(6gh) Engineering Nanoparticles As Theranostic Probe and Understanding Their Interaction with the Lysosome-Autophagy System

Engineered nanoparticles have shown great promise for the diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of diseases. My research will investigate the engineering design principles for nanoparticle-mediated early diagnosis and efficient therapy. A particular interest will be on designing lanthanide based theranostics probe – a class of nanoprobe extremely promising for deep tissue optical imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray luminescence optical imaging, and therapy.

When nanoparticles are internalized into cells, like other nano-sized material perceived by the cell as foreign or toxic (such as viruses), they may stimulate the activation of cellular clearance mechanisms. The main clearance pathway that mediates degradation of toxic and aberrant internalized material is autophagy. My other major research interest is focused on understanding the interaction of nanoparticles with the cellular and subcellular organelles particularly on the lysosome-autophagosome system. I would also like to predictively determine deposition, translocation of the environmental particulate matters and inhaled drugs in the respiratory track.