Ophthalmic drug delivery with porous silicon microparticles

This thesis focuses on development of porous silicon (pSi) microparticles for sustained delivery of therapeutics to the eye. pSi microparticles are attached to biologically active and clinically relevant proteins through a custom-synthesized linker molecule and tested in laboratory models of retinal degeneration. The particles demonstrated sustained release of proteins up to 28 days. The pSi microparticles can be translated for clinical drug delivery, reducing the frequency of injection-based drug delivery to the eye thereby increasing patient ease and compliance. Further, the particles can be tailored to carry a variety of proteins making them relevant for a multitude of ocular diseases.