Funded by the
National Science
Foundation
An Interdisciplinary Doctoral Training Program
www.igert.neu.edu
Program Vision
The Faculty
Doctoral Trainees
The Integrative Graduate Education, Research & Training
(IGERT) program in Nanomedicine Science and Technology was
established at Northeastern University in 2005 (Phase 1) with
funding from the National Science Foundation.
The IGERT Nanomedicine program aims to train the next
generation of scientists and technologists who are skilled in
research at the interface of nanotechnology, biology and
medicine, who are aware of the path to translate fundamental
knowledge to marketplace products, who are informed of the
ethical and social issues relating to the discipline, and who have
a strong sense of community involvement as well as a global
perspective.
The program received funding for a second phase Phase 2
(2010-2015), with additional partners – Tuskegee University and
University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, as well as faculty from
Harvard Medical School, to establish a national multi-site
training program. International partners have also expressed an
eagerness to replicate the model in their institutions.
Director and PI: Srinivas Sridhar
Co-PIs: Mansoor Amiji , Laura H. Lewis, Carlos Rinaldi, Tamara Floyd-Smith
Dattatri Nagesha (Research Coordinator), Rita Kaderian (Program Coordinator)
The IGERT Nanomedicine PhD program recruits students from
various disciplines (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engg, and
Pharmaceutical Sciences) to work collaboratively on
Nanomedicine related projects. The IGERT Ph.D Trainee will
graduate with a Ph.D. degree in their core subject with
specialization in Nanomedicine Science and Technology. In
Phase – I, 26 Ph.D. students representing 3 colleges and 9
Departments have been trained. IGERT fellows have contributed
to excellent research that has resulted in over 50 journal
publications , 1 patent approved, 2 patents filed, 15 book
chapters, 3 books and over 125 conference presentations and
posters. A few representative projects are listed below.
Analyze Key Transport
Disease
Chemistry
Immune
Behavior of
Luis Brito
Heather
System
Drugs and NPs Endothelial
Brodkin
Molecules in Intestinal
Nitric Oxide
Computationall Embryonic
Mucus
Synthase
y
Stem Cells
Yogesh Patel: (eNOS) Gene
Guided Protein- Anthony
ECE
Therapy with
Specific
D’Onofrio
Basal Cell
Gelatin-Based
Labeling
Nanoparticle Carcinoma
Nanovectors
with NPs
Antimicrobial Brian
Lara Jabr
Adam
Development Plouffe:Chem E Mitochondriotr
Hendricks
Sucharita Saha Microfluidic
opic Gold NP
Synthesis of Visualization Cell Separation Vectors
Spin Labeled and
Using
Nanosensors Enhancement Functionalized
for the
of Spinal Cord Magnetic NPs
Estrogen
Regeneration
Pharmaceutic
Receptor
using
al Sciences
Tatyana
Nanoparticles
Thomas
Chernenko
Lilian van
Barchet
Raman MicroVlerken
Role of
spectroscopic
Development of Polyunsaturate
Techniques for
a Polymeric NP d Fatty AcidDrug-delivery Engineering Formulation to Containing
Applications
Overcome
nanoAgnes Rafalko Robert Camp: Multidrug
emulsions in
Gold NPs for MIE
Resistance of Drug Delivery
imaging cell
Quantifying
Cancer via a and
surface
Collagen’s
Multifunctional Neuroprotectio
oligosaccharide Mechanosensiti Therapy
n in Alzheimer’s
s for early
vity to
Mattia Migliore Disease.
