Vivienne H. Tam (Smith)

I aim to bridge the scientific and medical worlds via community building, knowledge translation and educational initiatives.

Academic Research

Research Story

After a few years working on nanotechnology for environmental applications (e.g. water purification) and having success in various high school fairs at both a national and international level, I decided to branch out to explore the more exciting (in my opinion ;)) prospects of nanotechnology in biomedical applications, specifically in drug delivery.

While completing my undergraduate degree in Princeton, I fell in love with the brain after taking a few neuroscience courses, which led to me pursuing a senior thesis in the lab of Prof Rodney Priestley, where I used flash nano-precipitation to develop superparamagnetic nanoparticles for imaging and drug delivery in the brain. Delivering anything to the brain is notoriously difficult due to the impervious blood brain barrier (BBB), and researching various ways to circumvent the issue culminated in me writing a first-author review paper on ways nanoparticles can be functionalized to more effectively cross the BBB.

After a 2 year break volunteering at a special needs orphanage in China, I returned to McGill to pursue a PhD in Materials Engineering, this time in the labs of Prof Marta Cerruti and Prof Fiorenzo Vetrone, one of the pioneers in the field of upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs).

I became interested not only in how nanoparticles can be designed to target certain cells or organs, but how the release of the drug can be controlled using external stimuli, in this case, near-infrared light (NIR).

I was first tasked with reproducing the work of my predecessor, Ghulam Jalani, who had shown in a work published in JACS that when UCNPs were coated with a thin UV-cleavable hydrogel, they could release macromolecules under low laser power and with immediate control.

But after a year of unsuccessful attempts, the synthesis protocol turned out to be too complicated and difficult for me to reproduce, which set me on a path to designing similar UCNP coatings but with a simpler design (that was hopefully easier to reproduce!) and for small molecules (e.g. chemotherapeutics, peptides etc.)

This resulted in two designs: (1) UCNPs coated with mesoporous silica (MS) containing a UV-breakable linker (LB) and (2) UCNPs coated with a polymer conjugate comprising a UV-breakable linker attached to the chemotherapeutic temozolomide (TMZ).

I showed proof-of-concept of my first design working at low laser powers (1 W/cm2) to release the hydrophobic molecule 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DH) as shown in Figure 1 below, and this work was published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces in 2024.

Figure 1. Schematic of NIR-triggered photodegradation of UCNPs coated with light-breakable mesoporous silica for the release of the hydrophobic molecule 7-DH

To improve the system’s translational potential, I integrated the UCNPs within a hydrogel microneedle patch that could retain the nanoparticles while still releasing the drug, and showed on-demand NIR delivery of the gonadotropin leuprolide, a hormone that is used for daily injections during IVF treatment. The results of this work have been submitted to Advanced Materials for publication.

During my work on this project, I got intrigued by the under-studied area of women’s health and reproductive medicine, which led to me writing a first-author review paper on the state of nanomaterials for reproductive medicine.

Finally, with my interest in the brain and given how poor the prognosis is for aggressive brain cancer (e.g. glioblastoma, or GBM), I tailored my 2nd design to release TMZ, which is the standard-of-care chemotherapeutic for GBM.

Because TMZ normally has very poor stability in physiological fluid, by controlling its release using NIR to increase its local concentration, we were able to induce cytotoxicity much higher than the free drug. Furthermore, controlling the release of TMZ will allow us to better study chronotherapy, which is the administration of drugs at specific times in a cell’s circadian clock to increase the effectiveness of the drug.

I believe chronotherapy is an understudied but emerging treatment for cancer, that does not rely on developing expensive drugs but instead takes existing drugs on the market and increases their effectiveness simply by tailoring the timing of when the drug is given.

10

Scientific Publications

5

Collaborating Research Institutions

5

Successful Grant Applications

5

Students Mentored

8

Conference Presentations

“Vivienne was an excellent mentor to me as an undergraduate student. She created an environment that made me feel extremely comfortable, enabling me to grow while still pushing me to do my best. She trained me on useful technical and organizational skills that I still regularly use today.”

Rusvir Trana

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U4 Bioengineering Student, McGill

“I had the opportunity of undertaking my final year research project with Vivienne. It was a very rewarding process because of the amount of knowledge I gained, my growth as a researcher under her supervision and the fact that I had a lot of fun while doing it!

