Targeted Drug and Contrast Agent Delivery
Our group is developing receptor-targeted drug and contrast agents (for CT and MR imaging) that target diffuse, non-localized tissues. The over-arching goal of our cancer research program is to develop nanotechnologies for personalized, iterative anti-cancer therapy. Of particular interest to our group is the early detection and treatment of astrogliomas of the brain.
Today's therapeutics take a uniform approach to dosage and delivery of anti-cancer drugs. Our techniques will lead to customized, patient-specific therapeutic formulations. Doctors will be able to factor in the state of the tumor vasculature at time of treatment, the specific receptor profile of the target tumor, the dosage and residence time, and the distribution of administered nanocarriers in the tumor, and then iteratively design nanocarriers for maximum specificity and efficacy against the patient's tumor.
We are developing multi-functional liposomal nanocarriers as a platform technology that can incorporate MR and CT contrast agents, anti-cancer drugs, receptor targeting technologies, and/or triggered drug delivery. Liposomes are nano-scale assemblies of lipid molecules that permit strict control of size, shape and surface chemistry. When extruded into 50-100nm "shells", they can carry a wide variety of payloads. We can also tailor their surfaces to facilitate long circulation time by evading clearance by the reticulo-endothelial system, and incorporate controlled numbers of targeting ligands on the nanocarrier surface.
These projects have been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF 0201891 and NSF 0756567), the Nora L. Redman Fund, the Georgia Tech-Emory Fund for Innovative Cancer Technologies, and the Coulter Foundation.
Sub-Projects
Folate Receptor-Targeted Liposomal Drug Delivery for the Treatment of Glioma
- Katie McNeeley
Novel Nanoscale Contrast Agents for Imaging-enabled Patient-specific Cancer Therapy
- Stathis Karathanasis
Inhibiting Brain Tumor Invasion Using Systemic Drug Delivery
- Jenny Munson
Novel CEST Contrast Agents for MR Imaging of Atherosclerotic Plaques
- Ben Roller