Drug Delivery: Pharmaceutical interventions have demonstrated an enormous benefit in preventing, treating, and curing disease; however, many drugs are limited by toxic off-target effects, complex dosing regimens, and low potency. Efforts in the McHugh Lab focus on achieving favorable release profiles and/or targeting key anatomical sites to improve the safety, efficacy, and convenience of drugs. The lab is particularly interested in the delivery of vaccines, prophylactics, and drugs for chronic disease.

Cancer Immunotherapy: Engaging the immune system to fight cancer has changed treatment paradigms and improved outcomes for many patients. Unfortunately, existing therapies do not work for all types of cancers, can be associated with harmful systemic immune responses, and are often very expensive. The McHugh Lab is taking a multidisciplinary approach to overcome these issues with drug delivery of immunostimulatory molecules and in vivo cell therapy.

Tissue Engineering: Despite the demand for healthy replacement organs, such as hearts, kidneys, and livers, the production of bioengineered tissues that fully mimic the behavior and function of native organs has yet to be achieved. The McHugh Lab is developing bioinstructive materials and scaffolds that direct the organization of multiple cell types in 3D to create functional tissues for regenerative medicine.