Novel Nanoparticle Research: PhD Student Explores New Drug Delivery Method

From her master’s to her PhD, Ayushi Saxena has spent years at MCPHS developing spray-dried nanoparticles to deliver therapeutics, starting with cancer.

When she enters the pharmaceutical sciences research lab, Ayushi Saxena’s world is nanoscopic. She works with particles that are inconceivably small—so small that tens of thousands of them could line up across a single strand of hair.

After years of work, she is standing on the edge of a drug delivery breakthrough.

“I’ve developed spray-dried nanoparticles to be a versatile platform technology, or carrier, for different kinds of therapeutics,” Saxena explained. “Now, I’m testing whether they can effectively deliver an anti-cancer drug.”

This is the foundation of Saxena’s dissertation as a Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutics candidate at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). By the time she defends her project later this year, she hopes to have proven that she successfully delivered an anti-cancer drug to cells using her nanoparticles.

“The drug I’m testing consists of short strands of nucleic acids, which are highly sensitive to processing,” she said. “They specifically target the process of new blood vessel formation that tumors depend on for growth and progression. Incorporating something this delicate into spray-dried nanoparticles is what makes this work truly novel.”

It has taken years to reach this point. Saxena started this work for her master’s thesis at MCPHS under the guidance of Dr. Sanjaykumar Gayakwad. Her first task was to develop spray-dried nanoparticles—the carriers.

Spray-drying is a process during which liquids are rapidly dried and heated with gas to form powder particles. Saxena explained it is widely used in pharmaceuticals to improve product stability while making storage and handling easier.

“While the industry is spray-drying, it has traditionally been used to produce microparticles,” she said. “There is growing interest in achieving nanoparticles, which is key to enhancing cellular uptake and delivery efficiency.”

When she completed her thesis in 2021, MCPHS invited Saxena to continue pursuing the project as a doctoral student.

“Curiosity drove me to pharmacy in the first place, and I knew I always wanted to do research,” she said. “During my master’s, I was excited to explore where this work could lead. Over time, that curiosity grew into great passion for the project. By the end, I was deeply motivated to continue building on it.”

After successfully developing the nanoparticles, Saxena is loading them with a drug to inhibit a gene expression in the body that produces blood vessels, something cancer tumors need to survive, grow, and spread. She spends her days in the lab running test after test, altering variables and tracking the results, to see if the loaded nanoparticles have an effect. This year, Saxena was awarded a Mini Grant from the Center for Research and Discovery to support this work.

“Tests of the loaded drug are going well,” Saxena said. “After years of work, including overcoming challenges, it’s validating to see encouraging results. It reassures me that the approach is working and pushes me to keep refining and building on it.”

As a student researcher, Saxena can only take this work so far. Soon, she will finalize her findings and present them. After she leaves MCPHS, another student may resume and advance the work, while Saxena will reap the benefits of the skills and expertise she gained throughout the project. For her, research is about more than the result.

“These programs gave me the opportunity to do everything hands-on in the lab,” she said. “It’s why I chose MCPHS and stayed for my doctorate. Over the years, I’ve built resilience and independence as a scientist. This research was challenging and transformative.”

Saxena hopes her post-doctoral career will take her to the pharmaceutical industry, where she can use her knowledge of nanoparticulate drug delivery, proficiency with spray-drying techniques, and curiosity to continue searching for a breakthrough.

“Research gives us the opportunity not just to study the science that has been established, but to create new science,” she said. “It’s a scientist’s way of having an impact.”