Program to Encourage Collaboration between Nanotechnology, Cancer Researchers

CLEVELAND, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will present a symposium on the role of nanotechnology in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer Oct. 27 as part of NANO Week. The program, "Overcoming Barriers to Collaboration," will be held at the InterContinental Hotel and MBNA Conference Center on The Cleveland Clinic Foundation campus. It is free to attend, but space is limited to 200 registrants.

The symposium is designed to raise awareness of nanotechnology and its potential within the cancer research community, and to encourage dialogue between the nanotechnology and cancer biology communities. Interested attendees may pre-register and find additional information online at http://www.capconcorp.com/nci/ .

"This symposium will encourage scientists from different disciplines to come together in Cleveland to determine how their expertise can best be applied to advance cancer research," said Shuvo Roy, Ph.D., a biomedical engineer and researcher at The Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, who is helping organize the symposium. "This symposium will be a strong follow up to the NanoMedicine Summit, which will examine a broader range of medical opportunities involving the application of nanotechnology."

NANO Week, which takes place Oct. 25-29, will focus on the expanding role of nanotechnology in health care and the most attractive business ideas emerging from the world's leading nanotechnology research laboratories. The week opens with The Cleveland Clinic NanoMedicine Summit 2004, a two-day scientific meeting devoted to exploring clinical opportunities for nanotechnology. The Center for Business Intelligence's nanoparticles program, which will explore how nanotechnology is influencing the next generation of drug development and delivery, and the first International Nanotechnology Business Idea Competition, which is offering more than $75,000 in prize money to the business ideas that can best meet a real need and be commercialized, round out the week's events.

The keynote speaker for the NCI program is Jeffrey A. Schloss, Ph.D., program director for technology development with NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute. Dr. Schloss heads the development of nanotechnology strategy for NIH.

The NCI program will also feature speakers from leading cancer and nanotechnology research universities, including Gregory M. Lanza, M.D., Ph.D., of Washington University (St. Louis), Chad A. Mirkin, Ph.D., of Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.), Rashid Bashir, Ph.D., M.S.E.E., of Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.), James R. Baker, Jr., M.D., of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Reza Ghodssi, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland (College Park, Md.) and Cheryl L. Willman, M.D., of the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, N.M.).

The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, is organizing the NCI symposium. The Center is a partnership of Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals of Cleveland and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

The program will be the first NCI is hosting since its Sept. 13 announcement of the creation of the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, a five-year, $144 million effort to develop nanotechnology-based tools for the research and treatment of cancer. For more information on the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, visit http://nano.cancer.gov/index.asp .

About NANO Week:

Cleveland welcomes a world-class line-up of educators, researchers and medical practitioners Oct. 25-29 for the first NANO Week. The week will begin with The Cleveland Clinic NanoMedicine Summit 2004, Oct. 25-26 at the Intercontinental Hotel and Conference Center Cleveland. The multidisciplinary scientific meeting will feature experts from the fields of cardiology, neurology, oncology and orthopedics. The National Cancer Institute's Nanotech Symposium Series Oct. 27-28 will feature presentations by leading scientists in nanotechnology and cancer research who share hopes of focusing on the potential of nanotechnology to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer. The International Nanotechnology Business Idea Competition at Case Western Reserve University Oct. 28-29 will distribute more than $75,000 in prize money to the business ideas that can best fill a real need and be commercialized.

About the Nano-Network

The Nano-Network is the driving force behind NANO Week. It was formed by scientists, entrepreneurs and financiers to improve and expand the nanotechnology research and commercialization activities and capacities in Northeast Ohio and throughout the nation. More information about the Nano- Network and NANO Week is available at http://www.nano-network.org/ .

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Web site: http://www.nano-network.org/
http://nano.cancer.gov/index.asp
http://www.capconcorp.com/nci