The application of nanotechnology to medicine - also called nanomedicine - is expected to progressively and fundamentally change the landscape for pharma and biotech. There has been a tremendous investment in nanotechnology made by the governments of USA and other countries over the past fifteen years. Given that nanoscale materials have far larger surface areas than similar masses of larger-scale materials, this endows nanomaterials with unique properties. Thus, it is not surprising that in addition to nanoparticle-based technologies in medicine, nanotechnology has found applications in nearly all areas of medicine including biomaterial design, surface engineering, and even cell based therapies - dozens of nanomedicine technologies have been approved for clinical use.
The main goal of this work is to harness the unique attributes of nanotechnology to advance next generation tissue adhesives, drug delivery and cell based therapy. In particular, we will 1. develop, characterize and demonstrate efficacy of next-gen drug delivery nanomaterials in pre-clinical models, 2. develop and demonstrate efficacy of nanomaterials to rapidly modify cells to control fate and function post-transplantation that is amenable to large scale production, 3. develop and demonstrate efficacy of magnetic guided drug delivery nanomaterials and nano-sized platforms for medical diagnostics.