Nanomedicine
Welcome to the Division of NanoMedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Welcome to the division of nanomedicine at UCLA. Established in 2006, the division serves as the educational and research base for the understanding and utilizing interactions of nanomaterials with biological systems in the human body for improving the practice of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine.
Nanomedicine can broadly be defined as the branch of medicine that makes use of nanotechnology for the prevention and treatment of disease, premised on the unique properties and advantages nanomaterials hold over other modalities for imaging, diagnosis, treatment, repair, and tissue regeneration. A major pursuit in the division has been the custom design and implementation of drug delivery carriers in the field of cancer therapeutics and immunological applications, culminating in high impact publications, patent filing and translational research. These efforts have been well funded by a series of awards received from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the NIH.
Another major contribution has been to launch a NSF-funded program for the safe implementation of nanotechnology, in which the division played the lead role in in establishing the University of California Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN). This program fostered development of multidisciplinary research and education across several UC campuses to evaluate nanomaterial safety and safe technology implementation for the benefits of humans and the environment. This effort also allowed the development of education and toxicological screening of nanomaterials in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health, involving collaborative efforts across the campus. These interdisciplinary interactions provided a blueprint for multidisciplinary team science, adopted by CNSI and a Grants Facilitation Team, culminating in successful competition for federal grant money as well as research translation in the Magnify incubator.
Sincerely,
Andre Nel, MD, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Medicine
Chief, Division of NanoMedicine
Research Director California NanoSystems Institute
Director of UC Center for the Environmental Impact of Nanotechnology
Associate Editor ACS Nano