Contact

Laboratory for General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy
Ghent University
Ottergemsesteenweg 460
9000 Gent
Belgium
Tel: 0032 9 264 80 47 (secretary)
Tel: 0032 9 264 80 49 (direct)
E-mail: Bram.Bogaert@ugent.be

Biography

Education

Bram Bogaert started a Bachelor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Ghent in 2013. He subsequently obtained his Master’s degree in Drug Development in June 2018 with great distinction. He performed his Master’s thesis, titled: “Optimising microfluidic encapsulation of mesoporous silica nanoparticles with acetalated dextran for controlled drug delivery” at Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.

Scholarship

In December 2018, Bram started his Ph.D studies at the Laboratory for General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy. He obtained a grant as a Ph.D fellowship of the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO)

Educational tasks

Tutor of the Pharmaceutical Bachelor Proof since 2018 (Ghent University, Belgium)

Research interests

Nanomedicine, drug repurposing, RNA interference, endosomal escape, lipid nanoparticles, intracellular RNA delivery

Summary of research project(s)

RNA drugs are an emerging class of therapeutics that address diseases at the genomic and/or transcriptomic level. Within this group, small interfering RNA (siRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) both enable regulation of intracellular protein concentrations. Following cytosolic delivery, siRNAs activate the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway leading to the sequence-specific silencing of genes at the post-transcriptional level, while mRNA can drive expression of therapeutic proteins. However, widespread clinical translation of RNA drugs is hampered by many extra- and intracellular barriers, including susceptibility to degradation and immune activation. Most importantly, RNAs are negatively charged macromolecules that cannot cross biological membranes, making cellular delivery challenging. As access to the cytosol of target cells is key to their therapeutic effect, efficient intracellular delivery of RNA drugs remains the most important barrier to overcome.

The research project of Bram consequently focuses on the development of a novel lipid nanoparticle platform for cellular delivery of RNA therapeutics, including siRNA and mRNA . More specifically, it merges the concept of drug repurposing, drug formulation into liposomal nanomedicines and their in vitro/in vivo application.