Location
MC 6460
Speaker
Dr. Farshad Moradi Kashkooli and Dr. Mohsen Rezaeian, postdoctoral fellows in the department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo
Title
Drug Delivery to Solid Tumors: A Computational-Experimental Approach
Abstract
Treating solid tumors remains one of the central challenges in oncology, driven by the complex tumor microenvironment and the physical and biological barriers that restrict therapeutic efficacy. A unifying research direction addresses these challenges by integrating multiscale and multiphysics computational modeling with systematic experimental validation, forming a foundation for next-generation digital twins in oncology. This framework encompasses predictive models of tumor growth, angiogenesis, and drug transport, complemented by image-based reconstructions that capture patient-specific vascular and tissue architectures. These models extend to hybrid therapeutic strategies—such as combining chemotherapy with vascular normalization and anti-angiogenic treatments—enabling quantitative prediction and optimization of synergistic therapeutic responses. Parallel advances have also been made in nanoparticle-based drug delivery modeling, incorporating both intrinsic release triggers (e.g., pH, hypoxia) and external physical stimuli (e.g., hyperthermia, ultrasound) to enhance intratumoral transport and controlled drug release. This theoretical work is tightly linked to experimental platforms designed to validate and refine these models across multiple scales, including a novel ultrasound-activated nanomedicine delivery system tested in silico, ex vivo, in vitro, and in vivo, demonstrating significant translational potential. The research also integrates microfluidic tumor-on-a-chip platforms that recapitulate tumor architecture, drug transport pathways, and clinically relevant treatment environments. These systems pair with computational prediction tools to deliver mechanistic insight and enable simulation-guided tuning of therapeutic protocols. Together, these efforts establish a comprehensive research ecosystem that unifies mechanistic modeling, microfluidic and preclinical experimentation, acoustically triggered drug-delivery systems, targeted nanomedicine design, and data-driven optimization. This integrated strategy accelerates the development of personalized, simulation-guided cancer therapies and the design of next-generation therapeutic technologies.
Key words: drug transport, targeted delivery systems, image-based simulations, ultrasound-activated nanomedicine, tumor-on-a-chip platforms, digital twins, microfluidics, ultrasound technologies, and next-generation drug-delivery