Emily Day

ACS Applied Nano Materials Light-responsive nanoshells coated with cell-derived phospholipid membranes can efficiently accumulate in triple-negative breast cancer tumors and provide enhanced photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy when activated with near-infrared light. The cover art was created using Google Gemini. View the article.

I'm happy to share the cover art of ACS Applied Nano Materials featuring @thedaylab.bsky.social research! pubs.acs.org/toc/aanmf6/8... #MyACSCover @acs.org

Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.

Cutting funding for medical research will have dire long term consequences. Thanks to the researchers in this video for spreading awareness!
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...

Cancer Cell Membrane-Wrapped Nanoparticles for Photothermal Therapy and Photoacoustic Imaging of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive and challenging subtypes of breast cancer to treat, primarily due to a lack of targeted therapies. Photothermal therapy (PTT) has emerged as a promising noninvasive strategy, wherein systemically administered light-responsive nanoparticles accumulate at the tumor site and convert externally applied near-infrared light into heat, culminating in tumor ablation. Nonetheless, the clinical application of PTT is impeded by insufficient nanoparticle accumulation within tumors. We present the development of silica core/gold shell nanoshells that are coated with TNBC cell membranes (MWNS) to enhance tumor accumulation through homotypic recognition and immune evasion. We demonstrate that MWNS preferentially target 4T1 TNBC cells over EpH4-Ev noncancerous breast epithelial cells in vitro and accumulate more readily in orthotopic 4T1 TNBC tumors in mice following intravenous injection compared to poly(ethylene glycol)-coated nanoshells (PEG-NS). Congruently, MWNS improved PTT and photoacoustic (PA) imaging of TNBC cells in vitro, relative to PEG-NS. When assessed in an orthotopic syngeneic spontaneous metastasis tumor model in vivo, intravenously administered MWNS notably enhanced PA signals throughout the tumor volume by ∼7X compared to PEG-NS. Moreover, MWNS-mediated PTT inhibited tumor growth by ∼1.7X, diminished intratumoral proliferation by 2X, increased intratumoral apoptosis by 1.8X, and curtailed the formation of lung metastases by 1.8X compared with PTT mediated by PEG-NS. These findings establish MWNS as a promising biomimetic platform for precision imaging and therapy of TNBC. With ongoing development, image-guided PTT mediated by MWNS could improve the prognosis for patients suffering from advanced TNBC or other solid tumor cancers that are refractory to existing therapies.

I am delighted to share the latest @thedaylab.bsky.social publication, "Cancer Cell Membrane-Wrapped Nanoparticles for Photothermal Therapy and Photoacoustic Imaging of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer", in ACS Applied Nano Materials. Fantastic work led by Sara Aboeleneen! pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Membrane-modified lipid nanoparticles for RNA delivery Day and colleagues summarize progress in developing cell membrane-modified lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for ribonucleic acid (RNA) delivery, which have improved immune evasion and targeting compared to ...

Our review "Membrane-modified lipid nanoparticles for RNA delivery" is now out in Molecular Therapy Methods & Clinical Development! www.cell.com/molecular-th...

Congratulations to Dr. Sara Aboeleneen on your doctoral hooding! From all of us in @thedaylab.bsky.social and @udbme.bsky.social.

Today I had the honor of hooding Dr. Eric Sterin. Congratulations from everyone in @udbme.bsky.social and @thedaylab.bsky.social!

I'm honored to share that I am being promoted to Professor. This milestone represents years of dedication to conducting impactful research, teaching, and service. Thank you to my mentors, mentees, students, colleagues, and family who have been part of this journey. I am excited for what's ahead!

Congratulations to Dr. Sara Aboeleneen, who today became the 10th Ph.D. graduate of @thedaylab.bsky.social! Fantastic dissertation presentation!

Congratulations to Dr. Eric Sterin, who successfully defended his thesis yesterday to become the 9th Ph.D. graduate of @thedaylab.bsky.social! Eric’s dissertation was “Evaluating and Enhancing the Immune Evasion Properties of Membrane-Wrapped Nanoparticles.”

Just 45 days left until the Cancer Nanotechnology Gordon Research Conference! Looking forward to a fantastic meeting! It has been a pleasure to organize with my co-chair @danielheller.bsky.social! www.grc.org/cancer-nanot...

Merck signs 20-year lease in Delaware following $30M state incentive Merck signed a 20-year lease for a property just outside of Wilmington, a month after Delaware enticed the company with a $30 million grant.

Exciting development! Merck plans to expand its business in Delaware! spotlightdelaware.org/2025/04/25/m...

I’m delighted to serve on the board and support the growth of RSC Pharmaceutics!

Standard purification methods are not sufficient to remove micellular lipophilic dye from polymer nanoparticle solution Tracking nanoparticles’ location is imperative for understanding cellular interactions, pharmacokinetics, and biodistribution. DiD is a lipophilic dye commonly used to label nanoparticles for traffick...

New @thedaylab.bsky.social research now published in RSC Pharmaceutics! Important insights for those who use lipophilic dyes to label nanoparticles for cellular uptake and biodistribution studies. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Way to go @udbme.bsky.social! Our students are awesome #Hengineers!

My department @udbme.bsky.social is searching for a new undergraduate academic advisor! Please spread the word!

RSC Poster: a global online poster conference #RSCPoster is a global poster conference that brings the chemistry community together online over the course of 24 hours

Great opportunity to share your research and hear about the latest advancements! www.rsc.org/our-events/r...

The NIH’s drastic cut to indirect cost rates is a critical threat to U.S. research infrastructure The drastic reduction in indirect costs is not a path to innovation or cost savings — it’s a threat to U.S.’s position as global leader in medical research.

I am deeply concerned about the cuts to indirect cost rates on NIH grants. "These costs are not a waste or luxury — they make groundbreaking discoveries possible." This change will cause the U.S. to lose its position as a global leader in medical research. Encourage your policymakers to act now!

Looks delicious!

The Cancer Nanotechnology GRC I am co-chairing with @danielheller.bsky.social is just a few months away! Apply soon so you don’t miss this fantastic conference! Applications for the associated trainee-focused GRS are due by March 9 to be considered for a speaking opportunity.

Hello 🦋 community! I am excited to join this platform to share news from my research team and learn about my colleagues' recent developments!