{"65178":{"#nid":"65178","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Pediatric Nanomedicine Center Links Health Care and Engineering","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhysicians and engineers\nwithin a new center devoted to pediatric nanomedicine will develop targeted,\nmolecular-sized nanoparticles as part of a unique approach to treating\npediatric diseases. Specific focus areas will include pediatric heart disease\nand thrombosis, infectious diseases, cancer, sickle cell disease and cystic\nfibrosis.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Center for Pediatric\nNanomedicine (CPN) is the first of its kind in the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EDirected by Gang Bao, the\ncenter will involve researchers from Emory University, the Georgia Institute of\nTechnology and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause nano-scale\nstructures are compatible in size to biomolecules, nanomedicine provides\nunprecedented opportunities for achieving better control of biological\nprocesses and drastic improvements in disease detection, therapy and\nprevention,\u201d says Bao, the Robert A. Milton Professor of Biomedical Engineering\nin the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech\nand Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ENanomedicine involves the\ndevelopment of engineered nanoscale structures and devices for better\ndiagnostics and highly specific medical interventions to treat diseases and\nrepair damaged tissues. One nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe CPN is part of the\nEmory-Children\u2019s Pediatric Research Center led by the two institutions,\nincluding partnerships with Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse School\nof Medicine.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWith the leadership of Dr. Paul\nSpearman, Children\u2019s chief research officer and vice chair for research in the\nEmory University Department of Pediatrics, 14 key priority centers have been\nidentified. These are hematology and oncology; immunology and vaccines;\ntransplant immunology and immune therapeutics; pediatric healthcare technology\ninnovation; cystic fibrosis; developmental lung biology; endothelial biology;\ncardiovascular biology; drug discovery; autism; neurosciences; nanomedicine; outcomes\nresearch and public health; and clinical and translational research.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EEmory and Georgia Tech\nalready have had significant and successful research partnerships in\nnanomedicine funded by the National Institutes of Health. These have included\nnanotechnology center of excellence for the detection and treatment of\ncardiovascular disease, the development of personalized and predictive\noncology, and the development of engineered protein machines for treating\nsingle-gene disorders.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNanotechnology can be\napplied to many diseases, and the application of nanotechnology could have a\nprofound impact on improving children\u2019s health,\u201d says Bao.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent centers located in\nthe joint Georgia Tech-Emory biomedical engineering department include the\nCenter for Translational Cardiovascular Nanomedicine (funded by a $14.6\nmillion, five-year grant from NHLBI\/NIH) and the Nanomedicine Center for\nNucleoprotein Machines (funded by a $16.1 million, five-year grant from NIH).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe discoveries made in\nthese centers also will be applied to research in pediatric diseases. For\nexample, scientists in the center for nucleoprotein machines are focused on\ndeveloping a technology to correct single-gene defects that lead to human\ndisease. They hope to use this approach to treat and eventually cure sickle\ncell disease, first focusing on curing a mouse model of sickle cell. The new\ntechnology would then be applied to human sickle cell patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNanomedicine is expected to\ndramatically exceed what has occurred in the field thus far, and our belief is\nthat it will revolutionize medicine,\u201d says Bao. \u201cWe plan to make this new\npediatric nanomedicine center a leader in applying these unique discoveries to\ntreating and curing children\u2019s diseases.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe biomedical engineering\nfaculty members who are involved in the CPN activities include:\u0026nbsp;Dr. Wilbur\nLam, biomedical engineer; Barbara Boyan, professor and Price Gilbert Jr. Chair\nin Tissue Engineering and associate dean for research; Niren Murthy, associate\nprofessor of biomedical engineering; Michael Davis, assistant professor of\nbiomedical engineering; Phil Santangelo, assistant professor of biomedical\nengineering; Shuming Nie, professor and the Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished\nFaculty Chair in Biomedical Engineering; Thomas Barker, assistant professor of\nbiomedical engineering; and Ravi\u0026nbsp;Bellamkonda, professor and associate vice\npresident for research.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhysicians and engineers\nwithin a new center devoted to pediatric nanomedicine will develop targeted,\nmolecular-sized nanoparticles as part of a unique approach to treating\npediatric diseases.\u0026nbsp;The Center for Pediatric\nNanomedicine (CPN) is the first of its kind in the world.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"First-of-its kind research center includes physicians and scientists from Emory, Georgia Tech, Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta."}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2011-03-28 11:04:14","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:26","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46888":{"id":"46888","type":"image","title":"Researcher Gang Bao","body":null,"created":"1449174507","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:28:27","changed":"1475894435","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:35","alt":"Researcher Gang Bao","file":{"fid":"101176","name":"tpv76061.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpv76061_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpv76061_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1485421,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tpv76061_0.jpg?itok=UEr6Sk2R"}}},"media_ids":["46888"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/shared.web.emory.edu\/whsc\/news\/releases\/2011\/03\/pediatric-nanomedicine-center-links-health-care-and-engineering.html","title":"Emory news release"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.choa.org\/About-Childrens\/Newsroom\/News-and-Announcements\/Nanomedicine-Center-Engineering","title":"Children\u0027s Healthcare of Atlanta - news release"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12515","name":"College of Engineering; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering; Emory; Children\u0027s Healthcare of Atlanta; pediatric nanomedicine;  Gang Bao"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["klipp@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}