| Abstract |
Multi-component and multifunctional nanoparticles hold great promise for drug/gene delivery and simultaneous diagnostics and therapeutics ("theragnostics"). Sophisticated multi-component systems can employ collections of specialized molecules in a nanodelivery system whose actions can be controlled in a predictable sequence and under the feedback control of molecular biosensors. Core materials can provide for non-invasive in-vivo MRI or optical imaging and opportunities for externally modulated therapeutic interventions. Multilayered nanoparticles can act as nanomedical systems with on-board molecular programming done through the chemistry of highly specialized layers to accomplish complex and potentially decision-making tasks. The nanomedical system targeting process itself is a multi-step process consisting of initial cell recognition through cell surface receptors, cell entry through the membrane in a manner to prevent undesired alterations of the nanomedical system, and re-targeting to the appropriate sub-region of the cell where the therapeutic package can be localized and used. The problem of proper drug dosing, particularly for the long-term goal of "regenerative nanomedicine" is to control the therapeutic process through feedback systems using molecular biosensors to deliver the correct therapeutic dose to restore the diseased cell to either a normal, or less dangerous, phenotype thus limiting potential damage to tissues and organs from therapies which would be invasive and more damaging to normal bystander cells. Evaluations of therapeutic efficacy and cytotoxicity can be evaluated first at the single-cell level using a variety of technologies that can measure the quantities and distributions of specific molecules within single living cells.
This presentation describes a bionanoengineering design process in which sophisticated bionanomedical platform systems can be designed for diagnosis and treatment of a variety of human diseases. The feasibility of most of these sub-components has been demonstrated, but the full integration of these interacting sub-components remains a challenge. Specific examples of sub-components developed for specific applications will be described. |
| Bio |
Dr. Leary moved to Purdue on July 1, 2005 and became the SVM (School of Veterinary Medicine) Endowed Professor of Nanomedicine and a tenured full professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences and the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. He is a Member of the Bindley Biosciences Center, Birck Nanotechnology Center, and the Oncological Science at Discovery Park where his laboratories are located and a Member of Purdue Cancer Center.
For the previous 10 years Dr. Leary was a tenured Professor of Internal Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases), Pathology, Biophysics, Microbiology & Immunology, and Human Biological Chemistry & Genetics as well as an Assistant Director of the Biomedical Engineering Center, an Affiliated Senior Scientist in the Sealy Centers for Molecular Sciences, Structural Biology, Cancer Cell Biology, Vaccine Development, and the Program in Bioinformatics at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. He also served as Director of Institutional Development for multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research grant development and then Assistant Vice President of Research for Advanced Technology. Prior to this position Dr. Leary was an Assistant and Associate Professor of Experimental Pathology at the University of Rochester Medical School in Rochester, New York.
Dr. Leary's research and teaching career as a professor spans more than 29 years. His original training includes an aerospace engineering degree from M.I.T., a masters degree in astrophysics, and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Penn State University with a postdoctoral fellowship in Immunology & Cytometry at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His research has been funded by NIH for more than 25 years. He is the holder of 7 issued U.S. Patents, with 4 currently pending and is the author of numerous papers in the fields of high-throughput technologies, rare-event analysis methods, minimal residual disease monitoring, developmental immunology, cancer research, and nanomedicine. Dr. Leary has served on numerous national expert review panels for more than 20 years and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international scientific conferences. He was elected to the College of Fellows, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2007.
Dr. Leary’s current funded research spans three general areas: (1) development of new high-throughput (flow cytometry, interactive molecular imaging) technologies for minimal residual disease monitoring, stem/progenitor and cancer stem cell isolation and manipulation, (2) detection of pathogens by hybrid microfluidic flow/imaging and (3) smart bionano-engineered systems for single-cell drug/gene delivery for regenerative nanomedicine.
As part of the research related to his talk at this scientific conference he has been developing multilayered, smart nanosystems containing cell targeting, entry facilitation, and localization molecules with molecular biosensors controlling delivery of therapeutic genes into single cells - the subject of a number of peer-reviewed publications and pending patents. |