The Future of Delivery Science for Women’s Health at CRS 2024

Last October, researchers from around the world gathered online for a first-of-its-kind CRS symposium: “Harnessing Innovation in Drug Delivery for Women’s Health”. Organized chiefly by Dr. Hagar Labouta, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Rahima Benhabbour, Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the symposium brought together researchers from academia and industry along with representatives from funding agencies and publishing groups. Talks featured recent advances including microneedles for contraceptive delivery, intravaginal delivery of lactic acid to modulate the vaginal microbiome, prenatal therapies, and microparticles to boost protection against sexually transmitted infections. Overall, the event was a large success, attracting over 115 attendees, and a powerful recruitment opportunity, leading to at least 28 new CRS members.

            The symposium is part of a broader, brand-new effort within CRS to highlight women’s health research. “What we want to do is to create a space for people who are interested in women’s health from a variety of perspectives, to trigger inclusive conversations, and to promote collaborations between people who otherwise might not meet,” says Professor Labouta. In fact, she has already helped connect attendees from the symposium for new collaborative projects. “Across the focus areas in CRS like oral and transdermal delivery, there are so many transferable skills that can be applied in areas of women’s health to address questions that haven’t yet been answered.”

            Professor Labouta herself had a nonlinear path to women’s health research. In her PhD, she focused on nanoparticle penetration of skin, and expanded her expertise in inorganic nanoparticles, liposomes, and tumor-, endothelial cell-, and intracellular-targeting. However, research on women’s health was always in the back of her mind. Growing up, her father, a Professor at the University of Alexandria, led several initiatives at the Women’s Health Centre in Alexandria and was responsible for several women’s health projects in Africa and the Middle East. When Professor Labouta started her own lab, one of her first collaborations was with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba on microRNA delivery to babies with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Now, her entire research program is focused on maternal and fetal health.

            In the future, Professor Labouta envisions a world where women’s health is treated as everyone’s health– the way men’s health has been treated for so long. One promising change is the increase of funding availability for women’s issues, from the National Institutes of Health to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to private foundations like Bill and Melinda Gates. “With more funding and more initiatives, bringing people together will move things forward to translation,” she hopes.

            The CRS will play an invaluable role in supporting translational researchers in women’s health. Building upon the success of October’s symposium, Professors Labouta and Benhabbour are now editing a Special Issue of the Journal of Controlled Release and planning a Women’s Health session at the Annual Meeting this July. The session will feature plenary speakers Christine Allen and Lisa Rohan and talks from other invited speakers and trainees. Professor Labouta’s advice for session attendees: “Talk to everyone, talk about your scientific ideas, and talk to us if you have ideas to improve our activities!” And a pitch for those still on the fence: “Come anyway and learn about new problems that need to be studied. At the end of the day, we’re doing drug delivery and biomedical engineering. What you will see is you have a skillset that you can use for problems that need a solution right away.”

Hagar Labouta is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Labouta_Lab

Andrea Joseph is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrea_j0seph