At the Bioengineering & Organoids platform, we are never short of ideas for projects and problems to solve, so, feel free to contact us if interested in a rotation, Bachelor or Masters project.
If you are not an EPFL student, please ensure you are eligible to perform you project at EPFL first with your home university, that you can obtain an immigration visa (we cannot help with this) and that you have financial means to stay in Switzerland (we cannot provide financial support), before to contact us.
Project 1: Novel Design of Microfluidic Mixers for Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) Synthesis
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are emerging as essential vehicles for drug delivery, particularly in the fields of gene therapy, mRNA vaccines, and targeted therapeutics. Microfluidic technology presents a promising solution, but existing mixer designs have limitations in achieving LNP for targeted tissue-specific delivery application. This project aims to develop an innovative microfluidic mixer design for the synthesis of ligand-guided targeted Lipid Nanoparticles (tLNPs). By optimizing fluids mixing and testing novel materials, we seek to enhance the quality and consistency of tLNPs, crucial for targeted drug delivery of mRNA to the T cells. The research will involve prototype fabrication, mixing parameters optimization and experimental validation using in vitro cell culture. The project is an established collaboration between BET platform EPFL and Brain Tumor and Immune Cell Engineering lab UNIGE at AGORA research center.
Requirements:
- High motivation and interest in the topic
- Wet-lab experience, cell culture, FACS, transfection methods
- Knowledge of size-based molecule separation methods (SEC, ultrafiltration, dialysis)
- Knowledge of state-of-the-art human gene therapy is a plus
- Background in material sciences and particle characterization methods is a plus
- Practical experience in microfluidics for biological application is a plus
Contacts:
Dr. Gaspard Pardon, [email protected], Head of the BET EPFL
and
Dr. Dzhangar Dzhumashev, [email protected], UNIGE
Application:
To apply, please include a short motivation letter and your CV.