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Fifth International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium (NanoDDS'07)
Journal of Controlled Release 130 (2008) 97
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Controlled Release j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / j c o n r e l
Preface
Fifth International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium (NanoDDS'07) Current volume of the Journal of Controlled Release offers five publications from the participants of the Fifth International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium (NanoDDS'07) held on November 2–3, 2007, on the grounds of Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts. This Symposium focused on recent advances in nanomedicine and related drug delivery systems and continued a very successful series of meetings initiated in 2003 in Omaha, Nebraska, and followed by the meetings in Brooklyn, New York in 2004, Baltimore, Maryland in 2005, and again in Omaha, Nebraska in 2006. The fifth symposium was attended by nearly 180 participants and guests from 15 countries, and was opened with the key-note presentation by Professor Robert Langer of MIT. Individual sessions covered a broad variety of topics, such as DNA Delivery, New Technologies in Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery, Multifunctional and Stimuli-Sensitive Nanosystems, From Mice to Men, Nanosystems for Imaging, and New Targets and New Means, and included 22 invited talks from world leading experts. Invited talks were supplemented by almost 80 poster presentation and a special session with short presentations from the winners of the Best Poster Awards. This issue presents several important topics from those covered during the 2007 Symposium. One of the articles (by T. Minko and coauthors) discusses the requirements towards the most efficient nanocarriers for tumor-specific treatment and imaging. The article by J. Intra and A. Salem addresses various issues associated with the use of plasmid DNA-containing nanoparticles made of polyethyleneimines for transgene expression in vivo. The paper by E. Batrakova and A. Kabanov discusses the evolution of Pluronic block copolymers as pharmaceutical carriers and biological response modifiers. M. Amiji and co-authors describe various new platforms for targeted delivery of drugs and genes using multifunctional nanocarriers. And the paper by J. Aylott and co-authors addresses the possibility of a complementary application of flow cytometry and confocal microscopy to analyze the internalization of polymeric nanosensors by mesenchymal stem cells. These articles present a variety of cutting edge information and clearly reflect the broadness of scientific topics discussed at the NanoDDS'07. I strongly
0168-3659/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2008.07.008
believe that this set of publications will attract attention of the Journal's readers and stimulate the further scientific thinking in the fast growing area of nanomedicine. The exceptional promise, which nanosytems provide in enhancing the efficacy of therapeutic and diagnostic agents in the body, is now widely recognized. The critical discussion of nanoscale technologies to design novel drug delivery systems and devices becomes an essential part of the further scientific and industrial progress in this area, and Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposia have already establish themselves as an important forum for such discussion. The sixth symposium (NanoDDS'08) will be held in Toronto, Canada on October 18–19, 2008 and will concentrate on new developments in nanomedicine and drug delivery as well as on the translational nanomedicine. Acknowledgments Funding from the NIH (1R13EB008330) for the NanoDDS'07 is greatly appreciated. We would also like to thank other sponsors and supporters including Abraxis BioScience/Astra Zeneka International, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Avanti Polar Lipids, Celator Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme, Taylor & Francis (Informa), Boston Scientific, Elsevier, Controlled Release Society, and Northeastern University. Vladimir P. Torchilin Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Director, Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, Northeastern University, Mugar Building, Room 312, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA Tel.: +1 617 373 3206; fax: +1 617 373 8886. E-mail address: [email protected].
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Controlled Release j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / j c o n r e l
Preface
Fifth International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium (NanoDDS'07) Current volume of the Journal of Controlled Release offers five publications from the participants of the Fifth International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium (NanoDDS'07) held on November 2–3, 2007, on the grounds of Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts. This Symposium focused on recent advances in nanomedicine and related drug delivery systems and continued a very successful series of meetings initiated in 2003 in Omaha, Nebraska, and followed by the meetings in Brooklyn, New York in 2004, Baltimore, Maryland in 2005, and again in Omaha, Nebraska in 2006. The fifth symposium was attended by nearly 180 participants and guests from 15 countries, and was opened with the key-note presentation by Professor Robert Langer of MIT. Individual sessions covered a broad variety of topics, such as DNA Delivery, New Technologies in Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery, Multifunctional and Stimuli-Sensitive Nanosystems, From Mice to Men, Nanosystems for Imaging, and New Targets and New Means, and included 22 invited talks from world leading experts. Invited talks were supplemented by almost 80 poster presentation and a special session with short presentations from the winners of the Best Poster Awards. This issue presents several important topics from those covered during the 2007 Symposium. One of the articles (by T. Minko and coauthors) discusses the requirements towards the most efficient nanocarriers for tumor-specific treatment and imaging. The article by J. Intra and A. Salem addresses various issues associated with the use of plasmid DNA-containing nanoparticles made of polyethyleneimines for transgene expression in vivo. The paper by E. Batrakova and A. Kabanov discusses the evolution of Pluronic block copolymers as pharmaceutical carriers and biological response modifiers. M. Amiji and co-authors describe various new platforms for targeted delivery of drugs and genes using multifunctional nanocarriers. And the paper by J. Aylott and co-authors addresses the possibility of a complementary application of flow cytometry and confocal microscopy to analyze the internalization of polymeric nanosensors by mesenchymal stem cells. These articles present a variety of cutting edge information and clearly reflect the broadness of scientific topics discussed at the NanoDDS'07. I strongly
0168-3659/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2008.07.008
believe that this set of publications will attract attention of the Journal's readers and stimulate the further scientific thinking in the fast growing area of nanomedicine. The exceptional promise, which nanosytems provide in enhancing the efficacy of therapeutic and diagnostic agents in the body, is now widely recognized. The critical discussion of nanoscale technologies to design novel drug delivery systems and devices becomes an essential part of the further scientific and industrial progress in this area, and Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposia have already establish themselves as an important forum for such discussion. The sixth symposium (NanoDDS'08) will be held in Toronto, Canada on October 18–19, 2008 and will concentrate on new developments in nanomedicine and drug delivery as well as on the translational nanomedicine. Acknowledgments Funding from the NIH (1R13EB008330) for the NanoDDS'07 is greatly appreciated. We would also like to thank other sponsors and supporters including Abraxis BioScience/Astra Zeneka International, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Avanti Polar Lipids, Celator Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme, Taylor & Francis (Informa), Boston Scientific, Elsevier, Controlled Release Society, and Northeastern University. Vladimir P. Torchilin Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Director, Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, Northeastern University, Mugar Building, Room 312, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA Tel.: +1 617 373 3206; fax: +1 617 373 8886. E-mail address: [email protected].