Francis
C. Szoka, Ph.D.
Professor
of Biopharmaceutical
Sciences and
Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Contact Information:
szoka@cgl.ucsf.edu
Tel: (415) 476-3895
Fax: (415) 476-2744
Box 0446, HSE-1145B

Links:
lab website

Publications

Gene therapy and macromolecular drug delivery systems and physico-chemistry of membranes and lipid dispersions

Research in Dr. Szoka's laboratory concentrates on understanding the physico-chemical properties of phospholipid bilayers, the biophysical factors involved in biomembrane fusion and how phospholipid bilayer vesicles (liposomes) can be used in pharmaceutical applications.

His laboratory devises synthetic systems to deliver macromolecules across membranes, and employs such systems to target macromolecules to cells and organs. They use liposomes as model membranes and currently focus on how peptides, designed to mimic fusion sequences in viral envelope proteins, induce membrane fusion.

Dr. Szoka's group does a substantial amount of chemical synthesis, molecular biology, and cell biology. He uses these materials in experiments to devise cures for genetic diseases and cancer. His group is currently targeting liposome encapsulated drugs to treat lung cancer in an animal tumor model. This work requires the identification of suitable molecular targets on the surface of tumor cells and the synthesis of appropriate ligands that can interact with the cell surface receptor.