Training in Nanomedicine

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

CORE C5: Training In Nanomedicine Introduction Washington University (WU) has for over 70 years been a center of excellence in medical science, and over the past 20 or more years, significant advances in Imaging Sciences has enabled WU to be a world leader in these fields. More recently, WU has become known for its strengths in the area of nanotechnology with the multidisciplinary and interrelated nature of these efforts being recognized in both research and teaching. As a result, training of scientists in these areas of study has been carried out under several different graduate programs in several departments at the University. The training core of the CONE will address educational needs for training graduate students, postdoctoral research fellows and medical residents in this rapidly evolving field of nanomedicine. The curriculum proposed here is highly multidisciplinary, and involves chemistry, biology, medicine, and engineering. In keeping with the theme of this grant application, we plan to develop a course on Nanomedicine that will specifically target the biological and medical (especially cancer) applications of nanotechnology. This course (as well others already in place) will be combined with a broader PhD training agenda in the area of Imaging Sciences that is currently being pursued by the University (see Figure C5.1). for which a grant proposal to the NIH Roadmap Initiative on Curriculum Development for a future Imaging Sciences Graduate Program was recently funded (C. Anderson, P.I.)-ln addition to developing curriculum, during the grant award period, we plan to award fellowships for 1-2 graduate students per year who are currently in graduate programs in the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) and Biomedical Engineering who are training in the labs of faculty doing nanotechnology and medical research. An important component to our educational activities will be the development of workshops, open to the general community, that focus upon the clinical applications of nanotechnology. It is clear that to take full advantage of the emerging opportunities at the interface of nanotechnology and medical science, a new generation of researchers must be trained with skills that historically derive from multiple, previously unrelated disciplines. The specific intent of the proposed training core is to bring these fields together and to serve as a resource for training. Trainees engaged in the courses, seminars and workshops will gain the interdisciplinary knowledge and skills they require to prepare them for exciting new careers in the area of nanomedicine.