Research interests:

• In vivo electroporation is a molecular delivery method. Delivery of chemotherapeutic agents using this technique has been approved and is reimbursable in several countries in the European Union for cancer therapy. Delivery of nucleic acids for cancer therapy and vaccine delivery has reached Phase II clinical trials in the US.

The endogenous biological effects of therapeutic delivery, particularly the induced endogenous gene expression to different combinations of plasmid DNA and pulse protocols are being explored with Maja Cemazar, PhD at the Institute of Onocology Ljubljana in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

• Many clinically relevant bacteria develop partial, or even complete, antibiotic resistance. Due to the ineffectiveness of available antibiotics, the development of alternative methods of inactivation, including non-antibiotic methods, is necessary. Technologies based on pulsed fields can inactivate a number of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, including opportunistic pathogens.

One antibiotic alternative is the direct inactivation of opportunistic bacterial pathogens by atmospheric plasma application.  Methods for clinical and environmental decontamination are being developed in collaboration with Muhammad A. Malik, PhD and Chunqi Jiang, PhD.

Platelet rich plasma is a gel-like substance formed when a  platelet enriched blood component is activated. This gel secretes hundreds of factors, including antimicrobial peptides. Research on the antimicrobial properties of platelet gel is being conducted in collaboration with Barbara Hargrave, PhD.