BME Seminar Series: Dr. Tejal Desai, University of California, San Francisco

Tejal Desai, PhD
Professor, Bioengineering
Chair, Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences
School of Pharmacy
University of California, San Francisco

Abstract: 

"Nanostructured Interfaces for Enhanced Drug Kinetics and Transport"

Drug delivery across barriers (oral, transdermal, ocular) remains the preferred route for drug administration.  However, therapeutic macromolecular drugs currently under development suffer from poor bioavailability, and consequently many of these macromolecules are delivered by injection. A variety of delivery paradigms have been developed, including chemical permeation enhancers, physical disruptors, and implantable materials, to enable more effective delivery of therapeutic macromolecules but clinical utility has been limited thus far. The use of nanostructures, coupled to bulk materials, may offer potential advantages over conventional drug delivery strategies by enhancing release profiles, molecular transport, and immune modulation. In this talk, I will discuss the development of nanostructured films for ocular protein delivery, the effects of nanostructured surfaces on the modulation of tight junction permeability and the use of nanostructures for immune modulation. By gaining a better understanding of how small scale topographies can influence the biological microenvironment, we can design platforms for applications in therapeutic delivery and tissue modulation.

Bio: 

Tejal Desai is the Ernest L Prien Endowed Chair and Deborah Cowan Endowed Professor of the Department of Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences, Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); and Professor in Residence, Department of Bioengineering, UC Berkeley (UCB).  She serves as director of the NIH training grant for the Joint UCSF/UCB Graduate Program in Bioengineering, and founding director of the UCSF/UCB Masters Program in Translational Medicine.  She is also the Inaugural Director of the UCSF Engineering and Applied Sciences Initiative known as HIVE (Health Innovation Via Engineering).

Desai’s research spans multiple disciplines including materials engineering, cell biology, tissue engineering, and pharmacological delivery systems to develop new therapeutic interventions for disease. She seeks to design new platforms, enabled by advancements in micro and nanotechnology, to overcome existing challenges in therapeutic delivery. She has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles and patents.  Her research efforts have earned recognition including Technology Review’s "Top 100 Young Innovators,” Popular Science’s Brilliant 10, and the Dawson Biotechnology Award. She is President of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and is a fellow of AIMBE, CRS, and BMES.  In 2015, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and in 2019 to the National Academy of Inventors.

Desai is a vocal advocate for STEM education and outreach to women and underrepresented minority students. She serves on the university’s Differences Matter Executive Committee and her work to break down institutional barriers to equity and cultivate a climate of inclusion was recognized by the AWIS Judith Poole Award.   To foster the next generation of scientists, she has been involved in the SF Science Education partnership and has worked with outreach organizations such as the Lawrence Hall of Science, PBS, and the UN Women’s council to develop hand-on exhibits and videos related to nanotechnology and women in engineering. 

She received her B.S. from Brown University in biomedical engineering in 1994 and was awarded a Ph.D. in bioengineering jointly from UCSF and UC Berkeley in 1998.