The Blood Brain Barrier: can innovations in delivery help us unlock the brain?

Invent: Life Sciences

Modern medicine has helped us develop many effective treatments for diseases found throughout the body, but we’ve yet to have the same success with the brain. The so-called 'blood brain barrier' controls the passage of molecules out of the blood and into the brain, and so it’s not as easy to use the bloodstream to carry therapeutic molecules as we might do for other diseases. Could the blood brain barrier be the key to treating neurological disorders? How can we target this structure to make therapies more effective?

To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.

This Week's Guests

James Choi
James Choi is the Principal Investigator of Non-invasive Surgery and Biopsy Laboratory at Imperial College London and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the institute. The purpose of the Noninvasive Surgery & Biopsy Laboratory is to build incision-less microsurgical devices and methods to locally deliver drugs to the brain. James Choi is a leading expert on the blood brain barrier and has authored numerous research publications in the fields of noninvasive surgery and delivery through the blood brain barrier using focused ultrasound. James Choi's work at the laboratory is currently focused on treating several dieseases, including Alzheimers, using non-invasive devices for delivering drugs across the blood-brain barrier.

Sam Barker
Sam Barker is the Chief Business Officer at Somaserve, a genetic medicines company that is pioneering new medicines for crossing the blood brain barrier and other biologicial barries. Using a proprietary targeted polymer nanoparticle technology, PolyNaut®, Somaserve is delivering genetic materials to cells and tissues of choice, including targeted delivery to the central nervous system. Sam Barker has deep experience in start-up and growth stage companies across drug development from discovery to delivery, with expertise in developing and commercialising innovative platform technologies.