use fuel?CancerCan we make it stop?Drug deliveryCan we reach it safely?

From mechanism to medicine

The path every project follows

  1. Understand

    Find the mechanism that controls the cell.

  2. Target

    Pick the lever worth pulling.

  3. Deliver

    Build a carrier that reaches the right cells.

  4. Prove safety

    Show that the body accepts it.

  5. Translate

    Move it toward people, through Nanomère.

CURRENT FOCUS

Extracellular vesicles as drug carriers

Cells constantly release extracellular vesicles to send proteins and RNA to each other. Because the body already makes and reads them, they could carry medicine past barriers that stop synthetic particles. I develop two carriers: EVX-1 for chemotherapy, and ProbioVesicle, probiotic yeast vesicles for anti-aging actives. I also test whether they are safe enough for human use.

Surface proteinsfind target cellsLipid membraneprotects the cargoCargodrugs, other molecules
Anatomy of an EV drug carrier.
  1. 1. Load
    Pack the cargo into the vesicle.
  2. 2. Deliver
    Reach the target cells.
  3. 3. Measure
    Check that the cargo does its job.
  4. 4. Check safety
    Make sure the body tolerates it.
How each carrier is tested.

Earlier findings

What the work has shown so far

Where this is going

Open questions
Q1

Can we deliver anti-aging compounds where they matter?

Many promising molecules never reach the cells they are meant to help.

Read more Q2

What makes a carrier invisible to the immune system?

It is the difference between a therapy the body accepts and one it attacks.

Read more Q3

Is stopping a tumour as good as killing it?

Pushing cancer cells to stop dividing sometimes helps and sometimes backfires.

Read more

Selected papers

The monthly letter

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Aging, cancer and drug delivery. What the research says, and what it doesn't.

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