PHCEU 7230 - Nanomedicine

Meets with BIOEN 6405. The convergence of recent advances in nanotechnology with modern biology and medicine has created the new research domain of nanobiotechnology. The use in medicine is termed nanomedicine. Nanomedicine research includes the development of diagnostics for rapid monitoring, targeted cancer therapies, localized drug delivery, improved cell material interactions, scaffolds for tissue engineering, and gene delivery systems among others. Successful research and development in nanomedicine where ultimately patients and the general public can benefit from these new technologies require the interaction of a multitude of disciplines including chemistry, materials science and engineering, cellular biology, pharmaceutical sciences and clinical translational research. This course will span the spectrum of how such materials are fabricated, characterized, interact with the biological environment, used in specific biomedical applications and translated from concept to the clinic and commercialization. Topics are taught by experts in the respective areas and will include fundamentals of nanomedicine, bottom up and top down approaches to nanofabrication, conjugation strategies, physiochemical characterization, cellular uptake and toxicity, biodistribution, clinical and preclinical nanomedicine as well as special topics in nanobiosensors, nanofluidics, polymer therapeutics and commercialization of nanomedicine products. This course will count as an elective for the Nanotechnology Graduate Programs and potentially other departmental graduate programs at the University of Utah.