The 39th CRS Annual Meeting & Exposition plenary speakers offer a unique variety of innovative and thought-provoking subjects. This year's plenary speakers and their topics are:
Donald A. Tomalia
CEO/Founder NanoSynthons LLC, National Dendrimer and Nanotechnology Center, U.S.A.
Donald A. Tomalia is the CEO and Founder of NanoSynthons. He is the pioneering scientist and inventor associated with the discovery of dendrimers and polyoxazolines. Dr. Tomalia currently serves as associate editor, Nanomedicine (Elsevier); editorial advisory board member, Bioconjugate Chemistry; faculty member, Faculty 1000 Biology; director of the National Dendrimer and Nanotechnology Center; distinguished visiting professor, Columbia University and external faculty, University of Wisconsin-Madison (School of Pharmacy). He is an inventor with over 120 U.S. patents and the author of over 240 peer- reviewed publications. Dr. Tomalia was recently inducted into the Thomas Reuters Hall of Citation Laureates in Chemistry (i.e., 40 most highly cited scientists in the field of chemistry) (2011).
Dendrimer-Based Nanomedicine - The Present and Future
Monday, July 16, 13:30 - 15:00
Human health and disease states are largely determined by a relatively small number of biotic nanostructural classes possessing well-defined nanoscale dimensions, namely, proteins, DNA/RNA, viral particles, and so on. As such, “The positive management of human health, disease and longevity will be determined and controlled by a deeper understanding of critical parameters in the 1–100 nm length scale and involves the new emerging field of nanomedicine” (B. Y. S. Kim, J. T. Rutka, and W. C. W. Chan, New England Journal of Medicine, 363, 2434 [2010]). This theme will serve to overview the current use of abiotic dendrimers in a variety of nanomedical applications, including nanodiagnostics, drug delivery, imaging, and nanopharmaceuticals. Important dendrimer properties such as polyvalency, nanoscaffolding, and nanocontainer properties have underpinned the development of many current commercial products, including nanodiagnostics (Stratus, Siemens, Germany), nanoscale gene vectors (Superfect®, Qiagen, Germany), and siRNA vectors (Priofect®, EMD-Merck, U.S.A.). Presently, a dendrimer-based topical bacterial vaginosis microbicide (VivaGel®, Starpharma, Australia) is in Phase III clinical trial evaluation. Recent reports of intrinsic anti-inflammatory/targeting, new siRNA/DNA transfection properties, and oncology targeting strategies based on rational dendrimer structural design portend the future emergence of many new dendrimer-based nanomedical applications.
Molly Shoichet
Professor of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry,
Chemistry and Biomaterials, and Biomedical Engineering,
University of Toronto, Canada
Molly Shoichet holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in tissue engineering. She is an expert in the study of polymers for drug delivery and regeneration, which are materials that promote healing in the body. Dr. Shoichet has published close to 400 papers, patents, and abstracts and has given over 250 lectures worldwide. She currently leads a laboratory of 25 researchers and has graduated 75 researchers over the past 15 years. She founded two spin-off companies from research in her laboratory. Dr. Shoichet is the recipient of such prestigious distinctions as the Canada Council for the Arts’ Killam Research Fellowship, NSERC’s Steacie Fellowship, CIfAR’s Young Explorers Award (to the top 20 scientists under 40 in Canada), CSChE’s Syncrude Innovation Award, Canada’s Top 40 under 40TM, and the Royal Society of Canada’s Rutherford Memorial Award. Dr. Shoichet was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Sciences in 2008, the highest distinction awarded to a Canadian scientist. In 2011, Dr. Shoichet was appointed to the Order of Ontario, Ontario’s highest honour, and recognized as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Before being recruited to the University of Toronto in 1995, Dr. Shoichet worked at CytoTherapeutics Inc. on encapsulated cell therapy. Dr. Shoichet received her S.B. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in chemistry (1987) and her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in polymer science and engineering (1992).
Drug and Cell Delivery Strategies to the Central Nervous System
Tuesday, July 17, 08:00 - 09:30
Three regenerative medicine strategies will be described in the central nervous system for treatment of spinal cord injury, stroke, and blindness. In each strategy, delivery to the tissue is key to success, necessitating a local delivery strategy. Both stem cell transplantation and endogenous stem cell stimulation strategies are being pursued. In stroke injury models, for example, we have delivered EGF and EPO directly to the brain to stimulate the stem cells in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles. Functional repair was observed using a minimally invasive, injectable, controlled release strategy without the tissue damage observed with more traditional delivery strategies. In animal models of blindness, we delivered adult retinal stem cells and their progeny directly into the retina using an injectable hydrogel that enhanced cell survival and integration significantly better than conventional cell delivery strategies. A clear mechanism for greater cell survival was elucidated. These strategies of cell stimulation and transplantation provide promise for the future of regenerative medicine.
Vladimir P. Torchilin
Distinguished Professor and Director,
Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, Northeastern University, U.S.A.
Vladimir P. Torchilin has published more than 350 original papers and more than 150 reviews and book chapters, written and edited 10 books, and holds more than 40 patents. He is editor-in-chief of Current Drug Discovery Technologies and of Drug Delivery and is on the editorial boards of many journals, including Journal of Controlled Release (review editor). Professor Torchilin received the 1982 Lenin Prize in Science (the highest award in the former USSR). He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and a fellow of AIMBE, AAPS, and CRS, and he received the 2005 Research Achievements in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery Award from the AAPS, 2007 Research Achievements Award from the Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress, 2009 International Journal of Nanomedicine Distinguished Scientist Award, and 2010 Controlled Release Society Founders Award. In 2005, he was president of the CRS. In 2011, Times Higher Education ranked him number 2 among top world scientists in pharmacology for 2001–2010.
Listen to Professor Torchilin discuss his plenary address (.wav file)
Targeting Cell Organelles
Wednesday, July 18, 09:30 - 11:00
Next-generation drug-delivery systems should be able to target individual organelles inside cells. There are already enough means to deliver drugs inside cells, bypassing the lysosomal degradation. Thus, coupling of cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) to various molecules, including peptides and proteins, or even to nanoparticles dramatically facilitates their intracellular delivery. The combination of targeted delivery of drug-loaded nanocarriers to target cells and their subsequent delivery inside cells might significantly improve the efficiency of therapy. Intracellular drug delivery with subsequent organelle targeting opens new opportunities in overcoming problems associated with multiple pathologies, including lysosomal storage diseases and multidrug resistance (MDR) tumors. Delivery of deficient enzymes for the treatment of lysosomal diseases evidently requires specific targeting of lysosomes, while facilitating apoptotic cell death in MDR tumors would require targeting of mitochondria or lysosomes. Clearly, this challenge will require some novel approaches in engineering multifunctional nanomedicines capable of accumulating in the target tissue, penetrating inside cells, bypassing lysosomes, and bringing pharmaceuticals to individual organelles. Examples of specific targeting of lysosomes and mitochondria in cells as well as analytical methods developed to follow the intracellular fate of nanomedicines illustrate the benefits of this new approach.