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Kimberly Zubris, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer

Kim started her career in highly regarded research programs at Cornell University, Lehigh University and the Penn State Hershey Medical School, where she honed her skills in biological engineering, tissue and cell culture development, and biomaterials. Her work at Penn State on polymeric coatings for reduction of platelet adhesion in pediatric artificial heart devices led to her decision to pursue her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University. During her time at Boston University, Kim expanded her skillset to include polymer synthesis and characterization, nano- and micro-particle formulation, and pre-clinical efficacy studies, allowing her to successfully design products for the treatment of lung and breast cancers. In support of her work in encapsulation & drug delivery, she was awarded a National Institutes of Health Fellowship in Quantitative Biology and Physiology.

Kim then joined Particle Sciences, Inc. (PSI), starting in the New Technologies group focused on development of highly complex drug products. In the following years, she increased her scope and expertise directing the approaches to product design and scale-up within the Formulation Services team, in addition to overseeing the R&D labs. After acquisition of PSI by Lubrizol Life Sciences, Kim went on to lead the Formulation Development department as Senior Director, providing oversight of 75+ on-going formulation and drug device development and manufacturing programs. Through her time there, she shepherded programs from early phase research through pilot scale manufacturing, primarily in small molecule drug delivery for all routes of administration (including injectable, oral, topical, intra-nasal, implantable). Her primary areas of focus included increasing solubility and delivery of hydrophobic actives through solubility enhancement, leveraging excipient technologies and particle size reduction and control.

In the midst of developing her scientific resume, Kim became a highly decorated professional track (velodrome) cyclist, representing the US National Team at multiple World Cups and the World Championships in 2017 & 2018. Throughout her racing career, she earned national championship medals in the omnium, team pursuit, elimination race, points race, keirin, and team sprint. She was a national champion, and a Pan American Championship silver medalist, in the madison, in addition to being the world #1 ranked rider in the women’s madison in 2018. After achieving such athletic milestones, Kim also became involved in the sport’s governing body, becoming a certified coach and contributing to developmental and women’s specific track cycling programs.

Kim lives in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania with her husband and two dogs. She enjoys spending time with them in the outdoors, cycling, hiking, and saltwater fishing.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University

  • M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University

  • B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

  • Draganoiu ES, Morgan BJ, Weaver DW, Shah SP, Wilson TJ, Grieco M, Randall CS, Zubris KA, Mitchnick MA, Miinea, LA. Drug-Polymer Amorphous Solid Dispersions Using Linear Poly(Acrylic Acid) Polymers. United States Patent Application 62/892,679.

  • Publications Miles CE, Gwin C, Zubris KAV, Gormley A, Kohn J. Tyrosol derived poly(ester-arylate)s for sustained drug delivery from microparticles. ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng. 2021;7(6):2580-2591.

  • Zubris KA, Grinstaff MW, Colson YL. (2014). Nanoparticle therapy in lung cancer. In MS Loeb & KW Davis (Eds.), Adult Chest Surgery (pp. 1346-1349). New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies.

  • Zubris KAV, Liu R, Schulz MD, Colson YL, Grinstaff MW. In vitro activity of paclitaxel-loaded expansile nanoparticles in breast cancer cells. Biomacromolecules. 2013;14(6):2074-2082. 

  • Liu R, Gilmore DM, Zubris KAV, Xu X, Catalano PJ, Padera RF, Grinstaff MW, Colson YL. Prevention of nodal metastases in breast cancer following the lymphatic migration of paclitaxel-loaded expansile nanoparticles. Biomaterials. 2013;34(7):1810-1819.

  • Zubris KAV, Colson YL, Grinstaff MW. Hydrogels as intracellular depots for drug delivery. Mol Pharm. 2012;9(1):196-200.

  • Zubris KAV, Khullar OV, Griset AP, Gibbs-Strauss S, Frangioni JV, Colson YL, Grinstaff MW. Ease of synthesis, controllable sizes, and in vivo large animal lymph migration of polymeric nanoparticles. ChemMedChem. 2010;5(9)1435-1438.

AFFILIATIONS

  • Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society

  • USA Cycling Certified Coach, Level 2