SUBJECT: Postdoc enquiry — macrophage-targeted delivery in oncology, MSCA co-application
TO: mariaj.alonso@usc.es

Dear Professor Alonso,

I completed a PhD in pharmaceutics at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and I am writing to ask whether you are considering postdoctoral researchers.

I am approaching you because of the macrophage arm of your oncology programme. At SIMM I contributed as a co-author to our group's macrophage-targeted nanomedicine work — lactoferrin-modified carriers directed at LRP-1 on activated macrophages, in Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, and a review of macrophage-based nanotherapeutics in Journal of Controlled Release. My own first-author review on nanocarrier modulation of the tumour immune microenvironment appeared in Drug Delivery and Translational Research, which I understand you edit.

My doctoral project co-delivered shikonin and the BET inhibitor JQ1 from a mesoporous polydopamine Pickering emulsion, suppressing primary tumour growth and lung metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer by inducing apoptosis while blocking both epithelial-mesenchymal transition and vasculogenic mimicry. It is published in Acta Pharmacologica Sinica (46:3314-3326), where I am joint first author.

I should say plainly that my delivery experience is with small molecules rather than the RNA, protein and peptide platforms your laboratory is built on. What I would bring is the tumour-immunology side, full physicochemical characterisation, and in vivo work I have run independently.

I am eligible for an MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship — the 2026 call closes 9 September — and I would write the proposal myself if you were willing to host it. I am not yet eligible for the la Caixa Junior Leader call, which needs a PhD two to seven years old; mine is from 2025.

My CV and a short research statement are attached. I would welcome a brief conversation.

With best regards,

Dr. Dipika Ramdas Kalambhe
Ph.D. Pharmaceutics, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences
doctordipikaoffical555@gmail.com | +971 50 965 9103
Portfolio: https://dipika.pristellar.com
Google Scholar: 324 citations, h-index 3 | ORCID 0009-0007-0026-4638