The Mission

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Mission

The Center of Excellence of Nanotechnology for the Treatment, Understanding and Monitoring of Cancer (NanoTumor) has been established to perfect a practical nanotechnology base to diagnose, treat, and monitor cancers. Our goal is the development of a multi-functional "smart mothership" platform that will:

Evade the reticuloendothelial system and immune system, while attaching specifically to the tumor and its vasculature.

Assemble a multi-functional complex at the tumor site.

Deliver payloads of both nanosensors and therapeutics that are activated in situ.

The NanoTumor Center has brought together a team of investigators from the University of California, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, and Riverside campuses, the Burnham Institute and NanoBioNexus, Inc. The NanoTumor Center research program is comprised of six interacting projects, each utilizing newly developed and unique technologies that when integrated together will lead to the realization of our goal. The six projects focus on:

Production of tumor-targeted, non-toxic nanoparticles,
Development of a nanoporous micro-platform carrying nanosensors, imaging and therapeutic agents,
Creation of tumor-directed amplification systems for sensing and drug delivery,
Construction of devices for tumor molecule purification and characterization at a nanoscale level,
Application of new computational methods for longitudinal monitoring and analyses of tumor progression and response to therapy, and
In situ assembly and delivery of targeted therapeutics with a smart nanotechnology platform.