Forigua Coronado, Alejandro2024-01-3120242024-01-31http://hdl.handle.net/1828/15914This dissertation explores the application of microdroplet technology in two pivotal areas of the pharmaceutical and biotechnological fields: drug discovery and drug delivery, with a focus on neural models. It presents a comprehensive study on the development and application of microfluidic devices for the fabrication of drug delivery particles and the modeling of cell membranes using Droplet Interface Bilayers (DIBs). The first part of this work, detailed in Chapters 2 and 3, describes the design and optimization of a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic platform for generating oil-in-water droplets. These droplets serve as precursors for polycaprolactone (PCL) microparticles, which have potential for controlled drug release. This platform showcases significant improvements in droplet generation and encapsulation efficiency compared to traditional batch processes and has been adopted for commercial-scale production. In the second part, Chapters 4 and 5 focus on the application of DIBs as a model for cell membranes. The research quantitatively analyzes the passive diffusion of memantine, an Alzheimer’s disease treating drug, and niacin, a common vitamin supplement used as a neuroprotective agent, and examines the impact of lipid formulation and droplet content on drug absorption and water transport. The findings highlight the advantages of using biomimetic lipid formulations for in vitro studies. This dissertation demonstrates the significant potential of microdroplet technology in enhancing the efficacy and precision of drug delivery systems and in providing more accurate models for cell membrane studies. The insights gained not only contribute to the academic understanding of drug interaction with cellular membranes but also pave the way for future innovations in neuropharmacology and biotechnology.enAvailable to the World Wide WebDropletsDrug deliveryMicrofluidicsNeural modelsBiomemebranesBiophysicsDrug discoveryMicroparticlesBiotechnologyThesisA. Forigua, R. L. Kirsch, S. M. Willerth and K. S. Elvira, “Recent advances in the design of microfluidic technologies for the manufacture of drug releasing particles”, Journal of Controlled Release, 2021, 333, 258–268. DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.03.019A. Forigua, A. Dalili, R. Kirsch, S. M. Willerth and K. S. Elvira, “Microfluidic generation of therapeutically relevant polycaprolactone (PCL) microparticles: Computational and experimental approaches”, ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 2022, 4, 7004–7013. DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.2c00943