Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Dr. Xin Guo receives a $300,000 grant from the American Chemical Society

Dr. Xin Guo, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, together with Dr. Andreas Franz, Associate Professor of Chemistry, was awarded the TEVA USA Scholars Grant by American Chemical Society (ACS), in the amount of $300,000. In collaboration between Dr. Xin Guo, Dr. Vyacheslav Samoshin, and Dr. Andreas Franz, the proposed research entitled "trans-2-Aminocyclohexanol Lipids as pH-sensitive Conformational Switches in Liposomes for Drug Delivery" will be conducted over a course of three years.

The proposed research was among the three recipients selected to receive this award and will focus on developing pH-sensitive liposomes for drug delivery. The research will answer questions of how to package the liposomes with drugs, direct them to targeted sites, and then trigger them to release the drugs in acidic microenvironments. The success of the research would advance the therapeutics for disease conditions that involve the generation of excessive acids, such as cancer and chronic inflammation. Progress of the research will be reported annually to ACS and the results will be presented at a national meeting of ACS towards the end of the term.

"This award is a strong encouragement to me and my collaborators because it affirms that high-quality research can be done by the faculty, students and staff scientists at Pacific, and that such research will be appreciated nationwide," said Dr. Guo.