2007 Graduate Catalog and 2006 Annual R & D Report - Sirindhorn ...

2007 Graduate Catalog and 2006 Annual R & D Report
Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT)
Dr. Wanwipa Sriwatwechakul
Lecturer (Joined SIIT in June 2007)
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
M.S. & Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, USA
Area of Specialization: Biomaterials and drug delivery.
Research Interests:
Polymer and Surfactant Self-assembly Drug
Delivery
Traditionally, disease treatment is delivered mainly
through oral or intravenous means. In the case of
cancer treatment, however, drugs are so toxic that
delivering them through traditional methods would
mean killing healthy living cells. Thus, delivery
vehicles are used to encapsulate the drugs and
deliver them the cancer site while protecting normal
cells.
We are interested in developing drug delivery
vehicles from polymers and surfactants selfassembly.
They are ideal candidates for this
application because they are compatible with
hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs. The problem of
delivering hydrophobic drugs is one of the foremost
issues in pharmaceutical industry. In addition,
polymers and surfactants allow flexibility in attaching
targeting molecules to improve the treatment efficacy.
We are also interested in drug delivery application in
tissue engineering since it can provide vehicles to
deliver proteins to promote the wound-healing
process.
Computational Fluid Dynamics Applied to Human
Physiology
The principles of chemical engineering fluid
mechanics can be applied to the study of basic
human physiology, such as fluid flow in the blood
stream, workload requirements on the human heart
and the implications of having cholesterol buildups.
This understanding is essential in engineering better
cardiovascular devices, and it will assist healthcare
professionals in providing better treatment and
prevention options for chronic heart patients.
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