The University of Florida College of Pharmacy welcomed the global nanomedicine community to Orlando for the 22nd International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium, or nanoDDS, Sept. 13-15. The annual event made its first stop in Florida, as more than 175 researchers, scientists, and industry professionals gathered to discuss the latest advancements in nanotechnology and drug-delivery systems.
Nanomedicine has emerged over the past two decades by introducing innovative approaches to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases. The field has significantly advanced drug delivery systems, allowing for targeted medication delivery that minimizes side effects and maximizes therapeutic benefits. This is particularly transformative in cancer treatment, where nanoparticles can focus drug action directly on tumor cells.
“The nanomedicine field has matured to the extent that the research has now become a tool that gets incorporated into different health care fields,” said Alexander Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr.Sci., the Mescal Swain Ferguson Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. “Nanomedicine was not even in the dictionary when I started in the field, and now it is frequently used by cancer immunologists, brain neuroscientists, radiologists, and many other professionals in health care.”
Kabanov and Japanese scientist Kazunori Kataoka, Ph.D., founded the nanoDDS Symposium in Omaha, Nebraska in 2003. The first symposium attracted about 30 attendees, and over time it has grown to become a pivotal event in nanomedicine. The conference rotates annually among top academic institutions, ensuring fresh perspectives and creating opportunities for students and scholars to attend a world-class scientific meeting.
“The uniqueness of this conference is that it comes to different academic campuses and exposes different people to nanomedicine,” Kabanov said. “Some speakers at this year’s event started attending the conference as graduate students, and now they are coming as professionals. Some of the speakers are former chairs at previous conferences.”
Mei He, Ph.D, chair of the 22nd International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium and an associate professor in the UF College of Pharmacy, emphasized the event’s dual purpose: advancing research and providing an educational platform for the next generation of pharmaceutical scientists. With a focus on nanoscale biomaterials and drug delivery strategies, the conference explored an array of topics, from cancer immunotherapy and gene therapy to the latest in mRNA vaccines and AI applications in medicine. As nanoDDS continues to grow and evolve, it remains a testament to the field’s rapid advancements and the vital role of academic institutions in driving forward the future of health care.
“It is great exposure for the UF College of Pharmacy to host the conference and have scientists from around the world learn more about the research happening here,” He said. “We also want our students to make connections with the greater pharmaceutical research community, and this conference allows them to interact with nanomedicine experts leading the field.”
NanoDDS featured 80 poster presentations, with many graduate students and trainees taking advantage of the opportunity to showcase and discuss their research. Kevon Jolly, a graduate student in the Department of Pharmaceutics in the UF College of Pharmacy, attended nanoDDS for the first time and presented a poster on the use of dendrimer materials to access myeloid cells to produce different therapeutic effects and treat a variety of diseases.
“NanoDDS is such a diverse conference with many different universities represented and different types of research,” Jolly said. “There are a lot of great scientists here to facilitate any questions we might have about our research and help us realize some questions we may not have thought about before. I will definitely be attending this conference again.” The planning committee for nanoDDS was comprised of He and Fan Zhang, Ph.D., from the UF College of Pharmacy, alongside Carlos M. Rinaldi-Ramos, Ph.D., M.S., and Jamal Lewis, Ph.D., from the UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering.
22nd International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium
nanoDDS Photos
