SeAh Young Chair Professor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering
Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)
According to Dr. Sei Kwang Hahn from Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea, smart photonic materials have a variety of biomedical applications for biosensing, molecular imaging, surgery and therapies. In a conference organized by the Gordon Center, he discussed his research efforts to develop melanoidin nanoparticles for in vivo noninvasive photoacoustic mapping of sentinel lymph nodes, photoacoustic tomography of gastro-intestinal tracts, and photothermal ablation cancer therapy. Dr. Hahn and his colleagues created biodegradable polymer waveguides and upconversion nanoparticles for photochemical tissue bonding. They also synthesized cell-integrated poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels for in vivo optogenetic sensing and therapy. Real-time optical readout of encapsulated heat-shock-protein-coupled fluorescent reporter cells made it possible to measure the nanotoxicity of cadmium-based quantum dots in vivo. Using optogenetic cells to produce glucagon-like peptide-1, Dr. Hahn developed smart contact lenses composed of biosensors, drug delivery systems and power sources for the treatment of diabetes as a model disease.