IGERT Nanomedicine Seminar Series

Date: 11/18/2011
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: 130 Dodge Hall
Speaker: Dr. Lajos Balogh, Adjunct Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at NEU and Editor-in-Chief of Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine

Title: Dendrimer-based drug delivery

Abstract: The nanotechnology drug delivery market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21.7% for the period 2009-14, to reach almost $16bn USD by 2014. The healthcare nanotechnology market growth is largest in North America, at $4.75bn in 2009, followed by Europe at $3.65. In 2010, nanotechnology in drug delivery the targetable market represented 1347 m USD, of which dendrimers (84 M $) were second only to liposomes (118 M$).

Most traditional drugs are not complex enough to affect multiple intracellular processes simultaneously. To achieve that goal, multifunctional nanodevices must be used that are assembled from various synthetic components each designed to carry out a desired function. This approach requires a flexible and tunable platform that holds together all the primary components. Dendrimers are symmetrically branching synthetic macromolecules that display properties of not only of a multifunctional polymer, but also an organic nanoparticle. Due to this unique combination of chemical and materials properties, dendrimers can be used as a platform to construct multifunctional nanodevices. Dendrimers can be synthesized in various chemical compositions, in discrete sizes, and with multiple (and variable) surface functionalities. The assembled nanodevices are able to target specific cells, tissues, and organs and deliver imaging agents and drugs. In this lecture, essential properties of dendrimers will be explained on polyionic dendrimers, the most significant dendrimer family for drug delivery. Among others, basic concepts of forming a delivery device, pharmacokinetics, and drug release will be elucidated using both research and practical examples.

Bio: Dr. Lajos (Lou) Balogh is Chief Scientific Advisor and Principal of AA Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology, Revere, MA, the Editor-in-Chief of Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine (Elsevier) http://www.nanomedjournal.com, and Adjunct Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at NEU. He serves on numerous USA, European, and International expert committees, including NIH NANO, EPA Nanotechnology, and NIH Small Business Study Sections since 1993. He is also a member of the Steering Committee of the American National Standard Institute Nanotechnology Panel, the United States Technical Advisory Committee to the International Standard Organization on Nanotechnology (TC-229) as well as ASTM E56, developing nanotechnology standards. Lou is one of the five Founders of the American Society for Nanomedicine. (http://www.amsocnanomed.org). Lou received his Ph.D. from the Kossuth L. University in Hungary in Chemical Technology and was subsequently invited to the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1991 as a Visiting Professor. Later he worked at the Michigan Molecular Institute as a senior scientist, and had faculty appointments in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor and the University at Buffalo, SUNY. Dr. Balogh is a former Co-Director of the NanoBiotechnology Center and Director of Nanotechnology Research in the Department of Radiation Medicine at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY. He has authored or coauthored over 150 scientific publications, one book and six book chapters in addition to 12 patents in various disciplines.