(14f) Designer Biomaterials and Integrated Platforms Toward Precision Medicine

Precision or personalized medicine is an emerging approach that matches patients with the most appropriate treatment based on the precise molecular features of an individual patient’s disease. Despite huge advances in translational research, diagnosis and treatment continue to pose profound challenges in addressing significant health problems, including cancer and infectious diseases. In this talk, I will discuss two research projects that demonstrate molecular engineering efforts toward precision medicine. One focuses on new development in diagnosis: bioanalytical sensing of plasma markers predictive of impending sepsis based on a magneto-electrochemical approach. The other utilizes a novel programmable multi-therapy release strategy for orthopedic implants, enabling both bacterial eradication at the bone-hardware interface and accelerated bone tissue regeneration. These studies highlight the potential of integrating materials science, molecular engineering, and clinical science approaches to develop advanced molecular diagnostics and innovative therapies for precision medicine.

References
[1] Min J, Nothing M, Coble B, Zheng H, Park J, Im H, Weber G, Castro CM, Swirski FK, Weissleder R*, Lee H*, Integrated biosensor for rapid and point-of-care sepsis diagnosis, ACS Nano, 12(4), 3378-3384 (2018).
[2] Min J^†, Im H^†, Allen M, McFarland PJ, Degani I, Yu H, Normandin E, Pathania D, Patel JM, Castro CM, Weissleder R*, Lee H*, Computational optics enables breast cancer profiling in point-of-care settings, ACS Nano, 12(9), 9081-9090 (2018).
[3] Min J, Choi KY, Dreaden EC, Padera RF, Braatz RD, Spector M, Hammond PT, Designer dual therapy implant coatings eradicate biofilms and accelerate bone tissue repair, ACS Nano, 10(4), 4441-4450 (2016).
[4] Min J, Braatz RD, Hammond PT, Tunable staged release of therapeutics from layer-by-layer coating with clay interlayer barrier, Biomaterials, 35(8), 2507-17 (2014).