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Kennedy Barnes is a senior at Clements High School. During her time at Clements, Kennedy has been a four-year choir member, a four-year member of the Interact Club, a member of the Science National Honor Society, and is currently an officer for the National Honor Society. Outside of school, Kennedy volunteers through many different organizations and works for a local accounting firm. She has received several awards such as the Academic Excellence Award for three consecutive years and was recently awarded a Posse Foundation Scholarship. Throughout her mentorship with the Houston Methodist Research Institute, Kennedy has explored various medical career paths and refined her writing and research skills. Most recently, Kennedy has explored the field of nanomedicine and is researching the use of various nanoparticles in drug delivery to help treat autoimmune diseases and cancer. Kennedy will be attending Wellesley College in the fall, majoring in biochemistry. She hopes to continue in the field of medical research and complete a Ph.D./MD program.
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Mentors
Nelson Hawkins, Jr.
Dwanna Jones
Manuela Sushnitha
At Houston Methodist, fostering innovations with the potential for clinical application is at the very heart of what we do. Our interdisciplinary teams of clinicians and researchers are committed to streamlining the process of translating discoveries into treatments and cures for our patients.
Project Abstract
This review focuses on summarizing current nanoparticle applications in treating autoimmune diseases. The project defines nanoparticles and explores various research studies that have used nanoparticles to treat type one diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and other autoimmune conditions. It also reviews nanomedicines that are in human clinical trials and other nanomedicines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Difficulties with current studies are discussed including the complexity of autoimmune diseases as we all the variations in various autoimmune diseases, and future projections about nanoparticle application in treating autoimmune diseases are hypothesized.