Within the first few months, she encouraged me to constantly submit ideas and take ownership of certain aspects of the project such that I could contribute in meaningful ways.

I also loved that Vivienne’s passion shines through in the projects she takes on and her devotion to them and this also influences anyone who works with her. She cultivates and nurtures creativity, and was very interested in my well being outside of the lab. Our animated conversations on research directions, [cultural] traditions and current affairs were all met with interest.

She was a supervisor, a mentor, and at the same time, her ability to create healthy working spaces made her a friend, long after I graduated.”

Ore-Oluwa Olasubulumi

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Incoming Masters Candidate – Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill

“Vivienne was a very supportive mentor. She was good at explaining complicated scientific problems intuitively and easily, which was very helpful for a second-year student to understand the bigger picture in a field I was unfamiliar with.

When I faced difficulties in the experimental process, she was supportive in helping me identify and solve the problem.  I felt I received the right balance of guidance and intellectual freedom.”

Yiwei Liu

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PhD Student in Materials Science and Engineering, M.I.T

“I had the privilege of being mentored by Vivienne during my research, and I cannot praise her guidance and expertise enough. While working with her, I gained my first experience in cell culture.

Vivienne was incredibly patient and thorough in teaching me the necessary techniques, ensuring I developed the skills and confidence to work independently by the end.

Vivienne is not just an exceptional researcher but also a natural leader and mentor; I am incredibly grateful for her mentorship and feel fortunate to have worked under their guidance.”

Adi Orlov

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U4 Bioengineering Student, McGill

Publication List

Google Scholar

1st-author research articles

  • Tam, V.; Orlov, A.; Guo, M.; Dutta, A.; Vetrone, F.; Cerruti, M. Towards a More Personalized Treatment of Glioblastoma: Light-Controlled Drug Delivery from Upconverting Nanoparticles for the Localized Time-Sensitive Delivery of Temozolomide. Manuscript in preparation for submission.
  • Tam, V.; Trana, R.; Nieto-Arguello, A.; Olasubulumik, O.; Babity, S.; Skripka, A.; Vetrone, F.; Brambilla, D.; Cerruti, M. Upconverting Nanoparticle-Loaded Microneedles for Near-Infrared Responsive Delivery of Gonadotropins to Increase Success of In-Vitro Fertilization. Submitted to Advanced Materials for publication.
  • Tam, V.; Picchetti, P.; Liu, Y.; Skripka, A.; Carofiglio, M.; Tamboia, G.; Bresci, A.; Manetti, F.; Cerullo, G.; Polli, D.; Cola, L. De; Vetrone, F.; & Cerruti, M. (2024). Upconverting Nanoparticles Coated with Light-Breakable Mesoporous Silica for NIR-Triggered Release of Hydrophobic Molecules. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c03444

1st-author review papers

  • Tam. V.;, Cerruti, M. Nanomaterials for reproductive medicine: multifunctional tools to better diagnose and treat infertility. Manuscript in preparation for submission.
  • Jalani, G.*; Tam V.*; Vetrone F.; Cerruti M. Seeing, targeting and delivering with upconverting nanoparticles, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2018, 140, 35, 10923-10931. *co-first author
  • Tam V.*; Liu R.; Sosa C.; Yao N., Priestley R.D. Nanomedicine as a non-invasive strategy for drug delivery across the blood brain barrier, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2016, 515 (1-2), 331-342. *first and corresponding author

Other publications

  • Ouimet, C., Hassan, A., Popescu, C., & Tam, V. (2023). An Environmental Scan of American and Canadian Translational Science Training Programs at the Graduate Level. MedRxiv, 2023.04.09. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.09.23288339v1
  • Tam, V. Finding community during coffee breaks, Science, 2019 Nov 1, 366, 6465, 654.
  • Skripka, A.; Karabanovas, V.; Jarockyte, G.; Marin, R.; Tam, V.; Cerruti, M.; Rotomskis, R.; Vetrone, F. Decoupling theranostics with rare earth doped nanoparticles, Advanced Functional Materials, 2018, 29, 12, 1-12.
  • Liu, R.; Yeh, Y.W.; Tam, V.; Qu, F.; Yao, N.; Priestley, R.D. One-Pot Stober Route Yields Template for Ag@Carbon Yolk-Shell Nanostructures, Chemical Communications, 2014, 50, 9056-9059.

