Choosing a Research Problem

Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training Fellow Martin Donovan works on solving an important problem for cystic fibrosis patients.

by Karen Wentworth

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“Martin Donovan may be the man who finds a way to improve the quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis. Today, a CF patient spends hours each day doing vigorous chest massage to loosen the sticky mucus in the lungs and air passages, which is a symptom of the disease. Patients usually take two drugs that give them immediate short-term relief; then, as the benefit wears off, they must spend more and more time trying to keep the mucus flowing, as it does in healthy people.

Donovan, a doctoral student in pharmaceutics, is experimenting with hydrogel particles that can be inhaled by patients to deliver drugs to the lungs and linger there to help keep the mucus flowing normally and fight infection. The goal is for the particles to remain in the lungs for days or weeks, slowly releasing the medicine as it is needed, dramatically changing the quality of daily life for CF patients.

So far, things are going well. STC.UNM, a non-profit corporation formed by UNM to commercialize intellectual property, has patented the technology, and two pharmaceutical companies have made inquiries. Donovan’s complex project has meant working closely with Assistant Professor Hugh Smyth from the College of Pharmacy, Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Professor Timothy Lee Ward, and Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Center for High Technology Materials faculty member Steven Koch, as he tackles the technical problems involved in this particular drug delivery system.

Donovan is hoping to complete his degree in 2009, but the fact that he is able to concentrate on his research and education is possible because he is an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) fellow. That means he gets yearly funding and a chance to work with research-oriented faculty members. The funding comes from the National Science Foundation and other partners like the National Cancer Institute.

Donovan is part of an IGERT research group in Nanoscience and Microsystems led by Electrical and Computer Engineering Research Associate Professor Diana Huffaker. This particular program allows students to choose their research problem, and work with professors in almost any lab on campus to solve specific elements of the problem.

UNM also has IGERT programs in Cross-disciplinary Optics Research and Education led by Regent’s Professor of Physics Wolfgang Rudolph, and Integrating Nanotechnology with Cell Biology and Neuroscience led by Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Marek Osinski, providing students with valuable research experience and extraordinary opportunities to tackle a variety of important research questions.