Nanotechnology is prominent in medicine for various applications that
span use in understanding cellular and molecular interactions to the
downstream development of technologies for disease characterization,
detection and treatment. A few examples include systemically injectable
nanoparticles for the targeted delivery of multiple therapeutic and
contrast agents; multi-scale hierarchically-complex implants for the
regeneration of bone and soft tissues; micro/nano-fluidic chips
resembling the authentic architecture and biology of real organs.
Despite the high promise of nanotechnology, only a few of these
technologies generated have made it to clinical utility. It is likely
that the limited translation of nanotechnology-based interventions to
date is also due to the lack of mechanistic understanding of cellular
and molecular interactions of these technologies owing to the complexity
of biological systems in health and diseases.
We envision the ECI Nanotechnology in Medicine conference to
provide a platform to aid in the mechanistic understanding of cellular
and molecular interactions/responses induced by nanotechnologies and the
exploitation of these understandings to generate highly effective
nanotechnologies for the early detection, imaging and treatment of human
diseases. The conference will bring together biologists, materials
scientists, physicists, engineers and clinical scientists.
This conference will represent a forum to discuss new opportunities
and challenges in the field of nanotechnology in medicine and to foster
the development of synergic collaborations among scientists with diverse
backgrounds and expertise.