Nanoparticles for Cardiovascular Molecular Imaging

Nanoparticles are emerging as valuable building blocks for biomedical imaging. One area of growing interest is the use of nanoparticles to target cells of the immune system, primarily monocytes and their lineage descendent macrophages. These cells are key regulators of inflammation in many high-impact disease areas, including atherosclerosis, heart failure, and transplant rejection. Thus, there is a need to use our increasing understanding of monocyte/macrophage fate and function to design imaging biomarkers of disease activity as well as to develop new therapeutic strategies. The talk will emphasize biomedical applications in above disease areas, and discuss multimodal imaging concepts, including PET, MRI, optical modalities as well as hybrid approaches. The lecture will further address translational application of nanotechnology for drug delivery applications.