Dr. Cui's research is focused on drug and vaccine delivery.

Nanoparticles for anti-cancer drug delivery and targeting
An increasing amount of evidence points to the promise of nanotechnology in drug delivery and targeting. We are engineering a variety of nanoparticles, including lipid-based, polymeric, and pH-sensitive nanoparticles to passively or actively target anticancer drugs (e.g., gemcitabine and dsRNA-producing plasmid DNA) into tumors to improve the resultant anti-tumor activity. Moreover, we are interested in utilizing nanoparticles to overcome cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy.

Nanoparticles for vaccine delivery
Novel vaccine delivery systems with strong adjuvant activity are needed to improve the immunogenicity of new generation vaccines. Our focus is on using nanoparticles to deliver recombinant protein or plasmid DNA vaccines. We are also studying the effect of the physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles on their adjuvant activity, ultimately to engineer the ideal nanoparticles for vaccine delivery.

Non-invasive transcutaneous immunization onto the skin
Skin protects not only by acting as a physical barrier, but also by its role in our powerful immune system. As a frontline of the host's defense against pathogens, skin is well equipped for immune surveillance. Thus, targeting antigens to the skin epidermis should be able to efficiently induce strong immune responses. However, the forbidden barrier posed by the stratum corneum layer in the epidermis prevents the effective entrance of vaccine antigens into the epidermis. Non-invasive transcutaneous immunization onto the skin has proven to be a viable immunization modality, but the immune responses induced are generally weak. We are interested in enhancing the immune responses induced after transcutaneous immunization by modifying the hair follicle cycle.  

University of Kentucky, Ph.D., Pharmaceutics, 2002
University of Pittsburgh, Postdoc, Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2004