Research in the laboratory of Tejal Desai, PhD, is creating new kinds of drug delivery devices to reduce the scarring and inflammation that can undermine stents—metal mesh tubes implanted to prop open blocked arteries, including in the heart.

Collaborating with other labs at UCSF and Harvard University, Desai’s lab is developing stents with structures fabricated at nano-scale (billionths of meters) to release signaling compounds derived from fish oil over several weeks. These biolipids reduce inflammation and scar tissue buildup that can lead to a recurrent blockage. The structures can also reduce re-blockage via nano-textured surfaces that discourage cells from sticking to them.

The Desai lab is also developing a method for delivering the anti-inflammatory biolipids by wrapping the stent-repaired blood vessel in a thin film, which delivers the drug through the vessel wall and then biodegrades.

Desai is chair of the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, a joint department of the UCSF Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine.

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Translating Research: New Drugs from Fish Oil Could Aid Artery Repair