The advances in material science and engineering has enabled the development of innovative biomaterials for the range of health applications such as synthesis of drug delivery carriers for drug resistant disorders, engineering biocompatible scaffolds for tissue constructs and the development of composite materials as water purification technologies. The physio-chemical properties of these synthetic biomaterials are well-known to impact their biological applications. In comparison to naturally existing biomaterials, the facile synthesis of polymeric materials and their self-assembly into different shapes, sizes and molecular weights, provide an excellent platform to tune the biological properties of synthetic carriers, as a function of the molecular weight, architecture, and composition of polymers.
The research interests in Ahmed group are focused on the development of novel, biologically inspired, materials (polymers, nanoparticles, composites and hydrogels) for delivery of small molecule drugs to overcome drug resistant bacterial infections. We are specifically working on the synthesis of vitamin B5 functionalized polymeric biomaterials, their nanoparticles and hydrogels and are investigating their antifouling and antibacterial efficacies to overcome drug resistant bacterial anomalies in vitro. Other projects in Ahmed laboratory focus on the development of FDA approved colloidal carriers for co-delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer tissues.