Jin Hui Hor

• BSc (Hons) BioChemistry
• Title: Developing nanomaterial based drug delivery system to compact drug resistant bacteria

The main objective of the study is to develop nanomaterials (hollow mesoporous silicates/HMS) for drug delivery to compact drug resistant bacteria such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). HMS have high surface covered with silanol groups, allowing functionalization of pore surface adjustable, resulting in better adhering to the cell surface. In these eight weeks, functionalization of HMS with chitosan, using linker chemicals such as 3-APTES and glutaraldehyde, was performed together with the characterization of HMS through FT-IR, FE-SEM and Zeta Potential analysis. Loading of HMS with chlorpromazine hydrochloride and gentamicin was done in order to carry out Resazurin assay on MRSA.

Funding Source: Newcastle University