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Paper of the month: Nanophotobody-mediated EGFR targeting using lignin nanoassemblies enhances photodynamic efficacy in breast cancer

09 Oct 2026
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Abhay H. Pande, Jayeeta Bhaumik and colleagues in India demonstrate the potential of lignin-based, nanobody-functionalized nanoparticles as a sustainable and effective platform for targeted photodynamic cancer therapy.

 

 

Their work presents a lignin-based “nanophotobody” for targeted photodynamic therapy of breast cancer. Rose Bengal was encapsulated in lignin nanoparticles and functionalized with an anti-EGFR nanobody (7D12) to enable selective recognition of EGFR-expressing cancer cells. The resulting Nb@RB-LNPs showed good stability, approximately 93% nanobody conjugation efficiency, and efficient singlet oxygen generation (ΦΔ ≈ 0.71). The nanophotobody showed stronger binding to EGFR-overexpressing MDA-MB-468 cells than non-targeted nanoparticles and generated higher intracellular ROS following green-light irradiation. This translated into enhanced photodynamic cytotoxicity, with an IC₅₀ of approximately 3.65 μg mL⁻¹ under light compared with 18.2 μg mL⁻¹ in the dark. Importantly, the formulation showed negligible cytotoxicity toward normal HEK-293 cells. Overall, the work demonstrates the potential of lignin-based nanoassemblies as sustainable and selective platforms for light-activated cancer therapy.

This study demonstrates that lignin can serve as an effective and selective delivery vehicle for photodynamic therapy. Conjugation with an EGFR-specific nanobody enabled selective recognition of EGFR-expressing breast cancer cells and enhanced the delivery and photodynamic activity of Rose Bengal. The targeted system generated higher ROS and showed stronger light-induced cancer cell inhibition while remaining well-tolerated by normal cells. This highlights the potential of lignin-based nanoparticles as versatile carriers for developing more selective and effective PDT strategies.

 

Read the full article:

Nanophotobody-mediated EGFR targeting using lignin nanoassemblies enhances photodynamic efficacy in breast cancer

Kshitij Rawat, Prakash Y. Khandave, Yeddula Nikhileshwar Reddy, Anil Kumar Pujari, Abhay H. Pande and Jayeeta Bhaumik

RSC Pharm., 2026, 3, 1413–1425.

 

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2026 RNA Vaccines and Therapeutics Conference – RSC Pharmaceutics poster prize winners

29 Sep 2026
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Hosted by CPI, Imperial College London, and The BioIndustry Association (BIA), the 4th annual RNA Vaccines and Therapeutics Conference recently took place in London on the 15-16th September 2026, bringing together a diverse range of academic and industry experts. The symposium featured excellent talks on recent successes and challenges in developing the next generation of RNA vaccines, as well as an engaging panel discussion on the future of RNA medicines for cancer treatment and a poster session.

Our RSC Pharmaceutics Editor-in-Chief, Professor Yvonne Perrie, attended this conference, and RSC Pharmaceutics was delighted to sponsor three poster prizes to celebrate the outstanding work of researchers in the field, namely Thomas Payne (Monash University), Lauren Wright (The University of Sheffield) and Umair Shah (Moderna).

Professor Yvonne Perrie from the University of Strathclyde, Thomas Payne from Monash University, Lauren Wright from The University of Sheffield, Dr Lorna McInroy from Moderna on behalf of Umair Shah, and Dr Chloe Johnson from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Not pictured: Umair Shah from Moderna.

Professor Yvonne Perrie from the University of Strathclyde, Thomas Payne from Monash University, Lauren Wright from The University of Sheffield, Dr Lorna McInroy from Moderna on behalf of Umair Shah, and Dr Chloe Johnson from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Not pictured: Umair Shah from Moderna.

We are delighted that the conference was such a success and we would like to wish a huge congratulations to the poster prize winners!

RSC Pharmaceutics banner

RSC Pharmaceutics is a new gold open access journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry and publishes research focused on formulating a drug into a medicine, with the intention of achieving controllable drug delivery with high efficacy. Submit to RSC Pharmaceutics today!

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Editor’s Pick: Advancing drug delivery research with Arvind Kumar Bansal

24 Sep 2026
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We’re pleased to share the latest Editor’s Pick collection from RSC Pharmaceutics, selected by Editorial Board Member Professor Arvind Kumar Bansal. This collection brings together six articles that highlight recent advances in drug delivery, pharmaceutical technologies and nanomedicine.

