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Nanodevices may hold key for detecting early-stage cancer
PEOPLE & PLACES
European Union calls for cooperation The European Union (EU) has published the first round of calls for proposals in its largest ever funding program for research, the 7th Framework Programme (FP7). The total budget for FP7 is $67 billion, with $5.7 billion allocated to the first set of 42 proposals. The four specific programs of FP7 are cooperation, ideas, people, and capacities. Within the cooperation theme, there are four calls within the areas of nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials, and new production technologies.
Campaigning scientist receives honor Simon Campbell, former president of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), has been made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s birthday honors list. The prestigious accolade recognizes his ‘services to science’. Campbell was at the forefront of the RSC’s campaign to obtain more government funding for the chemical sciences.
Plastic electronics set for manufacture The UK firm, Plastic Logic, is set to build the world’s first factory to produce plastic electronic devices. The Cambridge-based company has secured $100 million in venture capital funding for a plant in Dresden, Germany. Once constructed, the factory will produce circuits vital for the development of novel gadgets such as electronic paper. Unlike silicon, plastic circuits-based devices can be made using simple printing techniques, dramatically reducing the price of consumer electronics.
Oak Ridge researcher elected AAAS fellow Thomas Thundat, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Thundat received the accolade in response to his pioneering research into the development of a novel class of sensors for molecular recognition using nanomechanical sensor platforms. Microcantilevers can be used to detect minute amounts of chemical and biological such as trinitrotoluene (TNT).
Knighthood for UCLA chemist Fraser Stoddart
Society high-flyers receive awards
Fraser Stoddart, director of the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) and the Fred Kavli Professor of NanoSystems Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been appointed as Knight Bachelor by the Queen in the UK’s New Year Honors List, in recognition of his services to chemistry and molecular nanotechnology.
The American Physical Society (APS) has announced the recipients of their 2007 awards and prizes. Winners include Samuel D. Bader, who receives the David Adler Lectureship award in the field of materials physics for his research in the area of nanomagnetism, magnetic films, and multilayers. The Davisson-Germer prize in atomic or surface physics has been awarded to Franz Himpsel for pioneering investigations of the electronic structure of surfaces, interfaces, adsorbates, and nanostructures.
Stoddart is the first UCLA professor to receive this distinction. “This special honor is a reflection not only of my own achievements but also the considerable support that I have received from my academic colleagues, my students and, above all, my late wife Norma,” comments Stoddart. “It also recognizes the significance and relevance of chemistry to everyday life and the international standing of the CNSI at the beginning of 2007.”
Purdue to lead NIH nanomedicine center A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Purdue University are to lead one of the eight national nanomedicine development centers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The team have been awarded $7 million over five years to study the potential use of a nanomotor for diagnosing and treating diseases such as cancer, AIDS, hepatitis B, and influenza. It is hoped that the research will lead to the use of nanomotors to package and deliver therapeutic DNA or RNA to disease-causing cells, revolutionizing medicine.
Nanodevices may hold key for detecting early-stage cancer The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has announced a $4.25 million grant to develop a research lab at McMaster University to develop low-cost nanobiosensors and imaging systems for noninvasive, real-time cancer detection and diagnosis. Such systems could form ‘miniature labs’ that could be swallowed like a pill, injected through a catheter, or even woven into fabric. These systems could screen for, detect, and potentially treat cancer and other diseases at an early stage of development, for example, when still at a single-cell size. They will also be able to detect harmful pathogens in food and water.
Five scientists at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) have been named fellows of the APS. These include Yimei Zhu, the director of BNL’s Institute for Advanced Electron Microscopy and group leader for the Center for Functional Nanomaterials. Zhu is recognized ‘for outstanding and innovative development and implementation of advanced electron beam experiments to understand electronic and magnetic structures and the physical behavior of functional materials such as superconductors and ferromagnetics’. The work includes assessment of the properties of materials that may lead to nanoscale magnetoelectronic devices for use in applications ranging from digital communications to data storage.
European excellence award for Ewels One of the five winners of the prestigious European Marie Curie Excellence Awards 2006 is Chris Ewels of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) at the Institute of Materials in Nantes, France. Ewels is the first researcher from either France or the UK to receive this award. Speaking about his research in nanotechnology, he says that it “holds the promise of doing more with much less”. Ewels adds, “by controlling the structure and design of new materials at the atomic level, we are hoping to make new materials that could make planes lighter and more efficient, solar cells cheaper and more effective, and chemical production cleaner and less polluting.”
Bayer appoints new CEO Patrick Thomas has been appointed chairman of the board of management of Bayer MaterialScience. With sales of $14 billion in 2005, Bayer MaterialScience is one of the world’s largest polymer manufacturers. Its main fields of activity are the production of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of everyday life.
