Professor Paula Hammond

Professor Paula T. Hammond
Institute Professor & Vice Provost for Faculty
Department of Chemical Engineering & Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nanolayered coatings to replace - or augment - PEG in Nanomedicine

Although nanomedicine has been an intense area of interest for several years, we have yet to fully understand how to master means of directing nanoparticles in the body. Noncovalent interactions, including electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding and other non-specific interactions drive biological functions. By combining electrostatic interactions – the use of the opposites attract rules – in conjunction with chemistries that enable directed targeting, we can assemble ‘sticky’ nanoparticles that direct drugs and biological cargoes such as RNA, DNA and proteins to specific parts of the body. Recently, we have found that we can apply one or two layers of polyelectrolytes using alternating layer-by-layer assembly to modify liposomal formulations or mRNA and DNA lipid nanoparticles. When charged lipid nanoparticles are coated with a singular oppositely charged layer coating, it is possible to create stable formulations with high loading and delivery efficacy and targeting capability. Notably, it is possible to generate layered lipid nanoparticles (LLPNs) without the assistance of typical polyethylene glycol (PEG) functionalized lipid systems used to stabilize traditional LPNS. These layered LPNs (LLPNs) have been shown to provide highly effective transfection, in many cases greatly improved over typical LPN systems. We have also examined liposomal formulations modified with simple bilayer systems, and determined their use for delivery to the brain to treat glioblastoma using convection enhanced delivery (CED), a method which enables direct transgression of the blood-brain barrier. In general, these polyelectrolyte nanolayered coatings greatly enhance delivery to different tissues and cells, lowering or in many cases eliminating the need for PEG while introducing cell specificity that PEG alone cannot provide.

Paula T. Hammond

Professor Paula T. Hammond is Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. She is the Vice Provost for Faculty at MIT as of January 2024. She served as the Head of the Chemical Engineering Department at MIT from 2015 to 2023.

The core of Prof. Hammond’s work is the use of electrostatics and other complementary interactions to generate functional materials with highly controlled architecture. Her research in nanomedicine encompasses the development of new biomaterials to enable drug delivery from surfaces with spatio-temporal control. She also investigates novel responsive polymer architectures for targeted nanoparticle drug and gene delivery. The newest developments from her lab offer a promising approach to the delivery of proteins, siRNA and mRNA using electrostatic assembly as a means of modifying surfaces, nanoparticles and lipid complexes for targeted systemic delivery, opening potential for vaccines and immunotherapies. Professor Paula Hammond was elected into the National Academy of Science in 2019, the National Academy of Engineering in 2017, the National Academy of Medicine in 2016, and the 2013 Class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also a member of the National Academy of Inventors (2021). She received the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Margaret H. Rousseau Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement by a Woman Chemical Engineer in 2019 and gave the Materials Research Society (MRS) David Turnbull Lectureship, 2019. Professor Hammond has published over 330 papers, and over 20 patent applications. She is the co- founder and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of LayerBio, Inc., a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Moderna Therapeutics and a member of the Board of Alector Therapeutics and the Board of Sail Biomedicines, a Flagship company. In 2021, Professor Hammond was selected to become a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). In January 2025, President Biden awarded Professor Hammond the honorable National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

In terms of educational background, Prof. Hammond is from Detroit, Michigan, and received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT, then worked for two years in industry, moved to Atlanta to get an M.S. in Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech, before returning to MIT for her PhD. She held the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, and on completing her PhD, was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard University Chemistry Department before returning to MIT as a faculty member.

Hosted by Professor Theresa Reineke