The status of extracellular vesicles as drug carriers and therapeutics Nature Reviews Bioengineering, Published online: 05 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s44222-026-00405-xExtracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as biocompatible carriers for targeted drug delivery, yet challenges in yield, cargo loading and biodistribution persist. In this Review, key trends from over a decade of research are analysed, comparing EVs with lipid-based systems and outlining strategies for improving therapeutic translation and reporting standards.

The status of extracellular vesicles as drug carriers and therapeutics

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The status of extracellular vesicles as drug carriers and therapeutics - Nature Reviews Bioengineering Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as biocompatible carriers for targeted drug delivery, yet challenges in yield, cargo loading and biodistribution persist. In this Review, key trends from over...

Excited to share our comprehensive analysis in
@natrevbioeng.nature.com examining where extracellular vesicles (EVs) stand as drug carriers and therapeutics. A labor of love synthesizing preclinical, clinical, biodistribution, and nanoparticle comparison data. nature.com/articles/s44...

Effects of microparticle composition on colony morphology and viability of encapsulated therapeutic yeast for oral delivery Engineered live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) offer a promising avenue for targeted drug delivery, particularly within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Among microbial chassis, Saccharomyces cerevisi...

Tuning hydrogel composition controls S. cerevisiae colony size, improving survival for oral biotherapeutics 🦠

Discover the latest research from Juliane Nguyen @julienguyenlab.bsky.social and colleagues 👇

doi.org/10.1039/D5PM...

A Special Issue on Living Drug Carriers in the Journal of Controlled Release!

Microbial engineers, now is your chance to show off the power of microbes for drug delivery!

Submit here - www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

Guest editors - @julienguyenlab.bsky.social, Paul Joyce, & myself

Dear UNC-CH Board of Trustees Chair Preyer and members of the Board: We are writing as concerned members of the UNC-CH chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). AAUP has a 100-year commitment to academic freedom. Ten days ago, faculty learned from Faculty Chair Moracco that at your May meeting the Board of Trustees (BOT) decided not to consider pending tenure and promotion recommendations other than those in Health Affairs schools. Further, no personnel actions have been approved from the College of Arts and Sciences this year, something that is highly unusual. Every continued delay threatens the very heart of our mission to “serve as a center for research, scholarship, and creativity,” denies students’ the enriching collegiate experiences they deserve, and erodes faculty trust in a fair and timely tenure process. We urge the BOT to reconsider its decision and move forward now with pending tenure and promotion actions. Promotion and tenure are central pillars of our university and universities around the nation. As you know, each promotion and tenure decision has been carefully vetted, with external letters obtained from experts in the faculty members field, followed by review at many levels. Faculty here are hired with an explicit expectation that if their teaching and scholarship meet the high standards of their Department, their College, and the Provost, they will be granted tenure. Students at UNC-CH and people across the state expect that our flagship university will recruit the best faculty in the nation. These actions threaten the bedrock foundations of Carolina and our status as a leading public university. Tenure is not something unique to Carolina but is the norm at virtually every college and university across the nation. Each time we search for a new faculty member, UNC-CH is competing with top universities across the nation, like our peers at Duke, Berkeley, or the University of Michigan. Further, tenured faculty members up fo…

@aaup.bsky.social & @unc-ch-aaup.bsky.social act for faculty. Below is the letter we sent to the UNC-CH Board of Trustees today about their shocking decision to delay action on tenure & promotion recommendations except those from the Health Affairs schools. Join us to advocate for academic freedom.

Really interesting study!

What happens when you trap probiotic bacteria inside gels? Turns out, not all bugs react the same way.

We trapped gram-negative and gram-positive probiotic bacteria in gels with varying stiffnesses and saw what they did.

Here's the study - tinyurl.com/Probiogel

TLDR highlights in this thread 👇

One of the absolute highlights of my job is getting to hood my PhD students at graduation. This summer, I’m thrilled to celebrate three amazing students who are finishing their PhDs. Can’t wait to see what they do next!

Baby Is Healed With World’s First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment

A gene-editing treatment used on a 9½-month-old boy with a rare condition has the potential to help people with thousands of other uncommon genetic diseases #NBTNewsBeat www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/h...

Special Issue in @JCRnEDITORS honors Dr. Leaf Huang—a pioneer in drug & gene delivery. Pioneering advances from liposomes to immunotherapy.

doi.org/10.1016/j.jc...

