Q&A with Shruti Dharmaraj: Developing Molecules to Treat Allergic Reactions

Nearly one-third of Americans suffer from allergies, including PhD student Shruti Dharmaraj, MS, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Because current allergy treatments only relieve associated symptoms, Dharmaraj is researching how to address the root causes of allergic reactions.

She received a 2025 PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship in Drug Delivery for her research, which aims to develop drug carriers derived from small molecules released by mitochondria and use them to deliver antigens to the body. These antigens will trigger the body’s immune response and train it to ignore those allergens in the future. She hopes this drug delivery platform could offer an approach for treating immune system-related diseases.

Watch this video to learn more about Dharmaraj and her research.