Professor Bansal is Dean and Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), SAS Nagar, India. Reflecting on his selection, he commented:

“We are pleased to present a collection of impactful articles that captures the evolving landscape of drug delivery research, bringing together researchers from different regions of the globe.”

Explore the articles in Arvind Kumar Bansal’s Editor’s Pick collection:

Implementation-focused evaluation of transmission low-frequency Raman spectroscopy parameters for non-destructive quality control of solid dosage forms
Reo Kasahara, Motoki Inoue, Toshiro Fukami
RSC Pharm. 2026, 3, 441–448

Multiscale computational insights into 5-fluorouracil delivery via zeolite imidazole frameworks (ZIFs)
Michalis Vlachos, Giorgio Turtù, Marco Severi, Emmanuel Tylianakis, Emmanuel Klontzas, Francesco Zerbetto, George Froudakis
RSC Pharm. 2025, 2, 1479–1488

Polybasic nanogels for intracellular co-delivery of paclitaxel and carboplatin: a novel approach to ovarian cancer therapy
Angela M. Wagner, Olivia L. Lanier, Ani Savk, Nicholas A. Peppas
RSC Pharm. 2025, 2, 553–569.

Effect of shape on cellular internalization and anti-cancer efficacy of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles in an osteosarcoma cell line
Simmi Gupta, Esha S. Attar, Vishvesh Joshi, Padma V. Devarajan
RSC Pharm. 2025; 2, 1087–1095

Development of solid drug nanoparticle dispersions for pulmonary delivery of niclosamide and nitazoxanide via vibrating mesh nebulisation
Catherine Unsworth, Andrew B. Dwyer, Alison C. Savage, James J. Hobson, Jonathan Massam, Tom O. McDonald, Paul Curley, Andrew Owen, Andrew O’Sullivan, Ronan MacLoughlin, Steve P. Rannard
RSC Pharm. 2025, 2, 517–526

Polymeric nano-in-microparticles for pulmonary delivery of remdesivir against SARS-CoV-2
, Brenno da Cunha Lima, Beatriz Moreira Rodrigues, Michelle Alvares Sarcinelli, Marcelo Henrique da Cunha Chaves, Helvécio Vinícius Antunes Rocha, Natália Neto Pereira Cerize, Maria Helena Ambrosio Zanin, Juliana Terzi Maricato, Valker Araujo Feitosa, Carlota de Oliveira Rangel-Yagui
RSC Pharm. 2026, 3, 552–563

Are you ready to contribute to the future of pharmaceutics?

RSC Pharmaceutics publishes research on emerging technologies, including drug delivery, precision medicine and enhanced drug targeting, which have the potential to drive real change in health

Led by Editor-in-Chief Yvonne Perrie, we are interested in papers that cover emerging technologies and techniques in pharmaceutics, including drug delivery, precision medicine, and enhanced drug targeting. If your research pushes the boundaries of current thinking, then we want to hear from you.

As a gold Open Access journal, our publications are free to read, access and cite by anyone around the world. For authors, this means your publications have the potential to reach more people and make a greater impact.

 

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Meet our Editorial Board member, Alexandros Sofias

07 Aug 2026
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We are delighted to introduce you to our new RSC Pharmaceutics Editorial Board member, Dr Alexandros Sofias. He is also an Associate Editor and will handle all review submissions to RSC Pharmaceutics.

Dr Alexandros Sofias is the head of the “Immune Cell Targeting and Imaging” laboratory at the Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging (ExMI), RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany. His research focuses on unraveling the intricate in vivo fate of cancer nanomedicine using multimodal and multiscale imaging techniques, and developing nanoimmunotherapeutics for targeting and manipulating the cancer-associated immune system in the tumor microenvironment, circulation, and hematopoietic organs.  

His lab is funded by the prestigious JPI Fellowship from the Excellence Initiative of the German Research Foundation (DFG), as well as research grants from the German Cancer Aid (Krebshilfe), the Clinical Research Unit (CRU) program of the German Research Foundation (DFG, CRU 344), the START Program (Faculty of Medicine, RWTH), and the Euro-Bioimaging. He also serves as Conference Chair for the Controlled Release Society (CRS) 2027 Annual Meeting (Toronto, 12-15 July 2027), Elected Member of the European Society for Molecular Imaging (ESMI) Governing Board, and Editorial Board Member for Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews (ADDR) and npj Imaging.

