Rahima Benhabbour,
Assistant Professor $150,000 / 2 years Awarded 2021 |
Rahima Benhabbour, PhDUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC About
Dr. Rahima Benhabbour is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studies novel delivery platforms and polymer-based devices that can solve current limitations in drug delivery. Merging biomedical engineering and polymer chemistry, her work designs and fabricates translational delivery systems for HIV prevention, cancer treatment, and contraception. In 2016, Rahima founded her first startup company, AnelleO, Inc., focused on developing 3D-printed intravaginal rings for the treatment of infertility. Our Grant
MCI is supporting Rahima’s work in developing a novel long-acting, reversible contraceptive (LARC) delivery device compatible with Eppin Pharma’s small molecule, EP055. Taking the form of an implant injected just beneath the skin, the device elutes EP055 over a course of time. The nature of the implant makes it not only biodegradable, but also removable should a user wish to discontinue contraception. MCI’s grant will facilitate studies that develop and implement an injectable device that can carry EP055 and translate into human studies where the same male contraceptive offering can be had in both oral and long-acting formulations. |
MCI Grantee: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Dr. Rahima Benhabbour)
Publications
Maturavongsadit, P., Paravyan, G., Kovarova, M., Garcia, J. V., & Benhabbour, S. R. (2021). A new engineering process of biodegradable polymeric solid implants for ultra-long-acting drug delivery. International Journal of Pharmaceutics: X, 3, 100068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpx.2020.100068
Benhabbour, S. R., Kovarova, M., Jones, C., Copeland, D. J., Shrivastava, R., Swanson, M. D., Sykes, C., Ho, P. T., Cottrell, M. L., Sridharan, A., Fix, S. M., Thayer, O., Long, J. M., Hazuda, D. J., Dayton, P. A., Mumper, R. J., Kashuba, A. D. M., & Victor Garcia, J. (2019). Ultra-long-acting tunable biodegradable and removable controlled release implants for drug delivery. Nature Communications, 10(1), 4324. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12141-5
Maturavongsadit, P., Paravyan, G., Kovarova, M., Garcia, J. V., & Benhabbour, S. R. (2021). A new engineering process of biodegradable polymeric solid implants for ultra-long-acting drug delivery. International Journal of Pharmaceutics: X, 3, 100068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpx.2020.100068
Benhabbour, S. R., Kovarova, M., Jones, C., Copeland, D. J., Shrivastava, R., Swanson, M. D., Sykes, C., Ho, P. T., Cottrell, M. L., Sridharan, A., Fix, S. M., Thayer, O., Long, J. M., Hazuda, D. J., Dayton, P. A., Mumper, R. J., Kashuba, A. D. M., & Victor Garcia, J. (2019). Ultra-long-acting tunable biodegradable and removable controlled release implants for drug delivery. Nature Communications, 10(1), 4324. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12141-5
