Dr. Anne van de Ven is a Research Assistant Professor at Northeastern University. She was the guest speaker at a lecture organized by the MGH Gordon Center. Below is the presentation summary.
Intravital microscopy allows the visualization of nanoparticle transport across a sequence of multi-scale physical barriers. Data collected using this approach can be used to simulate, predict, and improve nanoparticle designs for drug and contrast agent delivery to solid tumors. Dr. van de Ven presented an integrated framework that combines patient-derived xenografts, exogenous contrast agents, and experimental nanoparticles to study how patient-specific transport parameters can impact nanotherapeutics delivery.
According to Dr. van de Ven, preliminary data suggests that only a subset of patients will be highly amenable to nanotherapy. Using ferumoxytol as a surrogate, she is currently developing MRI techniques to quantify nanoparticle delivery and relate it to therapeutic efficacy in vivo for the personalized selection of therapy.