Read some of Dr Alexandros Sofias’s work here:

Neutrophil Hitchhiking Enhances Liposomal Dexamethasone Therapy of Sepsis
Ritvik Mathur, Sara Elsafy, Adrian T Press, Julian Brück, Mathias Hornef, Lukas Martin, Tobias Schürholz, Gernot Marx, Matthias Bartneck, Fabian Kiessling, Josbert Maarten Metselaar, Gert Storm, Twan Lammers, Alexandros Marios Sofias, Patrick Koczera
ACS Nano, 2024, 18, 28866

Intravital microscopy for real-time monitoring of drug delivery and nanobiological processes
Jeffrey Momoh, Dimitrios Kapsokalyvas, Michael Vogt, Sjoerd Hak, Fabian Kiessling, Marc van Zandvoort, Twan Lammers, Alexandros Marios Sofias
Adv. Drug Delivery Rev., 2022, 189, 114528

RSC Pharmaceutics is a new gold open access journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry and publishes research focused on formulating a drug into a medicine, with the intention of achieving controllable drug delivery with high efficacy. This journal is open for submissions.

Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest news by following us on LinkedIn or BlueSky. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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5th South Florida Translational Research Symposium – RSC Pharmaceutics Poster Prize Winners

15 May 2026
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The FIU Center for Translational Science 5th Annual South Florida Translational Research Symposium took place at Florida International University, USA, on the 9th and 10th of April 2026. The symposium featured excellent plenary talks on congenital heart disease, lung injury, stroke, and bench to bedside research. Our RSC Pharmaceutics Editorial Member, Dr Heidi Mansour attended this conference, and RSC Pharmaceutics was delighted to sponsor four prizes for the undergraduate, medical student, post graduate and postdoctoral poster winners:

Undergraduate poster winner: Carleigh Miller (Nova Southeastern University)

Medical student poster winner: Oren Nedjar (Nova Southeastern University)

Graduate poster winner: Joseph Souchak (Florida International University)

Postdoctoral poster winner: Hasham Shafi (Florida International University)

We are delighted that the symposium was such a success and we would like to wish a huge congratulations to the poster prize winners!

Dr. Benedict Albensi and Dr. Stephen M. Black  Joseph Souchak and Dr. Stephen M. Black  Dr. Hasham Shafi and Dr. Stephen M. Black [Left] Prof. Benedict Albensi from Nova Southeastern University on behalf of Carleigh Miller and Oren Nedjar, and Prof. Stephen M. Black from Florida International University. Not pictured: Carleigh Miller, Undergraduate Poster Winner, and Oren Nedjar, Medical Student Poster Winner. [Middle] Joseph Souchak, Graduate Poster Winner. [Right] Hasham Shafi, Postdoctoral Fellow Poster Winner.

RSC Pharmaceutics

RSC Pharmaceutics is a new gold open access journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry and publishes research focused on formulating a drug into a medicine, with the intention of achieving controllable drug delivery with high efficacy. Submit to RSC Pharmaceutics today!

Keep up to date with our latest news by following us on LinkedIn. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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Meet our Advisory Board member, Defang Ouyang

14 May 2026
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We are delighted to introduce you to our new RSC Pharmaceutics Advisory Board member, Dr Defang Ouyang.

Dr Defang Ouyang is an Associate Professor at the University of Macau. Since 2011, he has pioneered the integration of artificial intelligence, big data and multi-scale modelling techniques in the field of drug delivery.

“The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is among the oldest scientific and research organizations. With a keen interest in computational pharmaceutics, I am both honoured and thrilled to be a member of RSC Pharmaceutics.” – Dr Defang Ouyang.

Dr Defang OuyangRead some of Dr Ouyang’s research:

AI-directed formulation strategy design initiates rational drug development
Nannan Wang, Jie Dong, Defang Ouyang
J. Control. Release, 2025, 378, 619-636

Artificial intelligence-driven rational design of ionizable lipids for mRNA delivery
Wei Wang, Kepan Chen, Ting Jiang, Yiyang Wu, Zheng Wu, Hang Ying, Hang Yu, Jing Lu, Jinzhong Lin, Defang Ouyang
Nat. Commun., 2024, 15, 10804

RSC Pharmaceutics is a new gold open access journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry and publishes research focused on formulating a drug into a medicine, with the intention of achieving controllable drug delivery with high efficacy. Submit to RSC Pharmaceutics today!

Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest news by following us on LinkedIn. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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Meet our Editorial Board member, Jessica Larsen

24 Nov 2025
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We are delighted to introduce you to our new RSC Pharmaceutics Editorial Board member, Professor Jessica Larsen.

Professor Larsen is the Carol and John ’63 Cromer Family Endowed Associate Professor, currently holding position at Clemson University.

She began her academic career at the University of Virginia, obtaining her BS in Chemical Engineering in 2012. She obtained her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University, where she was able to perform research under Drs. Mark Byrne in Chemical Engineering and Doug Martin in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Her research focuses on polymer-based nanotechnology to enable the treatment of neurologic conditions, delivering drugs across the blood-brain and blood-nerve barriers. In her undergraduate mentoring efforts, she has received the Phil and Mary Bradley Award for Mentoring in Creative Inquiry in 2020. She was also selected as the 2021 Outstanding Faculty Woman at Clemson University. She received the NSF CAREER Award in the Spring of 2021, the Governor’s Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Scientific Research in 2022, and the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Science Junior Researcher of the Year in 2024. She has been an invited speaker at the Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting, and the World Biomaterials Congress. Her work has been continually funded by the NSF, NIH, and multiple disease-specific foundations since her lab’s inception in 2017.

Read some of Professor Larsen’s research:

Complex Coacervates as a Promising Vehicle for mRNA Delivery: A Comprehensive Review of Recent Advances and Challenges
Chloe Forenzo, Jessica Larsen
Mol. Pharmaceutics 2023, 20, 9, 4387–4403

Combining Nanoparticle Shape Modulation and Polymersome Technology in Drug Delivery
Cara Katterman, Christopher Pierce, Jessica Larsen
ACS Appl. Bio Mater. 2021, 4, 4, 2853–2862

The characterization of self-assembled nanostructures in whole blood
Mark Pitman and Jessica Larsen
Anal. Methods, 2020, 12, 2068-2081

RSC Pharmaceutics is a new gold open access journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry and publishes research focused on formulating a drug into a medicine, with the intention of achieving controllable drug delivery with high efficacy. This journal is open for submissions.

Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest news by following us on LinkedIn or BlueSky. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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Meet our Editorial Board member, Francesca Taraballi

19 Nov 2025
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We are delighted to introduce you to our new RSC Pharmaceutics Editorial Board member, Dr Francesca Taraballi.

Dr Taraballi is currently Associate Professor, Director at the Center for Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute, USA.

Dr. Francesca Taraballi is a leading expert in translational nanomedicine and immunoengineering, with a strong focus on the clinical scalability of drug delivery systems. Her research bridges material science and immunology to develop smart biomaterials for regenerative medicine and oncology. A core aspect of her work centers on the design, optimization, and GMP-compliant scale-up of nanoparticle platforms—particularly lipid-based systems—for RNA and small molecule delivery. She has extensive experience in navigating regulatory pathways and implementing manufacturing workflows for first-in-human trials, contributing to the development of hospital-based models for personalized therapeutics.

RSC Pharmaceutics Editorial Board member Dr Francesca Taraballi, Houston Methodist Research Institute

Read some of Dr Taraballi’s research:

RNA therapies for musculoskeletal conditions
Chiara Mancino, Madeline Franke, Antonietta Greco, Tarun Sontam, Patrick Mcculloch, Claudia Corbo, Francesca Taraballi
Journal of Controlled Release, 2025, 377, 756–766

Harnessing RNA Technology to Advance Therapeutic Vaccine Antigens against Chagas Disease
Chiara Mancino, Jeroen Pollet, Assaf Zinger, Kathryn M. Jones, Maria José Villar, Ana Carolina Leao, Rakesh Adhikari, Leroy Versteeg, Rakhi Tyagi Kundu, Ulrich Strych, Federica Giordano, Peter J. Hotez, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Francesca Taraballi, Cristina Poveda
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2024, 16(13), 15832–15846

