Silvia Muro

Silvia Muro

Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya

Life & Medical Sciences

Dr. Muro obtained her PhD in Sciences from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and then moved to University of Pennsylvania as a Postdoctoral Associate and Research Assistant Professor in Pharmacology. In 2008 she joined the Bioengineering Department and the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research at the University of Maryland, where she was a tenured Associate Professor since 2012. Since November 2017, she is an ICREA Professor in the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia. Dr. Muro has published 90+ articles and chapters in drug delivery and has received awards from the Controlled Release Society, American Society for Nanomedicine, UMD Outstanding Life Sciences Invention in 2011, Junior Faculty Outstanding Engineering Research award, has been a member of the USA NIH Nanomedicine Study Section and serves in the Small Business: Biomaterials, Delivery, and Nanotechnology Study Section. 


Research interests

Dr. Muro's research sits at the interface between molecular-cellular biology and nanotechnology-drug delivery. Her lab studies the biological mechanisms ruling how our cells and tissues transport cargoes to precise destinations within our bodies, and then applies this knowledge toward the design of “biologically-controlled” nanodevices for improved delivery of therapeutic agents to specific disease sites. Focusing on genetic conditions that cause metabolic, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular syndromes, as well as on a new transport pathway she helped discover, her goal is to gain non-invasive, efficient, and specific access within the body and its cells, to enable effective treatment of these life-threatening disorders and other maladies characterized by similar pathological traits. 

Selected publications

- Manthe-Gross RL, Loeck M, Bhowmick T, Solomon M & Muro S 2020, 'Intertwined mechanisms define transport of anti-ICAM nanocarriers across the endothelium and brain delivery of a therapeutic enzyme', Journal Of Controlled Release : Official Journal Of The Controlled Release Society, 324, 181 - 193.

Selected research activities

Other research activities:

Talks & presentations.

-Intertwined mechanisms define transport of anti-ICAM nanocarriers across the endothelium and brain delivery of a therapeutic enzyme. Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society, 2020.

-Modulating design parameters of 3DNA nanocarriers to tune lung targeting for drug delivery. Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society, 2020.

-Role of valency on the ability of ICAM-1 targeted nanoparticles to effectively cross the BBB and deliver therapeutic enzymes in cellular and animal models. Annual Symposium of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, 2020.

-Study of the relative expression of ICAM-1 Ig-like domains in different cell types and disease conditions. Annual Symposium of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, 2020

Grants.

-Ignite Program, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Principal Investigator, 01/03/2020-01/08/2021.

Panels & boards.

-Scientific Review Group Nanomedicine (NANO), National Institutes of Health, USA (Feb. 2020, Jun. 2020).

-Scientific Review Group Small Business: Biomaterials, Delivery, and Nanotechnology, National Institutes of Health, USA (Nov, 2020).

-Review Panel, Czech Science Foundation (Jul. 2020).

-Key Opinion Leader, Code BioTherapeutics (Jul. 2020).

-Review Panel, Israel Science Foundation (Mar. 2020).

-Editorial Board, Current Pharmaceutical Design (Jul. 2019-)