Sichen Song, MS, PhD

We aim to improve oral delivery for global health by developing high drug-load amorphous formulations for poorly soluble drugs. Current amorphous formulations require excess excipients, leading to high pill burdens that limit their use in low-resource settings. We will enhance therapies for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis using two approaches: (1) develop amorphous drug-polymer salt (ADPS) formulations that provide high stability and superior release performance through in situ nanoparticle generation via a new ion-exchange mechanism during dissolution; (2) leverage state-of-the-art processing and characterization tools to scale up the ADPS synthesis from lab-scale to kilogram scale. Our work will enable cost-effective, stable, and scalable therapeutics suitable for hot, humid climates and improved patient adherence, particularly in underserved populations.