All are welcome, (attendance required for graduate students). Lunch is provided.

Lori A Setton, Lucy and Stanley Lopata Distinguished Professor & Chair of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis

“Engineering Drug Depots to Treat Inflammation in Osteoarthritis and Radiculopathy”

Research and development have advanced clinical use of protein and small molecule
drugs that can modify the progression and symptoms of osteoarthritis and inflammatory
pain, including mediators of TNF-alpha and the NF-kappa B pathway. Systemic
administration of these drugs can have serious side effects that motivate use of local drug
delivery strategies, such as intra-articular or peri-neural drug delivery, to prolong drug
residence time and decrease serum exposure. Our laboratory is dedicated to developing
classes of in situ forming drug depots that will re-solubilize and delivery drug over time.
Here we will review the synthesis and design of intra-articular drug depots, and show
evidence that drugs retain substantial bioactivity and disease-modifying effects in vivo
for both arthritis and lumbar radiculopathy.