Galym-Galam: Ellina Mun, PostDoctoral scholar of NU SSH

Our new guest of ‘Galym-Galam’ rubric is Ellina Mun, a PostDoctoral scholar at NU School of Science and Humanities (SSH).  Ellina Mun has graduated from the world’s leading universities in the United Kingdom and the USA. The PostDoc is currently focusing on the development of organosilica nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems for their potential application in anticancer therapy. She is an awardee of the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2019), University of Reading (UK) THRIVE career mentor and an SSH Faculty Ambassador.

Can you please tell us about your educational and professional background?

I started my scientific path at Reading School of Pharmacy (UK) where I accomplished my PhD. Then I joined the group of the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering of Purdue University (USA) as a PostDoc working on the edge of academia and industry, focusing on the development of pharmaceutical products and technologies for one of the Korean Pharm Corporations. This was followed by the appointment with the National Center for Biotechnology as a leading scientist. After that, in August 2020, I joined the Department of Chemistry of SSH at Nazarbayev University, where I continue to pursue my teaching and research interests in pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences.  My research interests include polymers, nanotechnology for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications, drug delivery systems (nano-, microparticle-based, liquid crystals).

Сan you please tell us about your current research project?

Over the past few decades, nanoparticles have been attracting significant attention of researchers in chemical, biomedical, pharmaceutical sciences, due to their unique physicochemical properties. Among nanomaterials for biomedical application, silica nanoparticles exhibit great potential owing to their straightforward synthesis and separation, low cost, safety, and possibility for further functionalization. We are currently focusing on the development of organosilica nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems for their potential application in anticancer therapy. Despite the potential of silica nanoparticles for their use in biomedical and pharmaceutical fields, some of their properties remain poorly investigated, such as toxicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradation. There is still a lack of data on the interaction of silica nanoparticles with biological systems. We aim to address the above issues by investigating the toxicological properties of organosilica nanoparticles and their biocompatibility and biodistribution.

What are your key research findings?

 Our group has extensively studied organosilica nanoparticles’ properties, including their mucoadhesive and diffusive properties. Thiolated organosilica nanoparticles demonstrated great mucoadhesion to biological tissues, comparable to the positive control, enabling the extended retention time of pharmaceutical dosage forms on the organ surfaces. This exhibits a great potential for the application of organosilica nanoparticles in intravesical drug delivery or bioimaging.

Why did you choose to join NU?

  I truly enjoy working in academia, as it gives me the opportunity to pursue my own research ideas and educate young minds, which I have always considered a privilege. In these regards, NU provides the greatest platform across Central Aisa for professional and personal development to the faculty and the best learning and research environment to the students, both local and international, setting up high standards in research and teaching. Working with the bright, talented, and open-minded students, observing their progress and development, as well as discovering new science, is the great motivation to strive for better results and performance contributing to the prosperity of a fast-growing, internationally competitive, one-of-a-kind University in the Central Asia region. Also, as a community, NU is an amazing place to be a part of.

What are your future plans?

    Over the past year, I had a chance to grow my collaborative network with my colleagues from NU, NLA, local Kazakhstani institutes, and international Universities, highlighting the importance of cross-disciplinary projects, integrating Biology, Chemistry, and materials science Pharmaceutics. I am eager to continue developing my own research ideas, and I am very excited to be working on our collaborative research projects that have been lined up so far.