The Helgeson group is exploring how various physical properties of nanoparticles affect their biological transport. For example, they have used polymer nanogels to probe how particles’ stiffness determines their ability to achieve long blood circulation, organ targeting, and cellular internalization – critical processes for successfully engineering drug nanocarriers.

The Mills group focuses on studying and engineering protein-driven spatial organization and protein assemblies. In the realm of nanomedicine, they are focused on engineering protein particles that can be used as vaccine scaffolds and drug delivery vehicles, with an underlying goal of generating design rules governing assembly of proteins into nanoscale structures.