Emmanuel Ho

Therapeutics and Theranostics Leader; Professor, School of Pharmacy

Research interests: Drug delivery and pharmaceutics; Nanomedicine, medical devices, biomaterials; 3D Printing, hot-melt injection molding; HIV/AIDS, cancer, chronic wound healing

Biography

Professor Emmanuel Ho is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo. His current research program is focused on the development and characterization of innovative nanomedicines, medical devices and biomaterials for imaging, treatment, and prevention of diseases including HIV/AIDS, cancer, and chronic wounds. Professor Ho’s research group is also interested in utilizing nanotechnology as an innovative tool for delineating the immunological and molecular mechanisms regulating disease pathogenesis.

Professor Ho is the past President of the Canadian Chapter of the Controlled Release Society (CC-CRS), is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, and was an invited speaker for the inaugural 2014 TEDx UManitoba event.

Professor Ho is an international expert in nanomedicine and was awarded the 2015 Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada (AFPC) New Investigator Research Award, the 2015 Gattefosse Canada / Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences (CSPS) Award in Lipid-Based Drug Delivery, the 2014 GlaxoSmithKline / CSPS Early Career Award, and the 2013 Rh Award for Excellence in Research (Interdisciplinary Category).

Education

CIHR/MSFHR Post-Doctoral Fellow, British Columbia Cancer Research Center
Ph.D., University of Toronto
Hons.B.Sc., University of Toronto

Research

The HoResearchGroup uses an interdisciplinary approach to develop strategies for the imaging, treatment, and prevention of diseases. This involves the fabrication and characterization of innovative biomaterials for drug delivery systems such as nanoparticles, medical devices, biodegradable films, hydrogels, etc.

Expertise:

Drug delivery and pharmaceutics
Nanomedicine, medical devices, biomaterials
3D Printing, hot-melt injection molding
HIV/AIDS, cancer, chronic wound healing
Website: http://HoResearchGroup.com

Publications

Recent publications include:

Self-assembled nanoparticles made from a new PEGylated poly(aspartic acid) graft copolymer for intravaginal delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs. Kim S, Traore YL, Lee JS, Kim JH, Ho EA, Liu S. J Biomater Sci Polym Ed. 2017 Dec;28(17):2082-2099. PMID: 28853638
Development of antibody-modified chitosan nanoparticles for the targeted delivery of siRNA across the blood-brain barrier as a strategy for inhibiting HIV replication in astrocytes. Gu J, Al-Bayati K, Ho EA. Drug Deliv Transl Res. 2017 Aug;7(4):497-506. PMID: 28315051
Reversibly pH-responsive polyurethane membranes for on-demand intravaginal drug delivery. Kim S, Chen Y, Ho EA, Liu S. Acta Biomater. 2017 Jan 1;47:100-112. PMID: 27717914
Nanoparticles Encapsulated with LL37 and Serpin A1 Promotes Wound Healing and Synergistically Enhances Antibacterial Activity. Fumakia M, Ho EA. Mol Pharm. 2016 Jul 5;13(7):2318-31. PMID: 27182713
Impact of Hydroxychloroquine-Loaded Polyurethane Intravaginal Rings on Lactobacilli. Traore YL, Chen Y, Bernier AM, Ho EA. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2015 Dec;59(12):7680-6. PMID: 26416871
Biodegradable Film for the Targeted Delivery of siRNA-Loaded Nanoparticles to Vaginal Immune Cells. Gu J, Yang S, Ho EA. Mol Pharm. 2015 Aug 3;12(8):2889-903 PMID: 26099315
Development of an Analytical Method for the Rapid Quantitation of Peptides Used in Microbicide Formulations. Chen Y, Yang S, Ho EA. Chromatographia. 2014;77(23-24):1713-1720. PMID: 25477555
Development of polyether urethane intravaginal rings for the sustained delivery of hydroxychloroquine. Chen Y, Traore YL, Li A, Fowke KR, Ho EA. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2014 Oct 9;8:1801-15. PMID: 25336923