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A doctoral researcher at the University of Cincinnati, United States, Precious Akinnusi, has called for the adoption of patient-centred therapies, saying drugs can only be fully effective when treatment designs align with patients’ daily lives.
Akinnusi, who spoke with Sunday PUNCH, said his research focuses on biomaterials-based drug delivery systems developed with patients at the centre of care.
“Understanding daily routines is central to treatment design. Rather than asking patients to adapt to complex therapies, my work explores how drug delivery systems can fit more naturally into everyday life,” he said.
He explained that his research primarily targets the skin, with a focus on developing delivery systems that keep treatment localised within skin tissues, particularly for conditions such as skin cancer.
Akinnusi said, “By concentrating therapy at the disease site, it may be possible to reduce side effects while improving effectiveness. I am also exploring the skin as a route into systemic circulation—an approach that offers attractive alternatives to injections or oral medications for certain treatments.
“Identifying a drug is only part of the problem. If the delivery doesn’t work for the patient, the science doesn’t reach its full potential. My move from drug discovery to drug delivery is a natural progression.”
Trained as a biochemist at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Akinnusi explained that his early research focused on identifying bioactive molecules from plants and understanding how they interact with disease pathways, using a combination of biochemical analysis and computational tools.
“One study focused on COVID-19, and I examined anthocyanins and their interactions with several SARS-CoV-2 proteins involved in viral entry and replication, including the main protease, helicase, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, spike protein, and the human ACE-2 receptor.
“Early on, much of the COVID-19 research focused on single targets. But the virus is very dynamic. Instead of treating SARS-CoV-2 as a one-pathway problem, the study examined how individual compounds performed across different viral mechanisms.
“From a larger group of anthocyanins, a small number showed consistent interactions across several targets. One compound, cyanidin 3-O-glucosyl-rutinoside, stood out for showing stable binding across all five proteins examined. A compound can bind well and still fail later. If you don’t look at stability and safety early, you miss that,” Akinnusi added.
