Date:  May 13, 2008

Location:  Bldg. 549 Auditorium, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD

Theme:  Understanding the Design Principles of Living Systems at the Nanoscale

Organizer:   Robert P. Blumenthal, Ph.D., Director, Center for Cancer Research Nanobiology Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health

Click here for maps and directions to NCI-Frederick.

CCRNP pursues an integrated, multidisciplinary program of basic and applied studies aimed at the design of nanodevices to combat cancer, AIDS, and other viral diseases.

• Characterize quantitatively the physical and chemical properties of molecules and nanomachinery in cells;


• Gain an understanding of the engineering principles used in living cells to "build" molecules, molecular complexes, organelles, cells, and tissues; and


• Use this knowledge of properties and design principles to develop new technologies, and engineer devices and hybrid structures, for repairing tissues and for preventing and curing disease

Cancer Nanotechnology is at the forefront of bringing exciting new technologies to bear on the problem of diagnosing, preventing, detecting and curing cancer. It is therefore vital for CCR and the broader research community to learn what nanotechnologies and processes are being used in the Nano world and to learn what other biomedical Nano work is being done. The purpose of the think tank is to bring together researchers from CCR, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other institutions (NIST, NRL, Hopkins, University of Maryland, ect.) in the greater Washington area to exchange idea's and become informed about current and future projects in nanotechnology.

The May 13, 2008, think tank will be devoted to the understanding of the design principles of living systems at the nanoscale. We have invited four speakers who bring their expertise on various facets of this theme and the whole think tank will be built around the talks and discussions and questions, raised by the four speakers:

Michael P. Sheetz (Professor of Cell Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University) will focus on cytoskeletal force and rigidity sensing mechanisms at a nanometer level. He will also discuss the integration of nanofabrication, bioinformatics, modeling, and cell biology. See: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/faculty/sheetz/

Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz (Ph.D., Chief, Section on Organelle Biology, Cell Biology and Metabolism Program, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health) will deal with design principles of living systems at the nanoscale in the sense that she is studying the dynamics of membrane trafficking and the regeneration and functioning of intracellular organelles. See: http://lippincottschwartzlab.nichd.nih.gov/research.html

Xiaowei Zhuang (Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Professor of Chemistry, Chemical Biology and Physics, Harvard University) will discuss her nanometer-resolution optical imaging approaches to real-time imaging of the interaction between nanoparticles (virions) and cellular structures. See: http://zhuang.harvard.edu/research.html

Jan E. Schnitzer, M.D. (Scientific Director, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center) will discuss proteomic imaging of endothelium and its caveolae in vivo with applications to targeted drug and gene therapy. See: http://www.skcc.org/schnitzer.html

The rest of the day will be devoted to brainstorming sessions and poster sessions with posters selected from contributed abstracts. Please mark your calenders for what is going to be an exciting day.