2020 Michael Smith Distinguished Lecture – Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia

Co-presented by The Michael Smith Laboratories and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 

Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia is a John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Engineering and the Director of the Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Talk Title: Tiny Technologies and Medicine

Our laboratory studies how micro- and nanoscale systems can be deployed to understand, diagnose, and treat human disease.  In this talk, I will describe our progress in two application areas:  liver disease and cancer. In the area of hepatic tissue engineering, we are developing microtechnology tools to understand how ensembles of cells coordinate to produce tissues with emergent properties in the body. We have used this understanding to fabricate human microliver tissues in both 2D and 3D formats that enable us to study the pathogenesis drug-drug interactions, hepatotropic pathogens, and regeneration. 

In the area of cancer, we are developing nanotechnology tools to meet the challenge of delivering cargo into the tumor microenvironment where transport is dominated by diffusion.  Our strategy is to design nanotechnologies which emulate nature’s mechanisms of homing, activation, and amplification to deliver cytotoxic drugs, diagnostic tools, imaging agents, and nucleic acids to tumors.  Thus, using nature as a guide, we are establishing a framework for building systems from micro- and nanoscale components that function collectively to treat human disease. 

Join by Zoom with this Meeting link:
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/66440043435?pwd=SmNTRnpTajJjb1NsMWJVZWpWUFhrUT09