Nanoparticles for imaging and drug/gene delivery

Xiaoyuan (Shawn) Chen (National Institutes of Health)

Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. The approaches to nanomedicine range from the medical use of nanomaterials, to nanoscale biosensors, and molecular nanotechnology. Theranostics was initially defined as thera(py) + (diag)nostics, a term used to link a diagnostic to therapeutic, which is expected to improve patient outcomes, including safety, with a more personalized approach to medicine. Theranostic nanomedicine has evolved into an integrated nanoparticle platform that contains both the therapy and imaging components. The nanoparticles may carry chemo, radio and/or gene therapeutics. The same biocompatible nanomaterial with the intrinsic physicochemical properties or appropriate labels would ideally allow us to diagnose disease, to depict the pharmacokinetics of the nanoparticles, to assess the release of the drugs, and to evaluate the treatment efficacy. This talk will be exemplified by several nanoparticle platforms for molecular imaging and cancer therapy and will provide future perspectives of translating the novel concepts and nanoconstructs into clinic to improve public health. In particular, some possibilities of using NCNR facility to characterize biomedical nanomaterials will be discussed towards the end of the talk.

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