http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?calId=1818 Bioengineering department events. http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?calId=1818&eventId=152478&ACTION=VIEW_EVENT Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:00:00 CST "Nanodiamond-based therapeutic delivery agents for the treatment of cancer" Abstract: Nanodiamond (ND) surface properties mediate clinically-relevant improvements to drug delivery which can be realized through enhanced cancer treatment efficiency. Additional characteristics that enable their application as versatile drug delivery vehicles include their functionalization with a broad array of therapeutics which includes small molecules, proteins, antibodies, and RNA/DNA for applications in cancer treatment, cardiovascular medicine, wound healing, and beyond. In addition, NDs possess uniform dimensions (~4nm in diameter per particle) and material stability that are coupled with observed biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, NDs can be batch purified and functionalized for scalable and high yield processing. Among other functional groups, NDs also possess an abundance of surface-bound carboxyl groups which are conducive towards facile, application-dependent molecular linking/conjugation onto the diamond surface. Furthermore, NDs can be functionalized with additional chemical species to enable direct drug conjugation. Our previous studies have confirmed robust drug binding to NDs through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) coupled with in vitro tracking of cellular internalization and quantitative demonstration of bio-amenable cell response through quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays of inflammatory and apoptosis-regulating gene expression programs. Furthermore ND-mediated drug release against HT-29 and Raw 264.7 cell lines has also been observed. Towards the broadening of ND applicability in clinically-significant treatment scenarios, recent work pertaining to simultaneous high-efficacy/high biocompatibility gene delivery, ND-based microfilm device formation for localized chemotherapy, pH-dependent therapeutic protein release, and pre-clinical studies will be discussed. Biography: Dr. Dean Ho is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering in the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University where he directs the Laboratory for Nanoscale Biotic-Abiotic Systems Engineering (N-BASE). Dr. Ho is also a Visiting Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Peking University. Dr. Ho investigates the scalable fabrication of nanomaterial-based devices for applications in chemotherapy, anti-inflammation, and regenerative medicine. His research has garnered news coverage on the CNN homepage, Nature, Reuters, and Yahoo news, among others. Additionally, Dr. Ho was featured in the National Geographic Channel program Known Universe which was featured internationally and domestically. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation, and an associate editor of the Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology and Journal of Nanotechnology Law and Business. Dr. Ho has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal and proceedings papers in the areas of nanomedicine and drug delivery. Dr. Ho is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Early Career Award in Translational Research, V Foundation for Cancer Research V Scholar Award, and John G. Bollinger Young Manufacturing Engineer Award of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?calId=1818&eventId=152615&ACTION=VIEW_EVENT Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:00:00 CST "Development of Polymeric Nanoconjugate Drug Delivery Vehicle for Cancer Targeting and Treatment" Abstract: Polymeric nanoparticles are promising carriers for the delivery of chemotherapeutics for cancer therapy because they are able to carry large payload of therapeutic modality, extravasate leaky tumor vasculature, and mediate sustained drug release in tumor tissues. Of a handful of nanoparticulate carriers being studied, polymeric nanoencapsulates are particularly attractive because they can be readily prepared through the co-precipitation of hydrophobic polymers and small molecule drugs in a process called nanoprecipitation. However, nanoencapsulates typically have significant drug burst release, low drug loading and uncontrollable drug encapsulation efficiency. To address these issues, we developed nanoconjugation technique to allow controlled formulations of sub-100 nm, mono-modal nanoconjugates with definable drug loading, quantitative drug loading efficiency and controlled release profiles. Nanoconjugates were prepared through drug-initiated ring-opening polymerization followed by nanoprecipitation. In the first step, hydroxyl-containing therapeutic agents were used as initiators to initiate living polymerization of cyclic ester monomers (e.g., lactide), and resulted in polyester-drug conjugates. In the second step, the precipitation of the polyester-drug conjugates gave rise to the desired polyester-drug nanoconjugates. Using paclitaxel as a model drug, we formulated paclitaxel-polylactide nanoconjugates with 100% drug incorporation efficiency and up to 37% drug loading. This new type of nanoparticles showed high cancer targeting capability when cancer-specific aptamer ligands were conjugated to the surface of nanoconjugates. Biography: Professor Jianjun Cheng obtained a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Nankai University, China, in 1993, and a M.S. degree in chemistry from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1996, and a Ph.D. degree in materials science from the UC-Santa Barbara in 2001 with Professor Timothy Deming. From 2001 to 2004, Cheng was a senior scientist and a project leader at Insert Therapeutics, Inc., a startup biotechnology company. After working as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Professor Robert Langer from 2004 to 2005, Cheng joined the faculty of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005. He currently holds a primary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and is affiliated with the Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry, and Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. Dr. Chengs research has made significant translational impact. At Insert Therapeutics he developed IT-101, a cyclodextrin polymer-based drug delivery technology for the treatment of colon cancer. IT-101 is now in Phase II clinical trial. Chengs research on prostate cancer targeting using aptamer nanoparticles conjugates was highlighted by Forbes Magazine as one of the Top Five Nanotechnology Breakthroughs in 2006. Cheng is the co-inventor of 11 patents, 7 of which are licensed or in active use in industry. He received the Prostate Cancer Foundation Competitive Award (2007) and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2008). Cheng was the Teacher Ranked Excellence by UIUC Center for Teaching Excellence in 2008 and 2009. http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?calId=1818&eventId=152479&ACTION=VIEW_EVENT Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:00:00 CST "Patient-adaptive cardiac MRI" http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?calId=1818&eventId=152480&ACTION=VIEW_EVENT Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:00:00 CDT "Plasmon-resonant nanorods and nanostars for biological imaging and theranostics" Abstract: Anisotropic gold particles (nanorods and nanostars) support plasmon modes that resonate at near-infrared wavelengths. These plasmon resonances are also polarization-dependent, providing a novel opportunity to enhance detection sensitivity of nanoparticles in heterogeneous environments, such as in biological cells and tissues. We show that anisotropic gold nanoparticles with magnetic cores can support gyromagnetic imaging, a dynamic mode of optical contrast generated by polarization-dependent NIR scattering upon exposure to rotating magnetic fields. Gyromagnetic signals can be converted into Fourier-domain images with substantial noise reduction, enabling weak signals to be easily visualized even against highly scattering backgrounds. Nanostars have been employed as gyromagnetic imaging agents inside of cells with minimal cell trauma; in fact, the nanostars appear to promote cell growth. Prospects for using magnetomotive contrast agents for tissue imaging and analysis of biomechanical properties will be discussed. Biography: Alex Wei received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Caltech in 1989 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University in 1995. After spending two years as a Fulbright Scholar in Strasbourg, France he began his independent research career in 1997 at Purdue University, where he is presently Professor of Chemistry and University Faculty Scholar. His interests include nanoscale self-assembly and supramolecular surface science, carbohydrates on cell surfaces, and biological applications of plasmonic and magnetic nanomaterials. http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?calId=1818&eventId=152481&ACTION=VIEW_EVENT Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:00:00 CDT Chasing Fluorescence Lifetimes in Images: Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?calId=1818&eventId=152482&ACTION=VIEW_EVENT Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:00:00 CDT "Recent advances in quantitative ultrasonic imaging" http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?calId=1818&eventId=152483&ACTION=VIEW_EVENT Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:00:00 CDT "Structural and functional brain image analysis" http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?calId=1818&eventId=152484&ACTION=VIEW_EVENT Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:00:00 CDT "Embryonic stem cell response to force depends on cell softness"