PHOTO BY RICHARD ANDERSON
Ron
Seigel, pharmaceutics and biomedical engineering
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We
all try to multitask, but pharmaceutics and biomedical engineering
professor Ron Siegel does a lot more than juggle errands—his
team is developing treatments to improve people’s quality
of life.
Siegel is working on novel drug delivery systems, focusing on controlling
the amount and frequency of drug release. His team is developing
a micro-machined valve that will provide glucose-sensitive control
of insulin delivery, an “artificial pancreas” to treat
Type 1 diabetes.
Other projects include an implantable device that delivers hormones
in rhythmic pulses, useful in the treatment of reproductive disorders,
and a nasal spray formulation for diazepam, a drug that is effective
in controlling epileptic
seizures.
Drug delivery requires a highly multidisciplinary approach, and
elements of several fields are incorporated into Siegel’s
work. Through this collaboration, new devices will become available
that will increase the effectiveness of drugs, and reduce the risk
of unwanted side effects.
By Andria Peters
Excerpted from Research,
an annual publication of the Office of the Vice President for Research.
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