By Daniel J. Vargas
June 30, 2008
AUSTIN, Texas – A biomedical engineering assistant professor at The University of Texas at Austin has been awarded a $1.5 million National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute grant to conduct nanoparticle cancer research.
Grant recipient James Tunnell says the five-year project will include collaboration with other researchers from the university, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the University of California at Irvine.
The project will focus on the development of molecular imaging technologies for the screening, diagnosis and therapy of cancer. Recent advancements in nanotechnologies have produced a class of optically active metal particles with highly desirable molecular and optical properties suitable for detection and treatment.
“We will design nanoparticles that can be injected into the bloodstream where they will seek out and attach themselves to cancer cells within the body,” Tunnell says. “In this case, the particles themselves are identifying the cancer cells, and we can then image the nanoparticles in order to find the cancer.”
Using weak levels of light, the particles act as imaging agents making it possible to locate cancer cells. Then, higher light levels can be used to heat the same particles, killing the cancer cells while leaving nearby healthy cells unharmed.
“Our goal is to detect and treat cancer at the cellular level and at its earliest stage when survival rates are highest,” Tunnell says.
The collaborators on the project include the university’s Brian Korgel, chemical engineering professor, and Pengyu Ren, biomedical engineering assistant professor; M.D. Anderson’s Sunil Krishnan and the University of California at Irvine’s Anthony Durkin and David Cuccia.
To learn more about Tunnell's research, visit www.bme.utexas.edu/research/tunnell.
For more information, contact: Daniel J. Vargas, Cockrell School of Engineering, 512-471-7541, Daniel.vargas2@engr.utexas.edu or James Tunnell, Cockrell School of Engineering, 512-232-2110, jtunnel@mail.utexas.edu.
About the Cockrell School of Engineering:
The Cockrell School ranks among the top ten engineering programs in the United States and aspires to move into the top five. With the nation's fourth highest number of faculty members elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the Cockrell School's more than 7,000 students work with many of the world's finest engineering educators and researchers. This environment prepares graduates to become engineering leaders and innovators working for the betterment of society.