Biomimetic Scaffolds Modulate the Posttraumatic Inflammatory Response in Articular Cartilage Contributing to Enhanced Neoformation of Cartilaginous Tissue In Vivo
Guillermo Bauza-Mayol, Marcos Quintela, Ava Brozovich, Michael Hopson, Shazad Shaikh, Fernando Cabrera, Aaron Shi, Federica Banche Niclot, Francesca Paradiso, Emman Combellack, Tom Jovic, Paul Rees, Ennio Tasciotti, Lewis W. Francis, Patrick Mcculloch, Francesca Taraballi
Advanced Healthcare Systems, 2022, 11(1), 2101127

RSC Pharmaceutics is a new gold open access journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry and publishes research focused on formulating a drug into a medicine, with the intention of achieving controllable drug delivery with high efficacy. This journal is open for submissions.

Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest news by following us on LinkedIn or BlueSky. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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RSC Pharmaceutics poster prize winners at Nano DDS conference

18 Nov 2025
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RSC Pharmaceutics was delighted to sponsor poster prizes at the recent Nano DDS conference held at Houston Methodist Research Institute, USA. NanoDDS is the first and one of the most important conferences in nanomedicine. Established over twenty years ago by Drs. Kabanov and Kataoka, it continues to be a premier forum for showcasing cutting-edge research and emerging technologies in drug delivery systems. The conference was co-chaired this year by Dr. Biana Godin, Dr. Francesca Taraballi (RSC Pharmaceutics Editorial Board member) and Dr. Alessandro Grattoni.

 

Congratulations to all the winners:

1st prize: Joseph Cave (Houston Methodist Research Institute)

2nd prize: Danilo Settis (Houston Methodist Research Institute)

3rd prize: Ali Haghighat Mesbahi (MD Anderson Cancer Center)

4th prize: Abi Rei (Houston Methodist Research Institute)

 

Left to right: Danilo Settis (2nd place), Abe Rei (4th place), Ali Haghighat Mesbahi (3rd place), Joseph Cave (1st place), Biana Godin (co-chair, NanoDDS)

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Meet our Advisory Board member, Marianne Ashford

11 Nov 2025
By .

We are delighted to introduce you to our new RSC Pharmaceutics Advisory Board member, Dr. Marianne Ashford.

Dr. Marianne Ashford is a Senior Principal Scientist in Pharmaceutical Sciences, R&D at AstraZeneca.

Read some of Dr. Ashford’s research:

A translational framework to DELIVER nanomedicines to the clinic
Paul Joyce, Christine J. Allen, María José Alonso, Marianne Ashford, Michelle S. Bradbury, Matthieu Germain, Maria Kavallaris, Robert Langer, Twan Lammers, Maria Teresa Peracchia, Amirali Popat, Clive A. Prestidge, Cristianne J. F. Rijcken, Bruno Sarmento, Ruth B. Schmid, Avi Schroeder, Santhni Subramaniam, Chelsea R. Thorn, Kathryn A. Whitehead, Chun-Xia Zhao and Hélder A. Santos
Nat. Nanotechnol., 2024, 19, 1597

Free drug and ROS-responsive nanoparticle delivery of synergistic doxorubicin and olaparib combinations to triple negative breast cancer models
Robert J Cavanagh, Patrícia F Monteiro, Cara Moloney, Alessandra Travanut, Fatemeh Mehradnia, Vincenzo Taresco, Ruman Rahman, Stewart G Martin, Anna M Grabowska, Marianne B Ashford and Cameron Alexander
Biomater. Sci., 2024, 12, 1822

In depth characterization of physicochemical critical quality attributes of a clinical drug-dendrimer conjugate
Silvia Sonzini, Fanny Caputo, Dora Mehn, Luigi Calzolai, Sven Even Borgos, Astrid Hyldbakk, Kevin Treacher, Weimin Li, Mark Jackman, Najet Mahmoudi, M Jayne Lawrence, Claire Patterson, David Owen, Marianne Ashford and Nadim Akhtar
Int. J. Pharm., 2023, 637, 122905

RSC Pharmaceutics is a new gold open access journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry and publishes research focused on formulating a drug into a medicine, with the intention of achieving controllable drug delivery with high efficacy. This journal is now open for submissions.

Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest news by following us on LinkedIn. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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