Summary

The Rosania lab studies the microscopic transport properties of small drug-like molecules inside cells. Our overarching hypothesis is that a drug's microscopic distribution within organelles is as important as its macroscopic distribution in organs in determining efficacy and toxicity. We use microscopic imaging instruments to capture the local distribution and dynamics of small molecules inside cells and analyze image data with innovative computational tools and statistical strategies, combining cheminformatics and machine vision to relate the chemical structure of small molecules to their subcellular distribution. We also develop biochemical analysis methods to study the microdistribution and cellular pharmacokinetics of small drug-like molecules. Lastly, we build mathematical models to simulate drug transport and distribution in single cells and higher order cellular organizations, based on biophysical principles governing molecular transport phenomena at the cellular level.

We envision a day when drugs are designed, optimized, and approved based on their site of action, much as drugs today are designed, optimized, and approved based on their molecular mechanism of action.