Biomaterials Science Blog

Dr Suhair Sunoqrot is an Associate Professor of Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine at Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Faculty of Pharmacy. Dr Sunoqrot received a BSc in Pharmacy from the University of Jordan in 2007, and a PhD in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2013. During her PhD, she worked on various projects involving the development of lipid- and polymer-based nanocarriers for targeted anti-cancer drug delivery. Notably, she was a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar in Prof Phillip Messersmith’s lab at UC Berkeley, and a Daniel Turnberg Fellow in Prof Khuloud Al-Jamal’s lab at King’s College London. She received the PhosAgro/UNESCO/IUPAC Green Chemistry for Life Award in 2018 and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize for Young Scientists from Jordan for the same year. She was elected as a member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) for 2019 – 2024 and a TWAS Young Affiliate for 2021 – 2026. Dr Sunoqrot’s research focuses on the development of nanoscale solutions to tackle delivery challenges of poorly water-soluble drug candidates, with special interest in the valorization of plant polyphenols both as therapeutic agents and as nanomaterial building blocks. She can be followed on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssunoqrot/), ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Suhair-Sunoqrot), and Twitter (@SuhairSunoqrot).

Read Suhair’s Emerging Investigator article, ‘Rhoifolin loaded in PLGA nanoparticles alleviates oxidative stress and inflammation in vitro and in vivo‘ DOI: 10.1039/D2BM00309K

Check out our interview with Suhair below:

1. How do you feel about Biomaterials Science as a place to publish research on this topic?

Nanomedicine is a multidisciplinary field that combines knowledge in materials science, biology, and medicine, making Biomaterials Science an ideal place to publish research on this topic. The Journal’s high standards, rigorous review process, and international readership ensure maximum dissemination of important research findings to the scientific community and beyond.

2. What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment and what do you find most challenging about your research?

I am continuously amazed by the countless possibilities enabled by nanotechnology, particularly in the field of medicine. We are currently interested in plant polyphenols both as therapeutic agents and as nanomaterial building blocks. This area of research is exciting as much as it is challenging, due to the chemical diversity of these compounds and their unique physicochemical and biological properties, which need to be properly elucidated to advance them further in preclinical and clinical settings.

3. In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

With all the great advances being made in nanoscience and nanomedicine, some important questions need to be answered concerning their interactions with the bio-interface, in vivo fate, and long-term physiological effects. From a manufacturing standpoint, the scalability of the various nanomedicine formulations, their affordability, and their environmental footprint should also be taken into consideration.

4. Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

My best advice to other early career scientists is the following quote by Marie Curie, “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”

Dr Truong is an ARC DECRA Fellow and a group leader at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Australia. Dr Truong received his PhD in 2013 from the University of Queensland, Australia. After that, he took up a postdoctoral position working with Prof Thomas Davis at Monash University. Dr Truong’s work uniquely spans across multiple research fields (polymer chemistry, nanotechnology, materials, biology, immunology, medical imaging and pharmaceutical sciences), allowing him to solve complex challenges in both fundamental synthesis and biomedical applications. Currently, his group focuses on making advanced polymers and nanomaterials for delivering drugs and vaccines to the right targeted tissues/cells and exploiting these newly developed platforms to address global health challenges including pandemics, cardiovascular diseases, cancers and antibiotics resistance. He can be found on Twitter @Nghia_P_Truong.

Visit the group website to find out more about Nghia Truong’s research: https://www.monash.edu/pharm/research/themes/drug-delivery-disposition-and-dynamics/research-groups/truong-group

Check out Nghia Truong’s Emerging Investigator article, ‘In vivo delivery of plasmid DNA by lipid nanoparticles: the influence of ionizable cationic lipids on organ-selective gene expression’ and read all of the 2022 Emerging Investigators articles in the collection here.

Read our interview below with Nghia Truong:

1. How do you feel about Biomaterials Science as a place to publish research on this topic?

Biomaterials Science is among the best journals to publish my research on this topic. The journal has not only an excellent reputation and a high impact factor but also a broad readership, ensuring the visibility of my research.

2. What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment and what do you find most challenging about your research?

I am really excited to work on lipid nanoparticles because they really save lives. Without lipid nanoparticles, we could not develop mRNA vaccines for combating COVID-19. The challenge lies in how to improve the lipid nanoparticles even further as the current vaccines are not perfect and there is still a long list of other diseases we can cure using lipid nanoparticles and gene technology.

3. In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

I think the most important question in my field is how to improve the delivery efficiency of lipid nanoparticles while reducing unwanted side effects as the answer will certainly help us make better vaccines and more effective drugs. This is also the question my group is trying to answer by leveraging our strength in multiple research fields (polymer chemistry, nanotechnology, materials, biology, immunology, medical imaging and pharmaceutical sciences).

4. Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

If possible early career scientists should carefully choose and focus on research topics we love and we are good at. With love and talent, we can solve real-life problems while also enjoying our challenging academic careers.

For many years Biomaterials Science has showcased special collections dedicated to work carried out by researchers in the earlier stages of their research careers in our Emerging Investigator collections, most recently in our 2021 Emerging Investigators collection.

We hope that the biomaterials community has found these issues to be valuable, both in the high quality of the articles and in drawing attention to newer voices in the community. The journal editors and Editorial Board consider these to have been highly successful.

In light of disruption to research programmes worldwide, we have taken the opportunity to reassess the format of this initiative, and we are now excited to announce the launch of the Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigators Series.

What is changing?

In place of a dedicated journal issue, Emerging Investigators papers will be published throughout the year. We anticipate the following benefits to this change:

• No fixed submission deadlines allowing more flexibility for authors
• Continual exposure of exciting work from early-career members of the community
• Greater emphasis and focus on individual authors and research groups

We hope for this to offer a better service to our authors and readers well into the future.

What is not changing?

While we will no longer dedicate a specific journal issue to our Emerging Investigators, all other aspects of this initiative will remain the same. This includes:

• Eligibility criteria (see below)
• A dedicated web page for published articles alongside our other collections
• Rigour and speed in peer review
• An overall objective to showcase the full diversity of cutting-edge research carried out from biomaterials scientists in the early stages of their independent careers worldwide

What happens now?

The Biomaterials Science Editorial Office will contact nominated Emerging Investigators throughout the year.

Regarding eligibility, contributors must:

• Publish research within the journal scope
• Currently be an independent research leader
• Have not been featured as an Emerging Investigator in a previous Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigators article
• Have either no more than 12 years of post-PhD research experience in the year of submission when taking into account any career breaks

Do you fit the criteria above, and wish to be featured as an Emerging Investigator in the journal? Get in touch with us at biomaterialsscience-rsc@rsc.org