Journal of Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology

Ralph Weissleder

Biography

Ralph Weissleder, MD, PhD, is a professor of radiology and systems biology at Harvard Medical School, director of the Center for Systems Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), director of the Center for Molecular Imaging Research in the Department of Radiology, and attending clinician in interventional radiology at MGH. Dr Weissleder is also a member of the Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and an associate member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Dr Weissleder received his medical and doctorate degrees from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and completed his radiology residency training at MGH. He has been at MGH/Harvard Medical School since 1986. Dr Weissleder has been a fully funded researcher for nearly 20 years. He is currently the principal investigator of several NIH grants, including R01, P01, U24, and U54 grants, a P50 center grant, and a U01 nanotechnology consortium grant. He has published over 400 original publications in peer-reviewed journals, over 90 review articles, has authored and co-authored several textbooks, and holds over 30 patents.  

Research Interest

Dr Weissleder’s primary research interests are in the field of in vivo molecular imaging, specifically, development of novel molecular imaging tools to the study of complex human diseases. He has made fundamental discoveries in early disease detection, development of nanomaterials for sensing and systems analysis. These basic research interests go hand in hand with his clinical interests in abdominal and interventional radiology. Specific examples of his translational research that have led to advanced clinical trials include the development of novel nanomaterials for MR detection of lymph node metastases; development of enzyme activatable probes for the detection of early cancers by minimally invasive techniques such as laparoscopy; and clinical testing of long circulating polymers for angiogenesis imaging.