Eleanor Stride OBE FREng HonFIET PhD BEng

Eleanor Stride is the Statutory Professor of Biomaterials in the Departments of Engineering Science and the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences. She specialises in the fabrication of nano and microscale devices for targeted drug delivery.

She obtained her BEng and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UCL where she subsequently appointed to a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship. In 2011 she joined the Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering becoming a full Professor in 2014.

Her work has been recognized through the award of a Philip Leverhulme prize, The Royal Society Interface Award, Engineering Medal at the Parliamentary Science, Engineering & Technology for Britain awards, Acoustical Society of America Bruce Lindsay Award (2013), IET AF Harvey prize (2015), Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists (2020). She was also made a fellow of the ERA foundation for her contributions to public engagement and promotion of Engineering, for example through the Born to Engineer series and documentaries for the BBC.

She was nominated as one of the top 100 most influential Women in Engineering in 2016 and 2019, was made a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2017, of the Acoustical Society of America in 2018, an honorary fellow of the IET in 2020 and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2021.

Eleanor Stride is a Professor of Engineering Science specialising in the fabrication of nano and microscale devices for targeted drug delivery. She obtained her BEng and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University College London.

Following the completion of her PhD in the UCL Ultrasonics Group, in 2005 she was appointed to a lectureship and a Royal Academy of Engineering and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Research Fellowship during which she started working in the complementary area of micro and nanoencapsulation, developing new methods for fabricating bubbles, capsules and other nano and microscale layered structures for a range of biomedical and other applications.

In collaboration with Prof. Mohan Edirisinghe (UCL) and Prof. Bonfield (Cambridge University) she has set up a spin-out company in this area (AtoCap Ltd.) whose current focus is the targeted delivery of antibiotics for the treatment of chronic infections.

Eleanor was appointed to a University Lectureship and Non-Tutorial Fellowship at St Catherine’s College Oxford in 2011 and joined the Biomedical Ultrasonics, Biotherapy and Biopharmaceutical Laboratory (BUBBL) in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, becoming a full Professor in 2014.

Under an EPSRC Challenging Engineering award and in collaboration with the Davy Faraday Laboratory at the Royal Institution, her team has developed new types of ultrasound responsive particle that can be magnetically targeted to increase treatment localisation. Successful delivery of both conventional drugs and biological therapeutics such as DNA and siRNA has been demonstrated.

In parallel, Eleanor's team have also designed magnetic arrays to enable particle trapping at tissue depths up to several cm and under physiologically relevant flow conditions. They are currently collaborating closely with Profs. Callan and McHale at Ulster University to exploit this approach for the delivery of sonodynamic therapy (SDT). This builds on their recent work demonstrating the use of oxygen loaded microbubbles to improve the efficacy of SDT both alone and in combination with conventional chemotherapy.

Another key area of research for Eleanor’s team relates to the biophysical interactions that underpin drug delivery. In order to investigate these they have designed a series of microfluidic devices for investigating the response of cells to different types of physical stimuli and specifically the pathways by which drugs are internalised. In collaboration with colleagues at Imperial College and the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, they have developed new techniques for characterising the surface properties of drug-carrying particles and their interactions with cells.

• Beyond Antibiotics: funded by the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Programme Grant Scheme EP/V026623/1.
• Targeted Drug Activation/Engineering Precision Medicine for the 21st Century: funded by the UKRI Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC). Research Grant Scheme EP/X033015/1.
• Ultrasound-responsive agents for non-invasive fracture healing: funded by the UKRI Medical Research Council (MRC). Research Grant Scheme MR/X009793/1.

• Dr Luca Bau - Research Staff
• Ms Veerle Brans - DPhil Student
• Professor Robert Carlisle - Academic
• Mr Victor Choi - DPhil Student
• Ms Victoria Chris - DPhil Student
• Professor Robin Cleveland - Academic
• Professor Constantin Coussios - Academic
• Mr Davide De Grandi - DPhil Student
• Dr Michael Gray - Academic
• Dr Romain Guyon - Research Staff
• Dr Sara Keller - Research Staff
• Ms Jovana Katrinka Mavrak - DPhil Student
• Mr Hyunhong (James) Min - DPhil Student
• Mr Mihir Sheth - Research Staff
• Dr Geer Teng - Research Staff
• Dr Awaneesh Upadhyay - Research Staff
• Mr Ishaan Vadgama - DPhil Student
• Dr Qiang Wu - Research Staff
• Mr Bob Yang - DPhil Student