Nanotheranostics for Cancer Applications

Prakash Rai, PhD joined the department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell as an Assistant Professor in September 2012. Prior to this he was an Instructor at the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. He received his Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mumbai, India in 2003 and his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2007. He is currently working on developing translational nanotechnology-based platforms for the imaging, prevention, and treatment of cancer. His research involves designing, synthesizing, characterizing, and evaluating the efficacy of these multifunctional nanoparticles in cell culture as well as animal models of the disease. He has authored over 30 publications in peer reviewed journals with several first author publications in journals including Nature Biotechnology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Angewandte Chemie, and Cancer Research. In 2010, he was chosen to receive the "Scholar in Training" award by the American Association of Cancer Research. He has also received a cancer nanotechnology "Pathway to Independence" grant award from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health to carry out research in the area of cancer theranostics.

Stephanie Morris, PhD joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a Program Director at the National Cancer Institute in 2012 where she managed a portfolio of nanotechnology research projects and centers in the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer program. She also developed new research initiatives such as the Innovative Research in Cancer Nanotechnology program and participated on several NIH and interagency committees and working groups, especially those focused on nanotechnology data sharing. She received her Bachelor's degree in Biology and Neuroscience and Behavior (dual majors) from WesleyanUniversity in Middletown, CT and her PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a Ford Foundation Fellow. She is also the recipient of a UNCF-Merck Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, which she received while in the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression. Her research background includes the study of transcription and chromatin modifying enzymes. Dr. Morris recently moved to the Office of Strategic Coordination in the National Institutes of Health Office of the Director where she is involved in strategic planning for the NIH Common Fund and serves as a Program Officer for the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity and the Somatic Cell Genome Editing programs.