Padilla Lab

Sarafan ChEM-H Building

290 Jane Stanford Way

Stanford, CA 94305

The Padilla Lab develops the chemistry that moves nucleic acid medicines into cells. We synthesize new ionizable lipids, engineer lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery systems for mRNA and gene editing therapeutics, and create ionic liquid–based materials that carry drugs across biological barriers that conventional formulations cannot cross.

Our work spans the full arc from synthetic chemistry to in vivo delivery. We study how ionizable lipid architecture — including our branched endosomal disruptor (BEND) lipid platform — controls potency and endosomal escape, apply biophysical methods to understand LNP structure, use click chemistry bioconjugation to target nanoparticles to specific tissues, and build mucoadhesive nanoparticle–ionic liquid hybrid materials for applications in oral disease.

The lab opens at Stanford University in September 2026, and we are recruiting our founding team of Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers, and undergraduates. If you want to help build a new lab from day one, see how to join.

news

Jun 09, 2026	We are recruiting founding Ph.D. students and postdocs. See how to join.
Jun 09, 2026	The Padilla Lab opens at Stanford University in September 2026. Lab website is live!

selected publications

Nat. Commun.

Branched endosomal disruptor (BEND) lipids mediate delivery of mRNA and CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complex for hepatic gene editing and T cell engineering

Marshall S. Padilla, Kaitlin Mrksich, Yiming Wang, and 18 more authors

Nature Communications, 2025

DOI Bib

@article{padilla2025bend,
  title = {Branched endosomal disruptor (BEND) lipids mediate delivery of mRNA and CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complex for hepatic gene editing and T cell engineering},
  author = {Padilla, Marshall S. and Mrksich, Kaitlin and Wang, Yiming and Haley, Rebecca M. and Li, Jacqueline J. and Han, Emily L. and El-Mayta, Rakan and Kim, Emily H. and Dias, Sofia and Gong, Ningqiang and Teerdhala, Sridatta V. and Han, Xuexiang and Chowdhary, Vivek and Xue, Lulu and Siddiqui, Zain and Yamagata, Hannah M. and Kim, Dongyoon and Yoon, Il-Chul and Wilson, James M. and Radhakrishnan, Ravi and Mitchell, Michael J.},
  journal = {Nature Communications},
  volume = {16},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-55137-6},
}

Nat. Biotechnol.

Elucidating lipid nanoparticle properties and structure through biophysical analyses

Marshall S. Padilla, Sarah J. Shepherd, Andrew R. Hanna, and 11 more authors

Nature Biotechnology, 2025

DOI Bib

@article{padilla2025biophysical,
  title = {Elucidating lipid nanoparticle properties and structure through biophysical analyses},
  author = {Padilla, Marshall S. and Shepherd, Sarah J. and Hanna, Andrew R. and Kurnik, Martin and Zhang, Xujun and Chen, Michelle and Byrnes, James and Joseph, Ryann A. and Yamagata, Hannah M. and Ricciardi, Adele S. and Mrksich, Kaitlin and Issadore, David and Gupta, Kushol and Mitchell, Michael J.},
  journal = {Nature Biotechnology},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1038/s41587-025-02855-x},
}

Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev.

Breaking the final barrier: evolution of cationic and ionizable lipid structure in lipid nanoparticles to escape the endosome

Kaitlin Mrksich, Marshall S. Padilla, and Michael J. Mitchell

Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 2024

DOI Bib

@article{mrksich2024endosome,
  title = {Breaking the final barrier: evolution of cationic and ionizable lipid structure in lipid nanoparticles to escape the endosome},
  author = {Mrksich, Kaitlin and Padilla, Marshall S. and Mitchell, Michael J.},
  journal = {Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews},
  volume = {214},
  pages = {115446},
  year = {2024},
  doi = {10.1016/j.addr.2024.115446},
}