Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive disease that is unsusceptible to current targeted or hormonal therapies because it lacks expression of the three receptors these therapies recognize. Consequently, patients with TNBC suffer from earlier relapse, increased rates of metastasis and lower survival rates than patients with other forms of breast cancer. There is an urgent clinical need for therapies designed specifically to treat TNBC. Graduate student Megan Dang will address these needs through the development of nanoparticle (NP) platforms that can suppress the expression of genes known to drive TNBC progression via antibody and/or RNA delivery.

Dang is a fourth-year Biomedical Engineering doctoral student in Dr. Emily Day's lab. She graduated with a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2017. Her current work focuses on the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer using gold nanoshells for nanoparticle-mediated delivery of antibodies and/or RNA for gene regulation. After finishing at UD, she is interested in pursuing postdoctoral research abroad and clinically relevant research in the nanotherapeutics field. Outside of research, she is involved in graduate student organizations, enjoys taking part in outreach events and loves to read and craft.