Scientists at Brown University are researching nearly invisible materials to someday help rebuild damaged nerve cells in stroke victims, replace bladder tissue in cancer patients or detect cancerous cells earlier than technology available today.
“I think Brown is a great place to take on many of these challenges in the arena of nanomedicine,” said Clyde L. Briant, dean of engineering at Brown and,
effective next July 1, vice president of research.
Briant plugged the university’s strides in nanomedicine – which uses materials ranging in size from one to 100 billionths of a meter for medical uses – during a showcase at McMillan Hall last Wednesday that displayed Brown’s latest research in the cutting-edge field.
Drawing people from industry, government and academia, the all-day event featured the work of 13 faculty members and 35 students at Brown. It also included a session on opportunities for research grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Robert H. Hurt, a professor of engineering at Brown, gave attendees an overview of nanomedicine initiatives at the university.
Hurt said 45 active studies in nanomedicine are taking place across disciplines ranging from biomedicine to computer science at Brown, including six multi-year research projects in nanomedicine, each with $1 million to $2 million grants from the National Science Foundation.
Brown is one of the leaders in the medical offshoot of nanotechnology, which the federal government has bet will be a boon for the U.S. economy.
Hurt argued that the university is well placed to conduct such research due to its strength in physical sciences, its medical school and biology programs, its new life science facility, and its Plan for Academic Enrichment, which includes hiring 100 more faculty members.
One important aspect of nanomedicine is determining the safety of placing nanomaterials in the human body. For instance, Hurt cited a recent story on National Public Radio about “Magic Nano,” a German surface sealant containing nanomaterials that was recalled March 28 after 97 consumers said it caused them breathing problems.
Thomas J. Webster, one of Brown’s new faculty hires, came onboard in January to continue his research into nanomaterials designed to rebuild neurons in stroke-damaged brains. Thus far, his laboratory experiments with rats have shown promise, he said, but the research has yet to prove effective in humans.
“I think the expectations … from my research would be that nanomaterials would regenerate tissues,” Webster said in an interview. “Definitely the end result that would be great for this field is a new biomedical tissue based on nanomaterials.”
The U.S. government is looking to nanotechnology to spur economic growth and new jobs for Americans. Under the National Nanotechnology Initiative that began in 2001, 23 federal agencies have received $5.3 billion to spend on developing the technology, and President Bush has put another $1.2 billion toward the effort in his fiscal 2007 budget.
“Our goal is to see the fundamental development that we support lead to [new technology] that could eventually lead to commercial applications,” said David M. Balshaw, an administrator at the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health and Science, in an interview at Brown’s showcase.
Balshaw said his department alone has granted $12 million toward nanomedicine studies this year, with a total of $25 million to be spent in 2006.
Webster said that nanomedical research has already produced synthetic bones using materials that last longer in the human body than those previously used.
Angstrom Medica, a privately owned biomedical firm in Woburn, Mass., sells its “NanOss” synthetic bone made with nanomaterials that mimic the structure of human bone. The company is presently using the new material for sutures and surgical screws, according to the company’s Web site.
However, according to Webster, nanomedical research into curing diseases and repairing tissues has yet to reach commercial use. Yet he expects his and others’ research at Brown to someday produce nanomaterials to existing companies or, alternately, to launch new ventures.
“There’s a lot of good work that is going on at Brown,” NIH’s Balshaw said. “It’s exciting.”