Kudos to @kristy-ainslie-lab.bsky.social, @julienguyenlab.bsky.social, Dr. Olivia Merkel & Dr. Yunching Chen for curating it!

If your institution/organization is interested in joining FoNIBIB, please fill out our interest form here: aimbe.wufoo.com/forms/q1td4w...

Follow @friendsofnibib.bsky.social to learn more about coalition activities and NIBIB-related updates.

Researchers, your voice is more important now than ever.

We are concerned about the proposed NIH budget cuts and possible consolidation of NIBIB. Related statement: friendsofnibib.org/letter-writi...)

We urgently need collective advocacy for policies that support the development of NIBIB-funded life-changing medical & biological engineering technologies.

Honored to have @julienguyenlab.bsky.social and Brian Miller be awarded a UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Breast SPORE Developmental Research Program Award to help support breast cancer research. Great work!

New publication out in Digestive Diseases and Science Journal, in collaboration with @julienguyenlab.bsky.social

“Engineered Probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii Reduces Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer Burden in Mice”

rdcu.be/eibPU

Thrilled to announce that @julienguyenlab.bsky.social
in collaboration with Dr. Tom Egan received an
NIH R21 grant. This funding will support work on “Novel innovative ultra-elastic and instantly adhesive hydrogel patches to prevent air leak after lung surgery”

CRS 2025 Annual Meeting & Exposition: Meet Our Director of Abstract Judging, Juliane Nguyen, PhD! YouTube video by Controlled Release Society CRS

Who would've thought you could play Bingo with posters? Introducing #PosterBingo for the Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting! Inspired by an idea #AssafZinger and his students had!

See you in Philly!

youtu.be/xMpxLsW-2QA?...

New publication out in Digestive Diseases and Sciences in collaboration with @julienguyenlab.bsky.social
“Engineered Probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii Reduces Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer Burden in Mice”
🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A fact sheet of NIH FY2024 economic impact.

AIMBE's new fact sheets highlighting the NIH & NSF as economic engines have dropped at lnkd.in/ePRGWqnC!

Did you know that every $1 in NIH research funding yielded $2.56 in new economic activity in the U.S.?

NIH-funded research also supported over 400,000 jobs across the nation in FY2024!

The 3/14 deadline to finalize the FY2025 budget is fast approaching! ⌛

AIMBE has developed a new advocacy letter (<1 min to send) for the scientific community to urge Congress to support our federal science agencies, including NIH, NSF, FDA, ARPA-H, CDMRP, and more 👇

takeaction.io/aimbe/suppor...

Thanks Kristy!

Great talk by @julienguyenlab.bsky.social at 19th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Drug Delivery Systems (RADDS) at Univ of Utah in beautiful Salt Lake City!

AIMBE has developed a new advocacy letter on the changes to NIH indirect cost rates: aimbe.org/advocate/wri...

We urge the broader biomedical research community to customize this letter (<1 minute) to contact your congressional representatives about the severe consequences of this new policy 👇

NIH In Your State - United For Medical Research Select a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America.

Check out the economic impact of NIH funding in your state!
www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...

Congrats! Great study!

Check out this publication on a pharmacy initiative co-led by some of our @aimbe-official.bsky.social Fellows, Drs. Kristy Ainslie and Juliane Nguyen!

Featuring insights our own AIMBE Executive Director, Dr. Dawn Beraud (@dawnberaud.bsky.social), about the importance of advocacy 👇

#SciencePolicy

It was great to connect with this group. Science advocacy is more important now than ever!

@julienguyenlab.bsky.social & I organized leaders from Pharmacy Schools to discuss AI in grad ed, financial support challenges & science advocacy w/ @dawnberaud.bsky.social. Also a NextProf PharmSci program.

Many of these discussions are relevant to all grad ed.

Open Access: rdcu.be/d8D7A

Funding delays and policy changes are disrupting labs, jeopardizing jobs, and putting the future of science and biomedical engineering at risk. Trainees and early-career researchers are being hit hardest. @aimbe-official.bsky.social is taking action.

Read our statement & send a letter to Congress

AIMBE has posted a public statement on the impact of federal policy changes on biomedical research: aimbe.org/advocate/wri...

Above, we have also developed an advocacy letter for members of the medical & biological engineering community to send to their congressional representatives on this matter.