Karolinska Institutet (KI)

Karolinska Institutet (KI), founded in 1810, is Sweden’s only university especially focusing on biomedical sciences. In addition, KI annually awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. KI ranks as one of the world’s leading medical universities, thanks in part to the quality of its research activities, which today account for 40 per cent of all medical research in Sweden.

Research group – Samir EL Andaloussi
Our research efforts focus on one of the greatest challenges facing modern therapeutics; delivery. Despite the unprecedented knowledge of diseases and their mechanisms due to advances in biomedical sciences; many promising therapeutic approaches are still clinically unavailable. This is simply because there is no efficient means of delivering these therapeutics to the right organ with the right dose. We are therefore developing peptide-based delivery systems and engineered EVs to enhance the bioavailability of biotherapeutics, with emphasis on RNA-based drugs and protein biologics.

Role within EXPERT

Within the EXPERT project, we will mainly work within WP5 and WP8. We will formulate mRNA with a novel class of CPPs that overcomes hepatic delivery; a major issue with most other synthetic nanodelivery systems. This system will be further developed by screening different co-excipients to enhance in vivo delivery of mRNA and assess safety profiles. In addition, we will assess host-factor binding to the different delivery modalities described in EXPERT, including EVs and protein nanoparticles, to better understand their importance in cell uptake and in vivo biodistribution.