Research Recruitment for Pharma candidates at BITS-RMIT

The BITS-RMIT PhD Program is a unique transnational program that allows you to obtain a joint PhD from two leading universities BITS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science) and RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology).

Students may be eligible for a comprehensive scholarship package that includes nominal tuition fees from BITS, a full RMIT tuition fee scholarship, funded travel to Melbourne*, overseas health insurance, a living stipend for up to one year, and return flights.

Project Id : BITSRMIT101118
Project Title : Dual drug loaded lipid nano carriers to treat retinal disease.

Field of Research (For Codes)
Research Code ; Research Area and Research Percent
320604 : Nanomedicine ; 25.00
321499 : Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences not elsewhere classified ; 50.00
340603 : Colloid and surface chemistry ; 25.00

Project Description
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the common causes of visual impairment. The advanced stage, Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (PDR), involves upregulated pro-angiogenic growth factors, leading to retinal neovascularization. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factors (anti-VEGFs) are currently used for DR management, but with many associated risks and limited success. The upregulation of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) pathway and the end-product angiotensin-II are responsible for potentiating VEGF-induced angiogenesis in DR. Lisinopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, can inhibit Angiotensin-II formation, suggesting a means to treat DR. Another candidate is spironolactone, an antagonist of mineralocorticoid, which promotes retinal inflammation, oxidative stress, and vascular damage. We hypothesise that lisinopril and spironolactone (in a combination therapy) would act synergistically to retard DR progression via downregulating the VEGF pathway promoted by RAS and reducing inflammation, its secondary consequence. Therefore, a long-acting delivery system for these drugs would be of immense clinical significance due to the chronic nature of DR and the active clearance mechanism of the eye. Self assembled lipid carriers, such as cubosomes, are promising for delivering both hydrophilic and hydrophobic actives. These systems use biocompatible lipids, have high payload capacity, and can act as a barrier to retard the chemical degradation of the loaded drugs. This project utilises the expertise of BITS team on ocular drug delivery and RMIT team on developing lipid nanoparticles. The scope of the project includes formulation development and preclinical evaluation of the drugs-loaded cubosomes. In vitro, in vivo safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of the drug combination will also be performed.

Project Deliverable / Outcomes
• The proposed investigation will establish the therapeutic potential of spironolactone and lisinopril to treat diabetic retinopathy.
• A potential sustained drug delivery platform (lipid carrier) will be developed which can deliver the chosen drugs (combination therapy ) in a single intraocular injection effectively.
• A detailed characterization of the lipid carrier and its effect in eye will be established.
• The proposed combination therapy act synergistically to retard DR progression.
• The proposed therapy could be a potential alternative to the non-responders for anti-VEGF’s.
• The complementary expertise of the faculties from RMIT and BITS will lead to exploration of new materials for ocular drug delivery.
• Collaborative research activities between RMIT and BITS will be strengthened.
• PhD candidates will be trained with a wide range of advanced techniques in both pharmaceutical sciences and nanomedicine/drug delivery.

Theme and Subtheme
BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES : HEALTH INNOVATION AND BIOMEDICAL AND WEARABLE DEVICES
ADVANCED MATERIALS, MANUFACTURING AND FABRICATION : NOVEL MATERIALS

Student Capabilities and Qualifications
Experience in drug delivery systems. The candidate should be GPAT or any equivalent exam qualified.
1-2 years of industry experience will be preferred. Hand-on experience in animal handling would be an advantage.
M.Pharm

Preferred discipline of Student : Pharmaceutical Sciences