Elnaz received her degree as a Master of Engineering (MEng) from the University of Birmingham in 2012. She started a PhD in Chemical Engineering at University College London in November of 2012. Her research work is focused on modeling and optimal control of gene delivery.
Research project
Title: Modelling and optimal control of siRNA delivery
Gene therapy has great potential in becoming a viable tool for the effective treatment of diseases. For effective gene therapy a gene delivery system has to balance between the two main objectives: high efficacy and low toxicity. However, these two objectives usually conflict with each other, i.e. one objective cannot be improved upon without sacrificing the other. In this work, a methodology for systematic and quantitative analysis of these conflicting objectives will be developed to help evaluate translation of developments in the area of gene therapy into clinical practice. This will be achieved by using the mathematical models from literature and amending them for optimal control purposes. Issues pertaining to presence of constraints in the model will also be addressed.
Education
MEng in Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, 2012.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran, 2010.