Assistant Professor Jinmyoung Joo - Biodegradable luminescent silicon nanoparticles for targeted nanomedicine

Speaker

Assistant Professor Jinmyoung Joo (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)

Abstract

Versatile nanoplatforms based on biodegradable porous silicon nanoparticles have attracted great attention as a potential biomedical agent. In this talk, biomedical strategy of photoluminescent silicon nanoparticles will be presented. Molecular therapeutics and oligonucleotides are readily loaded to the porous silicon nanoparticles, which securely protects the drug payloads from burst release and possible deactivation in physiological condition. Conjugating to a homing peptide, screened from in vivo phage displays, the nanoparticles show greater targeting capability and cellular uptake, resulting in remarkably enhanced therapeutic efficiency. Systemic administration of the peptide-targeted nanoparticles into mice shows significant accumulation of the drug payloads to the target organs while reduces unwanted side effects in healthy tissues. These biocompatible and selfdestructive nanocarriers present promising potential for therapeutic application via targeted delivery. Tailoring design strategies of the silicon nanoparticle platforms and their practical applications as a theranostic agent are also discussed.

Speaker Bio

Jinmyoung Joo is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), where he holds an affiliate appointment in the Chemical Engineering. He received B.S. (2007) and Ph.D. (2012) degrees in Chemical Engineering from Pohang University of Science and Technology. His thesis involved the studies on the synthesis of nanoscale materials and the characterization of the unique properties of inorganic nanoparticles, along with the demonstration in environmental and biological applications. He then continued his studies on the functional nanomaterials for biomedical applications as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at University of California, San Diego. He started his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Convergence Medicine at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center in 2016, and he joined the faculty in the School of Life Science at the UNIST in January, 2019. He has been interested in understanding the interaction of nanomaterials with complex biological systems, engineering novel nanostructures that can effectively understand tissue microenvironment and target diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. His lab has focuses on leveraging nanoscale materials to study biological findings and to bridge them to translational medical platforms such as bioimaging and drug delivery systems.