The unprecedented potential of nanotechnology for early detection, diagnosis, and personalized treatment of diseases has found application in every biomedical imaging modality. However, with the increasing concern about the ethical and toxicity issues associated with some "nanoplatforms," biomedical researchers are in pursuit of safer, more precise, and effective ways to practice nanomedicine. Designed and written to be accessible to anyone, with or without previous knowledge of nanotechnology, Nanomedicine: A Soft Matter Perspective takes a balanced look at potential pitfalls and challenges faced by the field and how they can be translated into nonomedicine technologies.
A multidisciplinary and fast-evolving research area, nanomedicine presents new clinically relevant promises grounded in the disciplines of molecular biology, genomics, chemistry, and nanotechnology. Nanoparticle-based theranostic approaches have emerged as an interdisciplinary area, which shows promise to understand the components, processes, dynamics, and therapies of a disease at a molecular level. This book discusses some of the unique opportunities presented by biomaterials at the nanoscale.
The book provides a broad introduction to the areas of nanomedicinal application with an emphasis on imaging and therapeutics. It covers "soft" nanoscopic objects with prerequisite features for different imaging modalities with a potential for image-guided drug delivery. The book also offers a general introduction to the various drug delivery systems and their opportunities from chemistry, materials, biology, and nanomedical standpoints. The chapters provide a comprehensive introduction to the field and the subfield, with a deeper discussion on the individual modalities for molecular imaging and their present status of clinical translation.
Prof. Dipanjan Pan joined the University of Illinois in 2013. Previously, he was an assistant professor of medicine, research at the Division of Cardiology, Washington University in St. Louis. He also served as a full faculty member of Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University. After receiving his PhD in chemistry, he pursued a postdoctoral career in polymer science and nanotechnology at the Department of Chemistry, Washington University, in St. Louis. Soon, after a brief stint in the industry (General Electric biosciences/healthcare), Dr. Pan joined the Washington University faculty in 2007. Prof. Pan's research is broadly aimed at developing clinically translatable defined nanoparticle platforms for molecular imaging, drug delivery, and nonviral gene delivery applications. His research is highly multidisciplinary, which brings skills from synthetic chemistry, nanoengineering, molecular biology, and preclinical animal models. Prof. Pan is a co-inventor of several engineered nanoplatforms for molecular imaging and therapeutic application. His research covers several imaging modalities, including MRI, CT, optical, PET/SPECT, and photoacoustic imaging. His work has been commercialized for preclinical application and externally supported by federal agencies such as NIH, AHA, as well as the Children's Discovery Institute.
