Jamie Cheng

VAMPIRE: Vital Anti-aging Microneedle Patch for Induced Regeneration

Recognized by the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) has opened a promising avenue for treating diseases due to the ability of miRNAs to “turn off” harmful genes through gene regulation. I invented VAMPIRE (Vital Anti-aging Microneedle Patch for Induced REgeneration), a microneedle patch (like vampire “fangs”) that delivers therapeutic miRNAs to treat cardiovascular disease, which remains the leading cause of death worldwide, yet currently has no treatments that address the root cause: endothelial cell aging. Upon experimentation, I discovered that carriers of these miRNAs, known as exosomes, particularly those isolated from young plasma, exhibit anti-aging effects such as reducing DNA damage, inflammation, and senescence markers in human coronary artery endothelial cells. Recognizing that natural miRNAs are unstable and can degrade quickly, VAMPIRE delivers a stable mimic of a specific young exosome-derived miRNA through painless microneedle patches, serving as a minimally invasive, patient-friendly, and cost-effective treatment that reverses endothelial cell aging like the never-aging vampires and repairs blood vessels to treat cardiovascular disease effectively.