Successful grant applications

Conference proceedings and presentations

  • Poster Presentation, “Upconversion nanoparticles coated with light-breakable mesoporous silica for NIR-triggered release of hydrophobic molecules,” Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting (July 11 – 15, 2022)
  • Session Co-chair, “Taking nanomedicine from bench to bedside: breaking down the barriers,” Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress, Montreal (4 – 6 October, 2020)
  • Poster Presentation, “Light-breakable mesoporous silica coated upconversion nanoparticles for the on-demand delivery of temozolomide,” IEEE Nano, Montreal (July 29 – 31, 2020)
  • Poster Presentation, “Toward a more personalized treatment of aggressive brain cancer: light-controlled release of temozolomide from upconversion nanoparticles,” Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting, Las Vegas (June 29 – July 2, 2020)
  • Invited Speaker, “Upconversion nanoparticles for seeing and delivering drugs inside the body,” 2nd Global Forum on Advanced Materials and Technologies for Sustainable Development (GFMAT-2) and 4th International Conference on Innovations in Biomaterials, Biomanufacturing and Biotechnologies (Bio-4) (July 21 – 26, 2019)
  • Oral Presentation, “Building effective case studies for material engineering,” Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACEG) (June 9 – 12, 2019)
  • Oral Presentation, “Toward a more personalized treatment of aggressive brain cancer: light-controlled delivery of chemotherapy drugs,” Biological and Biomedical Engineering Student Symposium (May 13 – 14, 2019)
  • V.Tam, M. Cerruti, Building effective case studies for materials engineering, Proceedings 2019 Canadian Engineering Education Association Conference, 2019, Paper 94.
  • Poster Presentation, “Photocleavable Hydrogel-Coated Upconversion Nanoparticles: A Theranostic Probe for Phototriggered On-Demand Delivery of Small-Molecule Drugs and NIR Imaging,” Translating Innovative Technology to Patient Care, Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences (CSPS) (May 22-25, 2018)

Other research experiences

Visiting Researcher, Institut de Science et d’Ingeneurie Supramoleculaires, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg (September – December 2019)

  • Awarded Mitacs Globalink funding to work under Dr. Luisa de Cola on the development of UV-responsive mesoporous silica coated upconversion nanoparticles for the on-demand delivery of small chemotherapeutics

Research Assistant, Dept of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (June – Aug 2014 & 2015)

  • Worked in Prof Subbu’s Venkatraman’s lab on siRNA Layer-by-Layer (LbL) nanoparticles for anti-fibrotic treatment following glaucoma filtration surgeries. Grew cell culture and ran flow cytometry and confocal experiments independently to study the uptake of nanoparticles into cells. Performed qPCR with 3 and 5 layered particles to compare effectiveness. Wrote introduction to prepare publication for submission to Nature (2015)
  • Synthesized and characterized liposomal drug delivery system encapsulating anti-glaucoma drug, moxifloxacin hydrochloride, for sustained drug release in the eye (2014)

Student Researcher, Dept of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton (Oct 2013 – June 2015)

  • Worked on independent senior thesis project in Prof Rodney Priestley’s lab to synthesize using flash nano-precipitation (FNP), and fully characterize superparamagnetic nanoparticles for imaging and drug delivery in the brain. Learnt following characterization techniques: FTIR, DLS, TEM, TGA (Sept ’14 – June ’15)
  • Studied size tuning of easy one-step Stober method to create yolk-shell nanoreactors for drug delivery and reaction catalysis applications. (Oct ’13 – May ’14)

Student Researcher, Department of Biological Sciences, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot (June – Aug 2011)

  • One of 6 Canadian representatives selected to do research at the Dr. Bessie F. Lawrence 43rd International Summer Science Institute. Mentored by Prof Yechiel Shai to synthesize peptides that downregulated inflammatory response to alter tumor microenvironment. Project was selected as one of the 2 best in the program out of 80 students.

Student Researcher, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo (Sept 2010 – June 2011)

  • Developed nanocrystalline cellulose as a biodegradable, non-toxic method of removing pharmaceutical contaminants in drinking water
  • Won 1st place at Sanofi-Aventis Biotalent Challenge 2011
  • Represented Canada and won 3rd place (2010) and 4th place (2011) at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair