Nano Drug Delivery Systems Treat Diseases at Their Source

Dr. Hu Yang (left) has spent nearly 20 years developing, testing, and refining designs for drug delivery systems that better treat glaucoma, atherosclerosis, and cancer.

Finding better ways to treat disease isn’t always about developing new therapies.

Often, it’s about finding novel ways to get those therapies to hard-to-reach locations: like past the blood-brain barrier, or into the plaque that accumulates within arteries, or through the many layers of the eye and down into the optic nerve.

That sort of innovation requires a new kind of architect – one who designs and builds nano-sized drug delivery systems that can transport therapeutics right where they are needed.

Hu Yang, PhD, is that sort of architect. As Kern Professor and Chair of the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and Marquette University, Dr. Yang is at the forefront of drug and gene delivery.

After nearly 20 years of developing, testing, and refining his designs, he and his team are closer than ever to taking their drug delivery systems to clinical trials, with hopes of providing better treatment for glaucoma, atherosclerosis, and cancer.

And as the chair of the department, he’s hoping to build sustainable success for both faculty and students.

“We want to be a hub for translational research, innovation, and commercialization,” he says. “With all the resources of both MCW and Marquette, we can see how biomedical engineering can have a real impact on patients.”

Nanogel Allows Drugs to Reach Deeper into the Eye to Treat Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness around the world. The disease develops when fluid pressure builds up inside the eye and damages the optic nerve. Glaucoma has no cure but is treated with eye drops that improve fluid drainage.

“Patients must use these eye drops at minimum once a day and sometimes patients don’t follow those guidelines,” Dr. Yang says, adding that the eye drops help reduce pressure, but don’t protect the nerve from damage.

Dr. Yang’s team developed solid drug nanoparticles that relax the trabecular meshwork of the eye, which is the area of the eye that allows fluids to drain. This allows the drugs inside the nanoparticle to reach the back of the eye, where the optic nerve sits. The delivery system not only delivers the glaucoma therapy deeper into the eye than regular eye drops – it also includes an FDA-approved drug to help protect the optic nerve from damage.

Even better, it can slowly release the drugs, so patients don’t need to administer the therapy daily.

“This is the first step toward long-term vision recovery for glaucoma patients,” Dr. Yang says. “Our hope is to ultimately maintain the low pressure and promote regeneration within the eye.”

Nanoparticles to Break Up Plaque and Bypass the Blood-Brain Barrier

Dr. Yang and his team are working on similar approaches to treat atherosclerosis and cancer. Most therapies for atherosclerosis – when plaque builds up inside arteries – focus on lowering cholesterol or preventing blood clots. Dr. Yang and his collaborators wondered if they could create a system that would destroy the plaque itself.

They are developing a drug delivery system that uses dendrimers – molecules with several branches – to infiltrate the plaque and break it up. “We are progressing and have had very promising results,” says Vimalin Mani, a research scientist in the Yang lab.

With cancer, the team is developing similar nano delivery systems that can bypass the blood-brain barrier to treat brain cancer and that can infiltrate and treat triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive sub-type.

In all cases, they are working toward bringing their systems to clinical trials and plan to launch a startup to commercialize them. This, Dr. Yang believes, is the best way to move innovations out of the lab and into patients.

“I’ve received emails, phone calls, and even handwritten letters from people who have heard about our work and have expressed interest in participating in clinical trials,” Dr. Yang says.

Collaboration Between MCW and Marquette University

In fact, the combined resources of MCW/Marquette that help guide faculty through the clinical trials process is one of the reasons that drew Dr. Yang to the joint department from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2025.

“Our lab is really focused on translation, and the resources here really position us well to move our research into clinical trials,” he says.

“The access to patient samples and resources has really streamlined our process and is helping progress our research,” Dr. Mani says.

As chair of the department, Dr. Yang has a vision of building on its successes to provide more resources for both faculty and students. Already, the department has developed new clinical immersion courses that bring biomedical engineering students to the clinic to make observations and spur new innovations.

Dr. Yang wants to provide more undergraduate research opportunities while strengthening collaborations across MCW’s many research institutes and centers.

“This year we mark the 10th anniversary of this joint department and while we celebrate the successes of our students and faculty, I want to ensure that in the next ten years we continue to grow this partnership to be a hub for innovation,” he says.