diagnosis of Enzymatic
Intranasal
cancer
Cleavage
Delivery of
by MMPs
GDNF
Biology
Savidra
for the
Paula Lampton Lucatero:
Treatment of
Using NPs to ChemE
Parkinson’s
Multi-disciplinary courses
Introduction to Nanomedical Technology ;
Nanosystems Design for Biomedical
Applications; Scientific Skills, Ethics, and
Internships
Commercialization; Nanomedicine
Communicat
and
Seminar
outreach
Community
engagement
Intellectual
property
Cultural
diversity
International
outlook
IGERT
NANOMEDICINE
VISION
Inter-disciplinary research
ion Skills
Professional
Conduct
Reports
Publications
Presentations
Research
Integrity Ethics
Nanoplatforms for targeted delivery; Optical
sensors and therapies; Magnetic
nanoplatforms; Nanoplatforms for
Antimicrobial, Implant and Neural applications;
Ethical and Policy issues in Nanomedicine
IGERT Faculty Collaborators/Advisors
Biology: K. Lewis, D. O'Malley, C. Warner, E.Cram
Chemistry: M. Diem, G. Jones, R. Hanson, M.Ondrechen
Physics: D. Heiman, L. Menon, M. Williams
Pharmaceutical Sciences: A. Makryannis, V. Torchilin,
B.Waszczak,
Chemical Engg: R. Carrier, S. Murthi , L.P.Murphy
Mech and Ind Engg: J.Ruberti
Elec and Comp Engg: C. Di Marzio, N. Sun
(TU) Materials Science and Engg: Vijaya Rangari
Integrative Biosciences: Clayton Yates, Timothy Turner
(UPRM) Applied Chemistry: Oscar Perales-Perez, Marco
DeJesus, Felix Roman Chemical Engg: Carlos Rinaldi,
Madeline Torres
Materials Science: Surinder Singh, Marcelo Suarez
VISITING FACULTY MENTORS
T. Hassan – MGH M. Makrigiorgos- DFCI
N. Soukos –
Forsyth O. Farokhzad – BWH S. Sengupta – BWH M.
Harisinghani – MGH N.Goldberg – BIDMC A. Patri - NCL
Research
The tightly-integrated interdisciplinary team of medical researchers, pharmaceutical scientists, physicists, chemists, and
chemical engineers, has an extensive range of expertise to facilitate research on nanomedicine:
• Nanotechnology platforms such as polymeric nanoparticles, lipid nanoparticles, metal nanoparticles, and selfassembling nanosystems,
• Synthetic chemistry to design and optimize new strategies for nanoparticle preparation and functionalization,
• Cancer diag-nostic and imaging techniques using nano-particles as reporter platforms and contrast enhancing agents,
• Therapeutic targeted and intra-cellular drug and gene delivery using nanocarriers,
• Nanoparticles for electromagnetic hyper/hypothermia and imaging
• Theoretical modeling of nanoparticle processes in biological and medical environments, and of drug and gene delivery,
•Clinical diagnosis and therapy of prostate, breast, and liver cancer.
Outreach
IGERT Outreach provides education and leadership skills to both
students and teachers from participating schools in the Greater
Boston area. Outreach activities including RET, the Young
Scholars Program, Field Trip hosting, and Science Fair Mentoring
have proven to be a very positive experience to all involved.
Facilities
The Nanomedicine Core Facility has been established to provide
nanoparticles and nanomaterials for various interdisciplinary
research projects. Facility includes: Hitachi 2nm Hi Res FESEM,
SQUID, AFM, STM, TEM, NSOM
Nanoplatforms
• Polymers, lipids,
organelles, selfassembling
ampiphiles,
• Magnetic
nanoparticles
• Quantum dots
• Nanoporous
coatings on implants
Characterization
toolkit
• Nanoscale
Microscopies: SEM,
TEM, AFM, STM,
NSOM,
• Fluorescence
confocal and optical
microscopy
• Zeta Potential,
SQUID, Coulter
Cellular and
Phyiological
Mechanisms
• Apoptosis
• Delivery to nucleus,
mitochondria or
ribosome
• Endocytosis, Cellular
uptake
• Gene Silencing
• Organ
biodistribution and
pharmacokinetics
Medical Challenge
• Photodynamic
Therapies
• Image guided drug
delivery
• Localized energy
delivery
• Nano-enhanced
implants
• Nanomedicine
Ethics and Policy
Associates: The IGERT Associate Program is
Partners and Collaborators
intended for Undergraduates and Masters students interested in
the area of nanomedicine. The program has supported over 32
students from 8 different departments that include Physics,
Chemistry, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mechanical
and Industrial Engg, Electrical and Computer Engg, Chemical
Engg and Biology. The research experience has influenced
several of these students to pursue graduate education.