Tuesday, June 14, 2005

UCSB, Burnham, Scripps Get $13M For Nanotechnology

The University of California, Santa Barbara, and La Jolla-based The Burnham Institute and Scripps Research Institute, said Monday that the research institutions have received $13M to develop new designs using nanotechnology to detect, monitor, and eliminate plaque, the probably cause of death from sudden cardiac arrest. The partnership, which includes 25 scientists, were chose by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The team will build nano "delivery vehicles" for drug transport, imaging agents, and nano-devices for treating vulnerable plaque. The team also said that it is working on molecular nano-stents for stabilize plaque, molecular switches for sensing pathophysiology of the fatty deposits on arterial walls, and bio-nanoelectromechanical systems (BioNEMS) for sensing the presence of plaque. The research is expected to help advance the diagnoses and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases.

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