Seungpyo Hong, professor in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, is among four researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago on a newly funded R01 grant from the NIH/NIAMS for the project “Non-covalent Nrf2 Activators for the Treatment of Chronic Wounds.”

Dr. Hong contributes to this project with his expertise in transdermal drug delivery using dendritic nanoparticles. The nanoparticles consists of hyperbranched, biocompatible polymers that have been demonstrated by the Hong lab to exhibit efficient transdermal delivery of small molecules that are otherwise skin impermeable. In this study, the Hong lab will develop a novel nanoformulation to deliver the Nrf2 activator to be topically applied to the wounded regions, facilitating the wound healing function of the novel activator.

Hong’s research interests include Biomimetic nanotechnology; Nanomaterial-cell interactions; Targeted drug delivery; Novel designs and engineering of nanocarriers; Cancer diagnostics/prognostics; Surface engineering.