[CCoE Notice] Seminar: Putting Nanomaterials to Work for Biomedical Research

[Grayson, Audrey A]

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Seminar
Putting Nanomaterials to Work for Biomedical Research
Friday, March 4, 2016
SEC 204: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
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Speaker: Dr. Younan Xia
The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia


Abstract: Nanomaterials are finding widespread use in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In this talk, I will focus on gold nanocages, a novel class of nanomaterials with hollow interiors and porous walls that can be prepared in relatively large quantities using a remarkably simple procedure based on the galvanic replacement reaction between silver nanocrystals and chloroauric acid in an aqueous solution. By controlling their size and/or wall thickness, the optical scattering and absorption peaks of gold nanocages can be easily and precisely tuned to any wavelength in the near-infrared region (e.g., 700-900 nm, the transparent window of soft tissues) Additionally, their compact sizes, large absorption cross sections (almost five orders of magnitude greater than those of conventional organic dyes), and inertness in biological systems all make them particularly intriguing for biomedical applications. In this talk, I will present some of the most recent advances in the use of gold nanocages for a broad range of theranostic applications, including their use as tracers for tracking by multi-photon luminescence, as contrast agents for photoacoustic and mutimodal imaging, and as radioactive probes for both imaging and therapy. In addition, gold nanocages can selectively target cancerous or diseased tissue, followed by activation as photothermal agents for the selective destruction of the targeted cells. Finally, gold nanocages can serve as drug delivery vehicles for controlled and localized release in response to external stimuli such as NIR radiation or high-intensity focused ultrasound.

Bio: Younan Xia is the Brock Family Chair and Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He holds appointments in three academic units: The Wallace Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He received a B.S. degree in chemical physics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1987, a M.S. degree in inorganic chemistry from University of Pennsylvania (with Professor Alan G. MacDiarmid) in 1993, and a Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry from Harvard University (with Professor George M. Whitesides) in 1996. His group has invented a myriad of nanomaterials with well-controlled sizes, shapes, structures, compositions, and properties. These nanomaterials have found use in applications related to plasmonics, optical sensing, electronics, photonics, photovoltaics, display, catalysis, fuel cells, and biomedical research. As an example, his technology on silver nanowires has been commercialized by Cambrios for the manufacturing of flexible, transparent, and conductive coatings sought in applications such as touch screen, flexible electronics, and photovoltaics. Xia has co-authored more than 620 publications in peer-reviewed journals, together with a total citation of more than 96,000 and an h-index of 160. He has been named a Top 10 Chemist and Materials Scientist based on the number of citation per publication. He has received a number of prestigious awards, including American Chemical Society (ACS) National Award in the Chemistry of Materials (2013), NIH Director's Pioneer Award (2006), David and Lucile Packard Fellow in Science and Engineering (2000), NSF CAREER Award (2000), and Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (2000). More information can be found at http://www.nanocages.com.


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