Nanotheranostics

INITIATION DATE:

01.01.12

ARC DIRECTORS AND CO-DIRECTORS

Mark Grinstaff, PhD Professor Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, BU-CRC

Joyce Y. Wong, PhD Professor Biomedical Engineering, BU-CRC

Karl J. Karlson, MD, MMSc Chief, Cardiac Surgery Cardiac Surgery, Surgery, BUSM

Victoria L.M. Herrera, MD Professor Cardiology, Medicine, BUSM

OVERVIEW OF GOALS AND MISSION:

Rationale:

Establishing a Nanotheranostics ARC is important because nanotheranostics, defined as the integrated combination of target-specific diagnostics and delivery of therapeutics based on nanotechnology platforms, could provide a potential high-impact nanomedicine paradigm for addressing current treatment roadblocks and persistent clinical needs, which are not successfully addressed with current approved technologies. The ARC-program provides the optimal avenue to develop nanotheranostics research since nanotheranostics requires a multidisciplinary approach.

Briefly, the design of the nano-theranostic platform requires an understanding of the following at the outset: the nanotechnology potential, the accessible molecular target(s) and high-value therapeutics in the context of disease progression complexities, the clinically pertinent targeted-imaging, the clinically feasible targeted-delivery, and the needed preclinical model for testing in vivo efficacy and safety. While daunting, thechallenges are exciting. As members of the Nanotheranostics ARC, we seek the opportunity to meet the challenges of nanomedicine. Importantly, we have prototype nanotechnology platforms (expansile nanoparticles (NPs), nanowire-mesh, nanogels [M. Grinstaff], nanoemulsion formulations [JB Tagne, T. Porter], Janus-NP/microbubble polyplexes [J.Wong, V.Herrera, N.Ruiz-Opazo] – all of which have shown in vitro and vivo efficacy delivering drugs and DNA (respectively), and proof of concept imaging formats.

In summary, our proposed ARC benefits from, and complies with the interdisciplinary mission of the Evans Center – involving clinicians, biomedical researchers and engineers, and involving co-directors who each represent a different discipline. The ARC initiative got us brainstorming together and we have more ideas than time and budget would permit. Appreciative of the opportunities created and that we are uniquely poised, we are committed to developing nanotheranostics research at BU.

ARC MEMBERS:

ARC co-Directors

	Name	Title	Section / Department(s)
1	Mark Grinstaff, PhD	Professor	Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, BU-CRC
2	Joyce Y. Wong, PhD	Professor	Biomedical Engineering, BU-CRC
3	Karl J. Karlson, MD, MMSc	Chief, Cardiac Surgery	Cardiac Surgery, Surgery, BUSM
4	Victoria L.M. Herrera, MD	Professor	Cardiology, Medicine, BUSM

ARC members (alphabetical order per expertise category)

	Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (*core faculty)
	Name	Title		Department
1*	Mark Grinstaff, PhD	Professor		Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, BU-CRC
2*	Joyce Y. Wong, PhD	Professor		Biomedical Engineering, BU-CRC
3*	Tyrone M. Porter, PhD	Assoc. Professor, Assoc. Director of CNN		Mechanical Engineering, BU-CRC
4*	Jean-Bosco Tagne, PhD	Assistant Professor		Pulmonary Medicine, Medicine, BUSM
	Basic Sciences / Translational Research
	Name	Title		Section, Department
5	William Cruikshank, PhD	Professor		Section of Pulmonary Medicine, Medicine
6*	Victoria Herrera, MD	Professor		Section of Cardiology, Medicine
7	Katya Ravid, PhD	Professor, Director Evans Center for IBR		Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Medicine, Biochemistry, Evans Center for IBR
8*	Nelson Ruiz-Opazo, PhD	Professor		Section of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, BUSM
9*	Richard Wainford, PhD	Assistant Professor		Department of Pharmacology
10	Orian Shirihai, PhD	Assoc. Professor		Medicine
	Clinical Sciences: Surgery, Medicine, Radiology
	Name	Title		Section, Department
11	Alik Farber, MD	Associate Professor, Chief Vascular Surgery		Vascular Surgery, Surgery, BUSM
12*	Karl J. Karlson, MD, MMSc	Chief, Cardiac Surgery		Cardiothoracic Surgery, Surgery, BMC
13	Elizabeth Klings, MD	Assistant Professor		Section of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, BUSM
14*	B. Nicolas Bloch	Assistant Professor		Radiology, BUSM
	External Advisors, Consultants, Collaborators
	Gregory Lanza, MD, PhD	Professor of Medicine	Washington University, St. Louis, MO
	Michael Obrien, MD	Professor of Pathology	Department of Pathology, BUSM
	David McAneny, MD	Associate Professor	Department of Surgery, BMC
	Yolanda Colson, MD	Associate Professor	Department of Surgery, BWH, Harvard Medical School
	Patrick Y. Wen, MD	Professor of Neurology, Director, Center for Neuro-Oncology	Dana Farber Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School
15*	Deborah Burstein, PhD	Associate Professor, Radiology	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School
16	Maria Jose Alonso, PhD	Professor	University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
17	Marcos Fuentes Garcia, PhD	Associate Professor	University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain