Friday January 31st, 2025:
Dr. Sergio Martin Saldaña was recently announced as the winner of the 2025 Molecular Pharmaceutics Early Career Best Paper Award. His research article, “Therapeutic Polymer-Based Cannabidiol Formulation: Tackling Neuroinflammation Associated with Ischemic Events in the Brain”, was selected by the committee for its potential high impact toward the quest of mitigating the devastating consequences of ischemic strokes. This work was conducted as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at the University of Galway as part of CÚRAM. Here he explains more about his work.
What kind of research are you involved in?
I do research at the frontier of Biology and Materials Science. My ultimate research goal is to understand the molecular basis of neuroinflammation, which would allow developing treatments to improve the outcome of its related pathologies from a biomaterial-focused point of view.
How do approach this research?
Our approach deals with complex research questions from the biological point of view, with a simple and easy to translate biomaterial-based formulation. While Cannabidiol (CBD), the most relevant non-psychostimulant phytocompound found in Cannabis sativa, exhibits great potential as a therapeutic candidate for neuroinflammation-related conditions, such as stroke, it has several drawbacks for pharmaceutical use.
We were able to engineer a polymer-based nanoformulation capable of improving CBD stability and bio-distribution, and we tested the system in the context of ischemic stroke.
What would you like people to understand about your research?
Stroke disability is the only major disease without an effective treatment. We are designing a new formulation that promises increased efficacy in reducing the inflammatory response induced by ischemic conditions, and it was designed by using FDA-approved components, which enhances its potential for successful translation to preclinical and clinical settings.
Why did you embark on a research career?
I have always been curious, and research gives you the chance to learn something new every day since you are constantly facing problems and hypotheses that challenge you to question your assumptions.
What does this award mean to you?
This award is a significant milestone in my scientific career resulting from an outstanding team effort and the support of my mentor Prof Abhay Pandit, founding Director of CÚRAM. It motivates me to contribute more significantly to our research community.
How do you like to use your time away from work?
I love to enjoy a good sci-fi book or a movie, and play with my kids.
Ends