NeuroHope Therapeutics, Inc. - People
People:
Ken Webb, Ph.D.
Founder & President
Dr. Webb received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Utah in 1999. His graduate work investigated the effect of chemical and biological surface properties on cell adhesion, spreading, and migration. As a post-doc / research faculty in the W. M. Keck Center at the University of Utah between 1999 and 2003, he showed that covalent immobilization of the L1 neural cell adhesion molecule to low protein-binding surfaces could facilitate selective neuronal adhesion.
In 2003, he joined the Clemson University Bioengineering Department. His laboratory has focused on the development of degradable hydrogels for cell, drug, and gene delivery.His primary emphasis has been on the development of semi-interpenetrating network (semi-IPN) hydrogels incorporating macromolecular prodrugs in the form of hyaluronic acid / drug conjugates for local, cell-mediated release. These materials are being explored as scaffolds for bone regeneration and therapeutic angiogenesis. His lab also developed hydrogels for localized gene delivery. These biosynthetic networks were the first designed to incorporate and release during degradation a bioactive poloxamine capable of substantially increasing transfection efficiency and transgene expression. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), foundations, and private industry. Dr. Webb is currently Professor and Associate Chair of Bioengineering at Clemson University and Director the Biomaterials Engineering and Testing (BET) Core of the NIH-funded SC BioCRAFT COBRE Center at Clemson University.
Dr. Webb has collaborated with Dr. Lee for more than 10 years. She contributed her chemical and pharmaceutical expertise to the development of his hydrogel systems, while he assisted her lab in the testing of her PgP technology with his background in neuronal cell culture and analysis of cell behavior. They have also collaborated to development semi-IPNs loaded with hyaluronic acid-dexamethsone macromolecular prodrugs to treat traumatic brain injury. In 2022, they co-founded NeuroHope Therapeutics, Inc. to develop and commercialize Dr. Lee’s PgP technology.
Dr. Webb has collaborated with Dr. Lee for more than 10 years. She contributed her chemical and pharmaceutical expertise to the development of his hydrogel systems, while he assisted her lab in the testing of her PgP technology with his background in neuronal cell culture and analysis of cell behavior. They have also collaborated to development semi-IPNs loaded with hyaluronic acid-dexamethsone macromolecular prodrugs to treat traumatic brain injury. In 2022, they co-founded NeuroHope Therapeutics, Inc. to develop and commercialize Dr. Lee’s PgP technology.
Jeoung Soo Lee, Ph.D.
Founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Lee received her Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry / pharmaceutical science at Busan National University, South Korea, performed post-doctoral work under Dr. Sung Wan Kim in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Utah and joined the bioengineering faculty at Clemson University in 2006.
Dr. Lee received her Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry/Pharmaceutical Sciences from the College of Pharmacy, Pusan National University, Korea. During her doctoral studies, she worked on the design and synthesis of polymeric prodrugs to improve therapeutic efficiency by modifying drug structure, targeting, or controlled release. During her postdoctoral research under Late Dr. Sung Wan Kim in Department of Pharmaceutics/Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Utah, she worked on development of non-viral gene carriers to deliver therapeutic nucleic acids (TNAs) to specific organs/tissues for the treatment of genetic diseases. In 2012, Dr. Lee became an assistant professor in the Bioengineering Department, Clemson University and established her research program to develop and apply novel biomaterial-based drug/gene delivery systems for site-specific delivery of bioactive molecules to promote functional tissue regeneration and alleviate pathological conditions.
Dr. Lee is currently Professor in Bioengineering at Clemson University and she is the founder and CSO of NeuroHope Therapeutics, Inc and the sole inventor of NeuroHope’s core PgP nanotechnology. Her current research focuses on the application of PgP nanotechnology for drug and gene delivery to treat central nervous system injury such as spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and stroke, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewis Body Diseases, cancers such as glioblastoma, spinal cord tumor, and breast cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases.
Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the South Carolina-Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund (SC-SCIRF), Department of Defense (DoD), Veteran’s Affair, foundations, and private industry.
Dr. Lee is currently Professor in Bioengineering at Clemson University and she is the founder and CSO of NeuroHope Therapeutics, Inc and the sole inventor of NeuroHope’s core PgP nanotechnology. Her current research focuses on the application of PgP nanotechnology for drug and gene delivery to treat central nervous system injury such as spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and stroke, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewis Body Diseases, cancers such as glioblastoma, spinal cord tumor, and breast cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases.
Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the South Carolina-Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund (SC-SCIRF), Department of Defense (DoD), Veteran’s Affair, foundations, and private industry.