Christopher Ruben, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, has received a two-year PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship. This funding will support Ruben in his research on developing polymers that mimic key chemical structures of bacteria to create a targeted drug delivery system to the lungs. 

"Bacteria have had a long time to develop tricks to get past your body's natural defense mechanisms to target specific regions of the body," Ruben explains. "Because this system is targeted to the lungs, it can be a concentrated therapeutic to the lungs thus minimizing unwanted side effects and potentially lowering the amount of therapeutic administered."

Ruben currently is a graduate research assistant in the Fiegel Lab. He has hopes to work in the pharmaceutical industry in the future, "I want to work with a group of talented scientists and engineers to develop better drug delivery techniques to improve the lives of patients."