People

Dr Kaixi Zhang joined Professor Paula Hammond’s group in 2023 to work on layer-by-layer nanoparticles for targeted delivery. Kaixi completed her PhD at Nanyang Technological University in 2020, under the co-supervision of Professor Mary Chan and Professor Kevin Pethe. She used a multidisciplinary approach to study antimicrobial and anti-biofilm polymers against Gram-positive bacteria. After graduation, she received postdoctoral training in Professor Gui Bazan’s group at National University of Singapore. She focused on developing new antibiotics to treat nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), using the conjugated oligoelectrolytes (COEs) platform. At SMART, Kaixi’s research interests are broadly in the area of drug development, with a particular emphasis on novel formulations of antimicrobial therapy.

NTM  pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) represents one of the most difficult-to-treat infections in human. The standard-of-care treatment involves multiple antibiotic combinations for 12-18 months, and are associated with high failure rate and toxic side effects. My research aims to develop multifunctionally layered liposomal nanoparticles made of synergistic pairs of antibiotics and anti-mycobacterial oligomers. The electrostatically bilayered nanoparticles overcome the various barriers of NTM-PD. Relative to current treatments, this proposed innovative therapy has the potential to improve cure rates, reduce time-to-cure, and reduce adverse effects, thereby vastly improving the quality of life for patients afflicted with NTM-PD.

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