Nevada Researcher Gets $2M to Engineer Safer Therapies

Imagine a medicine that attacks only the disease cells causing harm while leaving everything else untouched. That's exactly what chemical engineering professor Maryam Raeeszadeh-Sarmazdeh is building in her Nevada lab.

Sarmazdeh received a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to engineer an entirely new type of therapeutic protein. Unlike traditional drugs that can affect healthy cells along with sick ones, her creation would act like a precision tool, blocking harmful proteins while protecting the body's natural support structure.

The approach combines nature's best designs with cutting-edge technology. Her team starts with naturally occurring proteins, then improves them through repeated testing and machine learning algorithms that get smarter with each experiment.

"We want to make a beautifully tuned molecule that goes in, does its job, and doesn't interact with anything that disturbs normal cell function," Sarmazdeh explained. The goal is creating treatments that work better while causing fewer miserable side effects for patients.

The five-year project represents a new way of thinking about drug design. Instead of searching for existing molecules that might work, Sarmazdeh's team is engineering proteins from scratch, creating combinations that evolution never had the chance to make.

Why This Inspires

Side effects from medications affect millions of people every day, sometimes forcing patients to choose between treating their disease or tolerating debilitating reactions. This research tackles that painful tradeoff head-on.

The work could eventually lead to treatments for diseases where no efficient therapy currently exists. While still in early stages, the research opens doors to an entirely new class of medicines designed around patient wellbeing, not just disease elimination.

"Engineering can help solve challenges in nearly every area of society, including health," said Keri Ryan, head of Nevada's School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering. The university's support reflects growing recognition that engineering principles can revolutionize medical care.

The NIH specifically designed this grant type to support bold, innovative research with long-term impact potential. By funding Sarmazdeh's entire research program rather than a single project, the award gives her freedom to push boundaries and take creative risks.

Over the next five years, she aims to deliver a complete blueprint for these targeted molecules, showing other researchers exactly how to create similar precision therapies. Her decade of protein engineering experience positions her perfectly to break new ground in this emerging field.

The promise is simple but powerful: medicines that heal without harm.