Journal of Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology

Nanomedicine: Where have we been and where are we going?

2^nd International Conference and Exhibition on Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology & Nanomedicine

March 20 - 21, 2019 | New York, USA

Thomas J Webster

Northeastern University, USA

Keynote: J Nanomed Nanotechnol

Abstract:

There is an acute shortage of organs due to disease, trauma, congenital defects, and most importantly, agerelated maladies. The synthetic materials used in tissue engineering applications today are typically composed of a millimeter or micronsized particles and/or fiber dimensions. Although human cells are on the micron scale, their individual components, e.g. proteins, are composed of nanometer features. By modifying only the nanofeatures on material surfaces without changing surface chemistry, it is possible to increase tissue growth of any human tissue by controlling the endogenous adsorption of adhesive proteins onto the material surface. In addition, our group has shown that these same nanofeatures and nano-modifications can reduce bacterial growth without using antibiotics, which may further accelerate the growth of antibiotic-resistant microbes. Inflammation can also be decreased through the use of nanomaterials. Finally, nanomedicine has been shown to stimulate the growth and differentiation of stem cells, which may someday be used to treat incurable disorders, such as neural damage. This strategy also accelerates FDA approval and commercialization efforts since new chemistries are not proposed, rather chemistries already approved by the FDA with altered nanoscale features. This invited talk will highlight some of the advancements and emphasize current nanomaterials approved by the FDA for human implantation and discuss the future role of implantable sensors in preventing, diagnosing, and treating disease.

Biography :

Thomas J Webster’s (H index: 84) degrees are in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (B.S., 1995) and in biomedical engineering from RPI (M.S., 1997; Ph.D., 2000). He is the current director of the Nanomedicine Laboratories (currently at 39 members), has graduated/supervised over 149 visiting faculty, fellows, postdoctoral, and thesis completing students. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Nanomedicine (impact factor of 5.03) and directs or codirects 3 international centers. He is a fellow of numerous societies, former President of the U.S. Society For Biomaterials, and has started 11 companies with 4 FDA products. He has appeared regularly on NBC, CNN, Fox News, and other outlets talking about science and medicine.

E-mail: th.webster@neu.edu