The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is excited to spotlight Sawnaz (Sunny) Shaidani, PhD, who completed a postdoctoral fellowship through an MLSC-funded collaborative project between Tufts University and UMass Boston. The project, awarded in 2024 through the MLSC’s Novel Therapeutics Delivery program, now part of the Accelerating Research through Collaboration (ARC) Awards, supported research on the use of protein-based nanoparticles to deliver therapeutics to cancer cells.
During her postdoc experience, Sunny studied what happens when silk-based nanoparticles enter the body and encounter the proteins found in biological fluids. These proteins quickly form a “protein corona” around the nanoparticles, changing how they interact with cells and how the body responds to them. The team examined which proteins attach to the nanoparticles and how those interactions affect whether the particles are taken up by glioblastoma cells, an aggressive form of brain cancer. By developing high-throughput methods to study these interactions, their work could help researchers better design nanoparticles to target glioblastoma while avoiding other healthy cells.
The expertise Sunny gained through the postdoc has also translated directly into her career. She now works as a scientist at Terrestrial, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company developing a Microneedle Array Patch (MAP) platform for delivering therapies. Terrestrial recently received an award through BioBoost, an MLSC biomanufacturing funding program now known as the Business Builds: Life Sciences program, to support the buildout of the first commercial-scale therapeutic microarray patch manufacturing headquarters in the world. Sunny’s postdoc training in protein-to-protein and protein-to-excipient interactions and developing her formulation expertise has been particularly valuable in her current role at Terrestrial.
“My experience with the MLSC was amazing”, said Sunny Shaidani, PhD. “Through the cross-functional collaboration between UMass Boston and Tufts, I was able to continue my PhD work, while expanding my skillset and furthering my knowledge about how silk nanomaterials interact with physiological fluids in the context of drug delivery. It was an invaluable experience that prepared me better for my current role. With Terrestrial’s recent award from the MLSC, I am excited to witness the impact it will have on the company.”
Applications for the ARC Awards and Business Builds: Life Sciences program are now open, providing opportunities to advance collaborative research and support the growth of life sciences companies in Massachusetts. Click here to learn more and apply today.
