This course provides an introduction to current research and applications in the emerging field of nanomedicine, at the interface of nanotechnology and medical science. Nanomedicine is inherently multi-disciplinary,  involving different disciplines such as physics, chemistry, pharmacology, biology, medicine and, of course, engineering.

Lectures are designed to provide the student with state-of-the-art knowledge, skills and research experience of the principles, technology and applications within this area, bridging the gaps between nanotechnology, design and processing of nanomaterials, medicine and healthcare.

This course will allow students to:

- demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the field of nanomedicine

- apply their knowledge and understanding, and their problem solving abilities, to the design of nanomaterials for biomedical applications

- have the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity in this multidisciplinary field.

- have the learning skills to allow them to continue to study in a manner that may be largely autonomous

Content includes:

- Physicochemical and biological interactions of injectable nanomaterials with cells, tissues and organs.

- Design, synthesis and characterisation of colloidal bio-nanomaterials for drug delivery,  imaging and diagnostics.

- Pharmacokinetics, biodistribution and fate of engineered nanoparticles/nanocarriers.

- Applications, including cancer, gene delivery, vaccine delivery, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases.

- Nanostructured materials for tissue engineering and cell encapsulation.

- Nanotoxicology aspects.

- Translation of nanotechnology-systems from bench to the clinic.

An typical undergraduate engineering background (biomedical, chemical, materials and others) with basic kwnowledge on differential calculus, physics and chemistry.

An oral examination will be carried out to assess the student’s knowledge and understanding on the nanomedicine topics.  Specific questions will be formulated to evaluate problem solving abilities, as well as the capability to deal with multidisciplinary knowledge and handle problem complexity. Students must show the ability to cope autonomously with the design of a nanomaterial, depending on the application.