UNSW Centre for Ideas
UNSW Centre for Ideas
UNSW Centre for Ideas
Unpicking the Lock to the Blood-Brain Barrier with Dr Alexis Minchaca Acosta | One Big Idea
21 minutes Posted Feb 12, 2026 at 1:58 am.
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The blood-brain barrier prevents 98% of medicines from reaching the brain. This prevents the effective treatment of neurological disorders, from cancer to Alzheimer’s. If we knew how to create drugs that could pass through this barrier, then we’d be able to create targeted, effective treatments. But doing so requires a lot of trial and error, and there aren’t a lot of effective, ethical, targeted treatments. Until now. 

Tune in to learn from Dr Alexis Minchaca Acosta, a Research Officer at the Children’s Cancer Institute, on how her work in lab-made blood brain barriers could change the game for neurological disorders.

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