Targeting the Blood-Brain Barrier Transferrin Receptor for Delivery of Biologics for Alzheimer's Disease

Dr. Sumbria received a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, India in 2005, and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) in 2010. At TTUHSC, her research centered on the development of intracerebral microdialysis as an experimental tool to study changes in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability in ischemic stroke. Dr. Sumbria completed her postdoctoral training at the Department of Medicine, blood-brain barrier laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Department of Neurology at the University of California, Irvine from 2011-2014. During her postdoctoral research at UCLA, Dr. Sumbria focused on the problem of the BBB bottleneck in CNS drug delivery. Particularly, her research focused on the use of receptor-mediated transcytosis for non-invasive delivery of biologics across the BBB, and studying their pharmacologic effects in different experimental models of CNS disorders. At UCI, the focus of her research was studying the role of cerebral microbleeds in cerebrovascular diseases like stroke. She joined the Keck Graduate Institute School of Pharmacy as an Assistant Professor in 2014 and is extensively involved in teaching and blood-brain barrier research. Her research is funded by the Alzheimer's Association, Joseph H. Stahlberg Foundation and NIH.