Ming Hsieh Institute for
Engineering Medicine for Cancer
Piotr Grodzinski, Ph.D.
Director of NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology
in Cancer at the National Cancer Institute
Health Sciences Campus
Aresty Auditorium
Norris Cancer Center
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
research.usc.edu/ming-hsieh-institute
The National Cancer Institute is engaged in efforts to harness the power of nanotechnology to radically change the way we diagnose and treat cancer. Novel and multi-functional nanodevices will be capable of detecting cancer at its earliest stages, pinpointing its location within the body, delivering anticancer drugs specifically to malignant cells, and determining if these drugs are effective. Functionalized nanoparticles would deliver multiple therapeutic agents to tumor sites in order to simultaneously attack multiple points in the pathways involved in cancer. Such nano-therapeutics are expected to increase the efficacy of drugs while dramatically reducing potential side effects. In vivo biosensors would have the capability of detecting tumors and metastatic lesions that are far smaller than those detectable using current, conventional technologies. The NCI formed the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer to pursue applied nanotechnologies for cancer detection, therapy, and prevention with an aim to achieve clinical translational stage of these technologies towards culmination of the program. This presentation will describe the details behind the organization and science and technology of the Alliance.
Dr. Piotr Grodzinski is a Director of NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. He coordinates program and research activities of the Alliance which dedicates around $150M over funding period of 5 years to form interdisciplinary centers as well as fund individual research and training programs targeting nanotechnology solutions for improved prevention, detection, and therapy of cancer. Dr. Grodzinski received Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Southern California. He is an inventor on 15 patents and published 47 peer-reviewed papers, 7 book chapters, and delivered over 100 invited conference presentations.
