Associate Professor
590 Avenue 1743, Room 401
Newark, DE 19713
P: 302-533-8331
E: emilyday@udel.edu
EDUCATION
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry, 2011-2013, Northwestern University
- Ph.D. in Bioengineering, 2011, Rice University
- B.S. in Physics, Minor in Mathematics, 2006, University of Oklahoma
RESEARCH AREAS
- Nanomedicine
- Drug delivery
- Gene regulation
- Phototherapy
- Biomimicry
- Translational research
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
Dr. Day engineers nanoparticles with unique physicochemical properties and implements these tools to enable high precision treatment of diseases including aggressive cancers, hematologic disorders, and gynecologic/reproductive health conditions. Additionally, her team studies nanoparticle interactions with biological systems from the subcellular to whole organism level to elucidate structure/function relationships in nanomedicine. Her expertise includes: the development of nanoparticles for targeted drug, nucleic acid, and/or antibody delivery; (ii) the use of photoresponsive nanoparticles for light-activated therapy; and (iii) the coating of nanoparticles with specific molecules (e.g., passivating agents, targeting ligands, or cell-derived membranes) to achieve desired biointerfacing capabilities. Ultimately, Dr. Day aims to transition the technologies developed in her lab from concept to clinical application. Students and postdocs who work with Dr. Day perform basic and translational research at the interface of medicine, biology, chemistry, materials science, and nanotechnology. For information about joining the lab, please email Dr. Day outlining your specific interests and attach a copy of your CV.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
For a complete list of publications, check Dr. Day’s Google Scholar.
Dang MN, Suri S, Li K, Gomez Casas C, Stigliano G, Riley RS, Scully MA, Hoover EC, Aboeleneen SB, Kramarenko GC, Day ES. Antibody and siRNA nanocarriers to suppress Wnt signaling, tumor growth, and lung metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer. Advanced Therapeutics. 2024; 7(6): 2300426.
Scully MA, Wilhelm R, Wilkins DE, Day ES. Membrane-cloaked nanoparticles for RNA interference of β-catenin in triple-negative breast cancer. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering. 2024; 10(3): 1355-1363.
Scully MA, Wilkins DE, Dang MN, Hoover EC, Aboeleneen SB, Day ES. Cancer cell membrane wrapped nanoparticles for the delivery of a Bcl-2 inhibitor to triple-negative breast cancer. Molecular Pharmaceutics. 2023; 20(8): 3895–3913.
Irvin-Choy NS*, Nelson KM*, Gleghorn JP#, Day ES#. Delivery and short-term maternal and fetal safety of vaginally administered PEG-PLGA nanoparticles. Drug Delivery and Translational Research. 2023; 13: 3003–3013. *co-first authors; #co-corresponding
Das S*, Harris JC*, Winter EJ, Kao C-Y, Day ES#, Papoutsakis ET#. Megakaryocyte membrane-wrapped nanoparticles for targeted cargo delivery to hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Bioengineering & Translational Medicine. 2023; 8(3): e10456. *co-first authors #co-corresponding authors
Dang MN, Gomez Casas C, Day ES. Photoresponsive miR-34a/nanoshell conjugates enable light-triggered gene regulation to impair the function of triple-negative breast cancer cells. Nano Letters. 2021; 21: 68–76
Valcourt DM, Dang MN, Scully MA, Day ES. Nanoparticle-mediated co-delivery of Notch-1 antibodies and ABT-737 as a potent treatment strategy for triple-negative breast cancer. ACS Nano. 2020; 14(3): 3378-3388.
Melamed JR, Kreuzberger NL, Goyal R, Day ES. Spherical nucleic acid architecture can improve the efficacy of polycation-mediated siRNA delivery. Molecular Therapy-Nucleic Acids. 2018; 12: 207-219.
Riley RS, Dang MN, Billingsley MM, Abraham B, Gundlach L, Day ES. Evaluating the mechanisms of light-triggered siRNA release from nanoshells for temporal control over gene regulation. Nano Letters. 2018; 18(6): 3565-3570.
Riley RS, Day ES. Frizzled 7 antibody-functionalized nanoshells enable multivalent binding for Wnt signaling inhibition in triple negative breast cancer cells. Small. 2017; 13(26): 1700544.