Seminar: Complex Transport and Interfacial Interactions of Nanosystems at Tumor Microenvironment

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is pleased to invite all on

Tuesday, June 16,
3:30 p.m.,
2250 Warnock Engineering Building (WEB)

to attend a scholarly seminar with

Bumsoo Han, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Mechanical Engineering
Birch Nanotechnology Center
Purdue University

Abstract: Recently various nanomaterial-based therapy and imaging technologies emerge for treatment and diagnosis of cancers.  These include magnetic nanoparticles, gold nanoshells, nanorods, quantum dots, nanotubes, and polymer nanoparticles.  These nano-therapeutics (NTs) have many novel characteristics and can be functionalized for targeting specific receptors and oncogenes.  However, their efficacy is significantly impaired because of limited delivery to target tumors.  This is mainly due to complex transport processes, which the NTs experience in vivo.  In this talk, I will present my group’s research to understand and manipulate these complex transport and interfacial interactions with cells, interstitial fluid and extracellular matrix.  Specifically, we have be6en developing a new in vitro tumor model, called “tumor-microenvironment-on-chip (T-MOC).”  This T-MOC is capable of simulating the complex in vivo tumor microenvironment and controlling parameters associated with highly heterogeneous tumor microenvironment.  Various aspects of T-MOC have been validated with other tumor models.  Several drugs and nanosystems have also been characterized using T-MOC.  Quantitative experimental and theoretical methods to measure and predict these interactions and their impact on the functionality of biomaterials will also be discussed.

Bio: Bumsoo Han is Associate Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University.  He is also B.S.F. Schaefer Outstanding Young Faculty Scholar and Discovery Park Fellow at Birck Nanotechnology Center.  He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and his M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University in Korea.  After his Ph.D., he was a Post-doctoral Research Associate in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota.  His broad research interests are in biotransport phenomena.  His current research focuses on the quantitative understanding and engineering of biotransport phenomena for tissue engineering and cancer therapy.  He received US DOD Postdoctoral Award, NSF CAREER Award, Faculty Fellowship from US Air Force Research Laboratory (Predictive Toxicology Program), and Richard Skalak Best Paper Award from ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.