The Lerner Research Institute Notations - Cleveland Clinic Lerner ...

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERINGGood things in small packagesSummit explored potential of nanotechnology for clinical, patient useLate October was cool, but the topicwas hot: Nanomedicine. A project 10months in the planning, theNanoMedicine Summit was designed toemphasize how to translate the best innanoscale science and technology to currentand as yet unmet needs of cliniciansand patients.On Oct. 25-26, 2004, The ClevelandClinic hosted the NanoMedicine Summit,designed to bring together leaders whonormally do not meet in the same venues.Prominent names in nanoscienceresearch, industry, engineering and medicinegathered to hear and consider strategiesfor translating recent advances innanotechnology research into clinicalpractice, biomedical investigation andnew products and systems.The summit, presented in collaborationwith Case Western ReserveUniversity, Cornell University and theMaple Fund, was formally opened byOhio Gov. Bob Taft. It was the cornerstoneof NanoWeek, a series of presentationsthat involved Clinic staff and othercolleagues in the summit and a NationalCancer Institute symposium. That meeting,cosponsored by the cancer centers ofThe Clinic, Case Western ReserveUniversity and University Hospitals ofCleveland, focused on nanotechnologyapplied to research in cancer diagnosisand treatment.The Clinic was represented with oneorganizer and 11 members on the summit'sparticipating faculty. Shuvo Roy,Ph.D., Co-Director of the BioMEMSLaboratory, Biomedical Engineering, ledthe summit's organizing committee. “This[summit was] a great show of the capabilitiesof nanotechnology at the Clinic andthroughout the biotech world,” he said.“We felt we succeeded in bridging thecommunication gap and filtering out thehype” about what nanotechnology is andcan do.Nanotechnology, broadly, combineschemistry, physics and engineering todevelop new materials and devices bymanipulating matter at the molecularscale (usually 1-100 nanometers, or nm)to produce the precise structures needed.Nanomaterials and devices have dimensionsthat are smaller than a few hundrednanometers (billionthsof a meter).The field is seen tohold promise forrevolutionary newopportunities inhealthcare technology,but the speakersalso gave theiropinions as a “realitycheck” to reinin unrealisticexpectations aboutthe new technology.As Dr. Roycautioned, for allits almost “sciencefiction” potential,“nanotechnologyis not a panacea.”Bringing multidisciplinary viewpointstogether for such weeding out offact from fancy was the underlying strategyof the gathering, and it was rewarded.More than 300 people filled theInterContinental Hotel and ConferenceCenter's facilities, an attendance that surpassedexpectations and resulted in uniformlyfavorable comments on the venue.The Clinic was in an international spotlight,with attendees coming from the FarEast, Europe and Canada, as well as 30U.S. states. Clinical specialists, whoobtained continuing medical educationcredits, included those in cardiology, neurology,oncology, orthopedics and surgery-- areas the Clinic is well known for -- butthe audience was even more diverse.Physical scientists (physics, chemistry),life scientists (biology) and all manner ofengineers also attended. Entrepreneurswhose groups are pushing the bounds ofthis new technology were well represented.On the research side, many came fromdisciplines such as cell biology, genetics,molecular biology and virology, neuroscienceand structural biology.The range of topics (diagnostics,gene therapy, wound healing and roboticsurgery, among others) was deliberatelystructured to highlight nanotechnologyconcepts relevant to clinical medicine andbiomedical research. These included thestate of the art in top-down and bottom-upcontinued on Page 14The Lerner Research Institute Notations · Winter 2005 11