Dr. Nicholas Peppas, professor of biomedical engineering, chemical engineering and pharmaceutics, was awarded the 2004 University Co-op Best Research Paper.
His paper, “Novel Complexation Hydrogels for Oral Peptide Delivery: In vitro Evaluation of their Cytocompatibility and Insulin-Transport Enhancing Effects Using Caco-2 Cell Monolayers,” earned him the $5,000 award.
The paper details the first insulin delivery system allowing diabetics requiring insulin injections to take the insulin orally. Peppas overcame longstanding barriers to oral insulin delivery by shielding the insulin from stomach acids that would normally destroy it while simultaneously keeping the insulin in contact with the upper regions of the intestine long enough for it to be absorbed.
Peppas is the Fletcher Stuckey Pratt Chair in Engineering.
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About UT's Cockrell School of Engineering:
The University of Texas at Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering ranks among the top six public engineering schools in the United States. With the nation's fourth highest number of faculty elected members of the National Academy of Engineering, the School's more than 7,000 students gain exposure to the nation's finest engineering practitioners. Appropriately, the School's logo, an embellished checkmark used by the first UT engineering dean to denote high quality student work, is the nation's oldest quality symbol. The School maintains a Web site at http://www.engr.utexas.edu