PhD thesis supervisor: dr. Urtė Prentice (apply for recommendation)
Development of Molecularly imprinted, Stimuli responsive hydrogels for targeted and controlled anticancer drug delivery
Hydrogels are widely used in drug delivery due to their high-water content, tunable porosity, and biocompatibility. However, conventional hydrogels lack molecular selectivity and often exhibit uncontrolled burst release.
Conductive polymers such as polyaniline and PEDOT further enable external electrical control over drug release, offering spatial and temporal precision.
Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) provide selective recognition sites but are typically rigid and unsuitable for biological applications. Combining MIPs with hydrogel networks can yield soft, biocompatible materials with molecular memory and controlled release properties.
Despite these advantages, the integration of molecular imprinting with conductive hydrogels for drug delivery remains very little explored and is a novel technique.