Please send details of new appointments, honors, and awards to [email protected]
FEBRUARY 2007 | VOLUME 2 | NUMBER 1
53
European Union calls for cooperation The European Union (EU) has published the first round of calls for proposals in its largest ever funding program for research, the 7th Framework Programme (FP7). The total budget for FP7 is $67 billion, with $5.7 billion allocated to the first set of 42 proposals. The four specific programs of FP7 are cooperation, ideas, people, and capacities. Within the cooperation theme, there are four calls within the areas of nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials, and new production technologies.
Campaigning scientist receives honor Simon Campbell, former president of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), has been made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s birthday honors list. The prestigious accolade recognizes his ‘services to science’. Campbell was at the forefront of the RSC’s campaign to obtain more government funding for the chemical sciences.
Plastic electronics set for manufacture The UK firm, Plastic Logic, is set to build the world’s first factory to produce plastic electronic devices. The Cambridge-based company has secured $100 million in venture capital funding for a plant in Dresden, Germany. Once constructed, the factory will produce circuits vital for the development of novel gadgets such as electronic paper. Unlike silicon, plastic circuits-based devices can be made using simple printing techniques, dramatically reducing the price of consumer electronics.
Oak Ridge researcher elected AAAS fellow Thomas Thundat, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Thundat received the accolade in response to his pioneering research into the development of a novel class of sensors for molecular recognition using nanomechanical sensor platforms. Microcantilevers can be used to detect minute amounts of chemical and biological such as trinitrotoluene (TNT).
Knighthood for UCLA chemist Fraser Stoddart
Society high-flyers receive awards
Fraser Stoddart, director of the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) and the Fred Kavli Professor of NanoSystems Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been appointed as Knight Bachelor by the Queen in the UK’s New Year Honors List, in recognition of his services to chemistry and molecular nanotechnology.
The American Physical Society (APS) has announced the recipients of their 2007 awards and prizes. Winners include Samuel D. Bader, who receives the David Adler Lectureship award in the field of materials physics for his research in the area of nanomagnetism, magnetic films, and multilayers. The Davisson-Germer prize in atomic or surface physics has been awarded to Franz Himpsel for pioneering investigations of the electronic structure of surfaces, interfaces, adsorbates, and nanostructures.
Stoddart is the first UCLA professor to receive this distinction. “This special honor is a reflection not only of my own achievements but also the considerable support that I have received from my academic colleagues, my students and, above all, my late wife Norma,” comments Stoddart. “It also recognizes the significance and relevance of chemistry to everyday life and the international standing of the CNSI at the beginning of 2007.”
Purdue to lead NIH nanomedicine center A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Purdue University are to lead one of the eight national nanomedicine development centers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The team have been awarded $7 million over five years to study the potential use of a nanomotor for diagnosing and treating diseases such as cancer, AIDS, hepatitis B, and influenza. It is hoped that the research will lead to the use of nanomotors to package and deliver therapeutic DNA or RNA to disease-causing cells, revolutionizing medicine.
Nanodevices may hold key for detecting early-stage cancer The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has announced a $4.25 million grant to develop a research lab at McMaster University to develop low-cost nanobiosensors and imaging systems for noninvasive, real-time cancer detection and diagnosis. Such systems could form ‘miniature labs’ that could be swallowed like a pill, injected through a catheter, or even woven into fabric. These systems could screen for, detect, and potentially treat cancer and other diseases at an early stage of development, for example, when still at a single-cell size. They will also be able to detect harmful pathogens in food and water.
Five scientists at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) have been named fellows of the APS. These include Yimei Zhu, the director of BNL’s Institute for Advanced Electron Microscopy and group leader for the Center for Functional Nanomaterials. Zhu is recognized ‘for outstanding and innovative development and implementation of advanced electron beam experiments to understand electronic and magnetic structures and the physical behavior of functional materials such as superconductors and ferromagnetics’. The work includes assessment of the properties of materials that may lead to nanoscale magnetoelectronic devices for use in applications ranging from digital communications to data storage.
European excellence award for Ewels One of the five winners of the prestigious European Marie Curie Excellence Awards 2006 is Chris Ewels of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) at the Institute of Materials in Nantes, France. Ewels is the first researcher from either France or the UK to receive this award. Speaking about his research in nanotechnology, he says that it “holds the promise of doing more with much less”. Ewels adds, “by controlling the structure and design of new materials at the atomic level, we are hoping to make new materials that could make planes lighter and more efficient, solar cells cheaper and more effective, and chemical production cleaner and less polluting.”
Bayer appoints new CEO Patrick Thomas has been appointed chairman of the board of management of Bayer MaterialScience. With sales of $14 billion in 2005, Bayer MaterialScience is one of the world’s largest polymer manufacturers. Its main fields of activity are the production of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of everyday life.
Please send details of new appointments, honors, and awards to [email protected]
FEBRUARY 2007 | VOLUME 2 | NUMBER 1
53