Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy

George Dakwar

George Dakwar

Contact

George Dakwar
Laboratory for General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy
Ghent University
Ottergemsesteenweg 460
9000 Gent
Belgium
Tel: 0032 9 264 8047 (secretary)
Tel: 0032 9 264 8074 (direct)
Fax: 0032 9 264 8189
E-mail:  George.Dakwar@UGent.be

Biography

From 2007 – 2010, George studied for the degree of "Bachelor of Science" in Chemistry and Life Sciences at the Hebrew University Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel. He then continued his studies for a degree of "Master of Medical Sciences" at the Pharmacology Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,  Beer Sheva, Israel. He graduated in 2012 with summa cum laude. His thesis entitled  "Bolavesicles for drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier : mechanisms and efficiency" was carried out under the supervision of Dr. David Stepensky. From 10/2011 - 07/2012, George also served as a teaching assistant in Organic Chemistry for medical students (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Faculty of Health Sciences). In July 2012 he received an award for his excellent achievements   in Biomedical Research at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Faculty of Health Sciences. George is currently performing his PhD research at Ghent Research Group on Nanomedicines He has also recently received a long term Scholarship by the Flemish Community of Belgium to support his doctoral studies.

Publications:

  1. G.R. Dakwar, S.C. De Smedt, K. Remaut
    Intraperitoneal Cancer Therapy: Principles and Practice, Edited by Wim P. Ceelen, Edward Levine, 10/2015: chapter Intraperitoneal nonviral nucleic acid delivery in the treatment of peritoneal cancer: pages 359-371; CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group., ISBN: 978-1-4822-6119-6
  2. G.R. Dakwar, K. Braeckmans, J. Demeester, W. Ceelen, S.C. De Smedt, K. Remaut, Disregarded Effect of Biological Fluids in siRNA Delivery : Human Ascites Fluid Severely Restricts Cellular Uptake of Nanoparticles., ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 7 (2015) 24322-9.
  3. L. Novo, K. Takeda, T. Petteta, G.R. Dakwar, et al., Targeted decationized polyplexes for siRNA delivery, Molecular Pharmaceutics. 12 (2014) 150–161.
  4. L. Novo, L.Y. Rizzo, S.K. Golombek, G.R. Dakwar, B. Lou, K. Remaut, et al., Decationized polyplexes as stable and safe carrier systems for improved biodistribution in systemic gene therapy., Journal of Controlled Release : Official Journal of the Controlled Release Society. 195 (2014) 162–175.
  5. G.R. Dakwar, E. Zagato, J. Delanghe, S. Hobel, A. Aigner, H. Denys, et al., Colloidal stability of nano-sized particles in the peritoneal fluid: Towards optimizing drug delivery systems for intraperitoneal therapy., Acta Biomaterialia. 10 (2014) 2965–75.
  6. Y. Aizner, O. Sharabi, J. Shirian, G.R. Dakwar, M. Risman, O. Avraham, et al., Mapping of the Binding Landscape for a Picomolar Protein-Protein Complex through Computation and Experiment., Structure (London, England : 1993). (2014) 1–10.
  7. L. Philosof-mazor*, G.R. Dakwar*, M. Popov, S. Kolusheva, A. Shames, C. Linder, et al., Bolaamphiphilic vesicles encapsulating iron oxide nanoparticles: New vehicles for magnetically targeted drug delivery, International Journal of Pharmaceutics. 450 (2013) 241–249. *equal contribution
  8. G.R. Dakwar, V. Kaplun, L. Kojukarov, P. Gorenbein, I. Schumacher, D. Kontorovich, et al., Toxicity assessment of extracts from infusion sets in cEND brain endothelial cells., International Journal of Pharmaceutics. 434 (2012) 20–7.
  9. G.R. Dakwar, I. Abu Hammad, M. Popov, C. Linder, S. Grinberg, E. Heldman, et al., Delivery of proteins to the brain by bolaamphiphilic nano-sized vesicles., Journal of Controlled Release : Official Journal of the Controlled Release Society. 160 (2012) 315–21.

Book chapter:

G.R. Dakwar, S.C. De Smedt, K. Remaut

Intraperitoneal Cancer Therapy: Principles and Practice, Edited by Wim P. Ceelen, Edward Levine, 10/2015: chapter Intraperitoneal nonviral nucleic acid delivery in the treatment of peritoneal cancer: pages 359-371; CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group., ISBN: 978-1-4822-6119-6 

Summary of Research Project(s)

Peritoneal metastases are one of the major causes of death in patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, poor prognosis and late  diagnosis hamper efficient therapy of this type of malignancy. Currently, Hyperthermic IntraPeritoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) is used for the treatment of peritoneal metastases.  However, this technique lacks tumor specificity and is often associated with abdominal pain. Therefore, specialized drug delivery systems (DDSs) or implants exhibiting long residence time in the peritoneal cavity and an ability to release anti-cancer agents may serve as a promising treatment  alternative.

My research will focus mainly on evaluating the stability and the release properties of different delivery systems in the peritoneal fluid using advanced microscopy techniques  such as Fluorescence Fluctuation Spectroscopy (FFS) and Single Particle Tracking (SPT) , as well as, the biodistribution following i.p. administration. The final goal of the project is to develop a formulation for controlled delivery of nucleic acids/conventional anti-cancer drugs in the  intraperitoneal cavity over a prolonged period of time following cytoreductive surgery.

Graphical abstract

studygeorge