Dr. Farokhzad Inducted Into the National Academy of Inventors
This year, Dr. Farokhzad was named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for his work in nanotechnologies for medical applications. The NAI is an organization with over 1,060 individual inventors. It was founded to recognize inventors and make their work more visible across many academic and technological fields. Dr. Farokhzad has published over 175 papers and holds more than 200 issued or pending patents.
Congratulations on your induction to the NAI, Dr. Farokhzad!
Dr. Tao Selected for U.S. METAvivor Award & Department Grant
This has been a busy funding month for Dr. Wei Tao, as he received two grants for his work! Dr. Tao was selected for the U.S. METAvivor Early Career Investigator Award for his project entitled “Multi-Staged Delivery System Overcoming the Physiological Barriers for Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Therapy.” The METAvivor Foundation exclusively funds MBC research for investigators who demonstrate promise in developing therapies and treatments for patients with stage 4 breast cancer.
Dr. Tao has also received the Department of Anesthesia Basic Scientist Grant for his project “In Situ Sprayed Near-Infrared-Responsive, Pain Relief Gel for Accelerated Wound Healing in Diabetes.” Congratulations Dr. Tao!
Dr. Farokhzad Receives 2016 Ellis Island Medal of Honor
The Ellis Island Medals of Honor are awarded to individuals who have made it their mission to share their knowledge, courage, compassion and talents while maintaining the traditions of their ethnic heritage. Since the award was first given in 1986, the medal has been recognized by Congress as one of the United States’s most prestigious awards. The award is presented during a ceremony on Ellis Island. Dr. Farokhzad currently serves as the director of the Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials, where his research is focused on the development of therapeutic nanoparticle technology. The nanotechnologies that Farokhzad has helped pioneer have formed the basis for a new class of targeted nanoparticles for treatment of major human diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, his research has also been used in the formation of a new class of nanoparticle vaccines and a class of integrative combination nanomedicines that help to treat cancers, inflammation and infectious diseases.
Targeted anti-atherosclerosis polymeric nanoparticles delivering inflammation-resolving proteins
Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the arteries and the leading cause of death worldwide. Therapeutics that can temper inflammation using the body’s innate mechanisms are powerful complementary strategies to existing treatments. Our research team in collaboration with Prof. Ira Tabas from Columbia University have developed a polymeric nanoparticle using a rapid microfluidic platform enabling the production of small and robust nanoparticles effectively entrapping IL10 protein (an anti-inflammatory cytokine), in a matter of minutes. The nanoparticles also have a targeting ligand for plaque retention and therefore the ability to release IL-10 in a spatiotemporal manner. These findings were recently published in ACS Nano.
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Dr. Farokhzad Named One of The Worldview 100 Most Influential People in Biotech by Scientific American
The recent Worldview feature by Scientific American features a list of 100 Biotech leaders and recognizes leading researchers for their fundamental insights into biological processes, as well as those who develop these insights to create biology-based goods and services that are the essence of biotechnology. The honorees also include entrepreneurs and business experts who have been highly influential in enabling biotechnology to flourish, in addition to key media figures who have helped spread this message to the wider community. Dr. Farokhzad was named an honoree on this list for his work on developing and commercializing nanoparticle based drug delivery systems for the treatment of a range of diseases.
[Read more from Scientific American]