Events

Developing Responsive Soft Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications

Biomedical Engineering
Academic,
Lecture / Panel
 
For NYU Community
Schematic and TEM image of inorganic-organic hybrid nanoparticles for multi-modal imaging

Zoom Link

Speaker:

Nathalie Pinkerton, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Abstract:

Nanomedicine is a fast-emerging field that focuses on the development and application of nanomaterials to diagnose and treat diseases. In this colloquium Dr. Pinkerton will report on the development of polymeric nanoparticles designed for drug delivery and multi-modal imaging applications. The polymeric nanoparticles are synthesized via the scalable Flash-Nano-Precipitation (FNP) process, a controlled precipitation process driven by hydrophobic interactions.  Her group has discovered a hydrophobic ion pair formulation approach, which enables the encapsulation into nanoparticles of ionizable, weakly hydrophobic compounds – a class of molecules traditionally incompatible with nano-formulations. This approach is now widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, she will demonstrate that FNP is a robust and versatile process for the assembly of inorganic-organic hybrid nanoparticle contrast agents for medical imaging. These hybrid nanoparticles have both MRI and fluorescent imaging capabilities and enable the detection of small liver metastases in vivo. Finally, she will describe an ongoing project focused on developing NIR light responsive nanoparticles for delivery of chemotherapies and immunotherapies.

Dr. Pinkerton received her Ph.D. degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Princeton University in 2014. Subsequently she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institut des Technologies Avancées en Sciences du Vivant (ITAV) in Toulouse, France. In 2016, she joined the Pfizer Oncology R&D Unit as a senior scientist and project leader for nanoparticle-based therapies. In early 2020, she joined NYU Tandon

Schematic and TEM image of inorganic-organic hybrid nanoparticles for multi-modal imaging. In vivo imaging of liver metastases and selective nanoparticle accumulation.
Schematic and TEM image of inorganic-organic hybrid nanoparticles for multi-modal imaging. In vivo imaging of liver metastases and selective nanoparticle accumulation.