IMX Colloquium - The delivery challenges of nanoparticles to solid tumours

Delivery is one of the biggest challenges to the advancement of emerging therapeutics for treating and diagnosing diseases. Nanoparticles are used as carriers to transport drugs. Nanomaterials can transport drugs, contrast agents, immunotherapies, and gene editors to diseased sites. However, less than 1% are delivered to solid tumours, impacting their clinical translation for treating cancer patients. In this presentation, I will discuss the challenge and mechanism of delivering medical agents and nanoparticles to solid tumours. Then I will discuss the future implications of applying machine learning and computation techniques to guide the nanoparticle engineering process.

Bio: Dr. Chan is the President’s Chair of Engineering and Dean of Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore He is a Professor in the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Biotechnology. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 1996, Ph.D. from Indiana University in 2001, and post-doctoral training at the University of California (San Diego). He was faculty at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto before moving to NTU Singapore. His lab develops nanotechnology for diagnosing and treating cancer and infectious diseases. Some of his awards include NSERC E. W. R. Memorial Steacie Fellowship, Kabiller Young Investigator Award in Nanomedicine (Northwestern University), Rank Prize Fund award in Optoelectronics (England), and Dennis Gabor Award (Hungary). He is currently an Executive Editor of ACS Nano.