Meet the Speaker - Associate Professor Hanna Barriga

Get a glimpse of the research that you will get the opportunity to learn more about at the Scheele symposium! The Scheele laureate Professor Pieter Cullis is a pioneer in the design, development and optimization of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for drug delivery and we will introduce the guest speakers who are all active in related fields. One of them is Associate Professor Hanna Barriga, KTH Royal Institute of Technology: 

How does your research relate to Prof. Cullis’s scientific work?
My group study how the nanoscale structure of complex lipid systems impacts their performance for drug delivery. Lipid nanoparticles are a key class of lipid drug delivery vectors and we are interested in how they can be engineered for specific disease applications.

Can you explain the potential applications and impact of your research for drug discovery/drug development ?
Our projects are currently focused on engineering lipid nanoparticles for breast cancer applications but our wider goal is for our approach to contribute towards the rational design of lipid nanoparticles. Together with collaborators, the group are developing pipelines to study how nanoscale structure impacts performance in lipid nanoparticles. Longer term our aim is for nanocarrier structural characterisation to be integrated into drug development.

How will your research contribute for the benefit of patients ?
Our aim is to improve the delivery of therapeutics to treat breast cancer by developing lipid nanoparticles which are more efficient at delivering their cargo. We hope this could either improve existing treatments or lead to new treatments.

What are some recent breakthroughs or discoveries that will advance in your field?
The lipid nanoparticle field has exploded since they were used in many of the COVID-19 vaccines to deliver mRNA. This is exciting and there have been several advances towards improving extra hepatic delivery. I am particularly fascinated by some of the publications demonstrating how the structural properties of lipid nanoparticles play an important role in their biological function.

What advice would you give to aspiring researchers interested in pursuing a career in your research area, and how can they contribute?
There are still so many unanswered questions in the field. I’m excited to see how new ideas and approaches can advance research. I hope aspiring researchers can stay enthusiastic, curious and collaborate with others to solve the really challenging questions.