OPTIMIZING LYOPHILIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR ENHANCED STABILITY AND FUNCTIONALITY OF HYPER-COMPLIANT MICROPARTICLESdissertationsCalderon, StephaniecreatorDarling, EricAdvisorMathiowitz, EdithReaderHuang, EricReaderBrown University. Biology and Medicine: Biotechnologysponsor202512, 25 p.born digitalThesis (Sc. M.)--Brown University, 2025thesesMicroparticles have been researched for their use as a drug delivery system due to their non-toxicity and flexibility. Recently, advancements have been made to formulate microparticles with the elasticity and size of mammalian cells, allowing for a wider breadth of use. The goal of this study was to evaluate different lyophilization techniques and how they would affect the size and remaining count of hyper-compliant microparticles. We also observed how lyophilization would affect the drug release profile of a double encapsulated hyper-compliant microparticle with curcumin inside. All formulated microparticles were visualized using microscopy and measured using ImageJ. Aliquots from H20 sinks were taken at predetermined time points and analyzed over 96-192 hours for drug concentration. Regardless of freezing method, it was found that hyper-compliant microparticles postlyophilization were always smaller than the control, and a significant loss of microparticles was also associated with lyophilization. With the addition of a surfactant, and sugar, lyophilization did not have a significant effect on size, but less microparticles were still counted. Lyophilized double encapsulated microparticles were found to have a slightly faster dissolution than non-lyophilized double encapsulated microparticles. However, even by the end of the 192 hours, not all the drug had been release. It was also found that lyophilization changes the drug release profile of the microparticle from zero order transport to Fickian diffusion. These findings show that lyophilization of hyper compliant microparticles can be done in a way that preserves the size of the microparticles without changing their mechanical properties significantly. Furthermore, it shows that double encapsulated microparticles may be a viable system as a microcarrier.microparticlesFreeze-dryingEnglishRPB20250707