Afsaneh Lavasanifar

Biography

Dr Lavasanifar's area of expertise and interest is Pharmaceutics and drug delivery. She is Professor in the Pharmaceutical Sciences division of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta and has a joint appointment with the Department of Chemical and Medical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering in the same university. She is also the Scientific Chief Officer and Vice President of Meros Polymers Inc., a spinoff company established based on the technology developed her lab. Her research is focused on the design and development of polymer based delivery systems that can increase solubility, modify the pharmacokinetic pattern, reduce toxicity and increase the efficacy of different therapeutic agents. The ongoing research projects in her laboratory include development of novel polymeric nano-carriers and stimulus responsive gels for application in cancer chemo and immunotherapy or deliver of anti-inflammatory agents. Her research has been funded by grants from Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC), Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI); Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AIHS) and Alberta Cancer Foundation (ACF). Dr Lavasanifar has more than 100 peer reviewed published/in press manuscripts in highly ranked journals in pharmaceutical sciences, 3 book chapters, several abstracts and numerous conference presentations. She is an inventor in 5 patent/patent applications on novel polymer based formulations for drug and siRNA delivery. She has been the recipient of the 2007 GlaxoSmithKline/CSPS Early Career Award; the 2009 Sanofi-Aventis/AFPC award in recognition of outstanding research in Pharmacy and the 2013 and 2016 TEC Edmonton Innovation makes sense prize. Dr Lavasanifar is the associate Editor of Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and a member of the Editorial Board in Materials Sciences and Applications, and Iranian Polymer Journal. She has an active teaching program in both undergraduate and graduate levels in the area of pharmaceutics and nanotechnology for drug delivery.  Dr Lavasanifar's area of expertise and interest is Pharmaceutics and drug delivery. She is Professor in the Pharmaceutical Sciences division of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta and has a joint appointment with the Department of Chemical and Medical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering in the same university. She is also the Scientific Chief Officer and Vice President of Meros Polymers Inc., a spinoff company established based on the technology developed her lab. Her research is focused on the design and development of polymer based delivery systems that can increase solubility, modify the pharmacokinetic pattern, reduce toxicity and increase the efficacy of different therapeutic agents. The ongoing research projects in her laboratory include development of novel polymeric nano-carriers and stimulus responsive gels for application in cancer chemo and immunotherapy or deliver of anti-inflammatory agents. Her research has been funded by grants from Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC), Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI); Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AIHS) and Alberta Cancer Foundation (ACF). Dr Lavasanifar has more than 100 peer reviewed published/in press manuscripts in highly ranked journals in pharmaceutical sciences, 3 book chapters, several abstracts and numerous conference presentations. She is an inventor in 5 patent/patent applications on novel polymer based formulations for drug and siRNA delivery. She has been the recipient of the 2007 GlaxoSmithKline/CSPS Early Career Award; the 2009 Sanofi-Aventis/AFPC award in recognition of outstanding research in Pharmacy and the 2013 and 2016 TEC Edmonton Innovation makes sense prize. Dr Lavasanifar is the associate Editor of Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and a member of the Editorial Board in Materials Sciences and Applications, and Iranian Polymer Journal. She has an active teaching program in both undergraduate and graduate levels in the area of pharmaceutics and nanotechnology for drug delivery. 

Research Interest

Design and development of nanotechnology products for improving response to cancer chemotherapy. Research on this topic is pursued in two avenues: