Overview: Our Laboratory of Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, Bionanotechnology and Molecular Recognition has been the leading group and pacesetter in the field of drug delivery and controlled release, a field that has been developed into a mature area of scholarly and applied research. In addition we have had extensive contributions in biomaterials and bionanotechnology, and have contributed seminal work in the field of feedback controlled biomedical devices. The multidisciplinary approach of this research in bionanotechnology and biomolecular engineering blends modern molecular and cellular biology with engineering to generate next-generation systems and devices, including bioMEMS with enhanced applicability, reliability, functionality, and longevity. Our contributions have been translated into more than twenty medical products with multibillion dollar markets.

Fundamentals of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Transport Systems: The fundamentals and rational design of drug delivery systems and biomaterials have been set by our group over the past 35 years. In its very early days, drug delivery was an empirical field where the selection of components for successful formulations was based on a heuristic approach. Peppas and collaborators were the first to set the theories and equations that led to the design of a wide range of new systems. For example, using biomedical engineering principles and new biomedical transport theories, they developed the equations that describe Fickian and non-Fickian diffusion in controlled release devices. The “Peppas equation” has become the standard method of analysis of any pharmaceutical device. Using the modeling similarities of phase erosion and state erosion, they developed a unified models for all drug delivery systems. Similarly, they developed the theoretical framework for the analysis of transport through crosslinked biomaterials (the Peppas-Reinhart theory), ionic hydrogels (the Brannon-Peppas theory), and gel-tissue interactions via tethers (the Huang-Peppas theory and the Sahlin-Peppas equation). For the impact of these theories and analyses, Dr. Peppas has been recognized as the most cited and highly published author in “drug delivery”, “biomaterials and drug delivery”, and “intelligent materials” based on the information provided by the Web of Science ® (2006). He has also ranked as one of the most cited scientists and engineers with an H-index of 62. The H-index recognizes the most highly prolific and cited authors and researchers in the world.

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Devices: Applications of these theories have had significant impact in the development of new biomedical systems and devices. Peppas and his students originated the novel muco- and bioadhesive systems that interact molecularly with the mucus and tissue and have been able to prolong bioavailability of proteins and peptides in the blood. As a result of his work, a number of biomedical polymers and commercial delivery devices have been launched. For example, our group was the first to develop novel toxic-free poly(vinyl alcohol) gels by the freezing-thawing technique in 1975. These gels became very successful articular cartilage replacement systems. In 1978, the group developed the same systems for in situ replacement of vocal cords, a successful medical procedure that remained in practice until the late 1990s and assisted about 45,000 patients.

Intelligent Hydrogels: This laboratory group pioneered (1979) the use of hydrogels in drug delivery applications, including epidermal bioadhesive systems and systems for the release of theophylline, proxyphylline, diltiazem, and oxprenolol. Perhaps the most important development of our labs has been the new technologies of oral delivery systems for insulin and other proteins. These devices release insulin orally, “protecting” the insulin throughout its transport in the stomach, upper small intestine, and, eventually, blood, and bypassing diabetics’ need for several daily injections. Dr. Peppas’ group has shown that these new systems exhibit very high bioavailability. This is the first time that an oral system has been shown to be effective for oral delivery of proteins, especially insulin. In fact, the same technology has been used for the transmucosal (oral, buccal) delivery of calcitonin (for treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women) and interferon-alpha (for cancer therapy), and is presently investigated for interferon-beta release for multiple sclerotic patients. In tests on over 1500 rats and dogs that were given capsules containing microspheres of this new biomaterial carrier, high bioavailability was determined.