{"443851":{"#nid":"443851","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Kim Grant Targets Atherosclerosis","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EWhat does atherosclerosis have in common with John Dillinger? It\u2019s the \u201cpublic enemy number one\u201d appellation. Atherosclerosis, or hardening and narrowing of the arteries, is usually the cause of heart attacks, strokes and peripheral vascular disease, collectively known as cardiovascular disease, which is the number one killer in the United States.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EJust as the FBI spent a lot of time and effort to stop Dillinger in the 1930s, so have researchers and health care providers in battling atherosclerosis. The major difference, of course, is that Dillinger went down while atherosclerosis rages on.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EOne of the main challenges is the administration of drugs to treat diseases \u2013 they are limited by the inability to accurately transport sufficient doses to target sites without side effects. YongTae \u201cTony\u201d Kim, faculty member of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, is working to turn the tables on cardiovascular disease, and he recently received an American Heart Association (AHA) National Scientist Development Grant to help him in the effort to treat atherosclerosis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cAtherosclerosis is a time sensitive disease, and once you have it, it\u2019s hard to stop it,\u201d says Kim, assistant professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cOur goal is to engineer a new nanometer scale material that can deliver genetic codes effectively to treat unhealthy blood cells in atherosclerotic plaques.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThese engineered delivery vehicles will mimic the natural HDL (high-density lipoprotein, or \u201cgood\u201d cholesterol) nanoparticles present in human blood. The engineered vehicles will not only contain imaging agents to help visualize plaque accumulation, but also biological molecules to enable the targeting of diseased cells for the delivery of genetic material that will improve their function, alleviating the effects of atherosclerosis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cWe plan to determine if our engineered HDL vehicles provide an improved treatment option for atherosclerosis,\u201d says Kim, who plans to use cutting-edge microfluidic dynamics technology to synthesize the proposed nanocarriers, or vehicles, \u201cwhich is highly reproducible through the continuous synthesis process in microfluidics,\u201d he adds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ETherapeutic performance of the engineered HDL vehicles will be evaluated on a microchip device that can mimic the structure and function of human microscale blood vessels in atherosclerotic plaques, allowing for detailed study of vehicle-cell interaction while also allowing for continuous monitoring of target cell function. The microchip model will allow for collection of data elucidating drug action that will be further validated with a sample model of atherosclerosis in close collaboration with Hanjoong Jo, a professor in the Coulter Department.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThis project will have several outcomes with the potential to impact treatment of cardiovascular disease,\u201d Kim says. For one thing, it will produce a new therapeutic platform capable of treating unhealthy blood vessel cells with minimal side effects. It also promotes the development of a novel, versatile platform for the study of microvasculature diseases.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThese new technologies will contribute to the development of a novel therapeutic and diagnostic paradigm for the study and treatment of atherosclerosis,\u201d says Kim, whose grant is for $308,000 over four years.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe objective of the AHA\u2019s Scientist Development Grant is to support talented beginning researchers like Kim in their progress toward becoming an independent investigator, supporting research related to cardiovascular disease. And Kim\u2019s research may have broader applications, such as screening drugs that target other organs such, as the brain, for the treatment of tumors and Alzheimer\u2019s disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re heading in that direction,\u201d says Kim.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p3\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Petit Institute researcher working on new ways to battle deadly disease"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPetit Institute researcher working on new ways to battle deadly disease\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Petit Institute researcher working on new ways to battle deadly disease"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2015-09-02 12:44:30","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:29","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"443841":{"id":"443841","type":"image","title":"Clogged artery","body":null,"created":"1449256205","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:05","changed":"1475895182","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:02","alt":"Clogged artery","file":{"fid":"203139","name":"bigstock-cogged-arteries-54926162_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bigstock-cogged-arteries-54926162_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bigstock-cogged-arteries-54926162_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":500232,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bigstock-cogged-arteries-54926162_0_0.jpg?itok=FilvGt_w"}},"443831":{"id":"443831","type":"image","title":"Tony Kim","body":null,"created":"1449256205","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:05","changed":"1475895182","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:02","alt":"Tony Kim","file":{"fid":"203138","name":"dsc_0175.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0175_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0175_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1025349,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_0175_0.jpg?itok=E32m8mks"}}},"media_ids":["443841","443831"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"140211","name":"NIH grant"},{"id":"82031","name":"Tony Kim"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}