​Research Area 3: Evaluating and addressing effects of sex and ancestry-based differences on nanotechnology performance

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• Only ~14% of nanotechnology phase 3 trials currently in the clinic are successful.

• This is in part due to our tendency as engineers to approach medical design from a “one-size-fits-all” perspective.

• Some studies have shown sex and ancestry to affect therapeutic and nanoparticle performance, yet these variables remain understudied by researchers.

• Even in studies that utilize these variables, they are often treated as binary variables, and intersectional effects between sex and ancestry are not considered.

• My central hypothesis is that both sex and ancestry affect different aspects of nanoparticle performance through mechanisms related to sex chromosome expression, cytoskeleton mechanical properties, protein corona formation, and differences in immune responses, and this project aims to evaluate these differences.

• Future work will look into evaluating age as another parameter.