BSD Lecture - Daniel Siegwart

Development of selective organ targeting (SORT) lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and signal peptide engineered nucleic acid design (SEND) mRNAs that control extra- and intra-cellular localization of therapeutics to treat diseases

Dr. Daniel Siegwart, Professor, W. Ray Wallace Distinguished Chair in Molecular Oncology Research in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Biochemistry and Director, Program in Genetic Drug Engineering at Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center gives his talk, “Development of selective organ targeting (SORT) lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and signal peptide engineered nucleic acid design (SEND) mRNAs that control extra- and intra-cellular localization of therapeutics to treat diseases,” Thursday, May 1, 2025 from 3-4PM in GCIS Room W301.

You can view this event on the University Calendar, here.

Daniel J. Siegwart, PhD received a B.S. in Biochemistry from Lehigh University (2003), and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University (2008), studying with Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski. He also studied as an NSF EAPSI Research Fellow at the University of Tokyo with Professor Kazunori Kataoka (2006). He then completed an NIH NSRA Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT with Professor Robert Langer (2008-2012). He has received awards including a CPRIT Scholar Award, an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award, the Young Innovator Award in Nanobiotechnology, Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigator Award, and election to the Controlled Release Society (CRS) College of Fellows and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows.

His research laboratory utilizes materials chemistry to enable targeted nanoparticle delivery of genomic medicines. Their efforts led to an understanding of the essential physical and chemical properties of synthetic carriers required for therapeutic delivery of siRNA, miRNA, tRNA, pDNA, mRNA, and gene editors. His lab has been at the forefront in the design of synthetic carriers for gene editing and has applied these technologies for correction of genetic diseases and treatment of cancer. They reported the first non-viral system for in vivo CRISPR/Cas gene editing. They developed Selective ORgan Targeting (SORT) lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which was the first strategy for predictable tissue specific mRNA delivery and gene editing. They ultimately aspire to utilize chemistry and engineering to make a beneficial impact on human health.