Bionanotechnology & Nanomedicine

Frederick R. Haselton

Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences

Office: SC 5932-B
Email: rick.haselton [at] vanderbilt.edu
Phone: 615-322-6622
Fax: (615-343-7919)
Web sites: VUSE*, BME, Lab*

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Education:
Ph.D. Bioengineering, 1981, University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,

PA. A.B. Mathematics, 1969, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Research Activities: Environmentally sensitive contrast agents for imaging proteolytic activity in human pathologies. Over the past decade, a substantial body of research has produced a wide range of nanoscale contrast agents for interrogating microenvironments specific to human pathologies of interest, such as atherosclerosis and cancer. In these two cases, passive targeting of the contrast agents to sites of disease has been achieved through the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect, while active targeting has been achieved using methods such as the immobilization of antibodies, peptides, or other ligands on nanoparticles. In order to achieve further site specificity, we are working on developing novel nanomaterials that respond in the presence of specific microenvironments, such as the proteolytic environment in tumors. Our active projects seek to achieve this goal on quantum dots, dendrimers, gold nanoparticles, and iron oxide nanoparticles, in order to develop a nanoparticle toolbox for use with a wide range of imaging modalities.