Adah Almutairi, Ph.D. and five other research and academic leaders on the UC San Diego campus shared their innovative research ideas to a packed audience at the Beyster Auditorium at the Rady School on November 16th. Dr. Almutairi is an Associate Professor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and director for the Center of Excellence in Nanomedicine. Her talk, entitled the Art of Falling Apart, was directed to chemical design of nanomaterials that dissociate following an elicited stimulation from an intrinsic tissue-based trigger or an external source such as near infra-red light. Hence, novel means of drug delivery and diagnosis can be achieved from these procedures. One of the riveting portions of the talk to many in the audience was a project directed to using gold nanoparticles to melt fat for cosmetic procedures and to tighten skin. This project, as well as several others in Dr. Almutairi’s Center, show considerable promise is diagnosis, disease prevention and therapy. Dr. Almutairi collaborates with Todd Coleman, an Associate Professor of Bioengineering who was also one of the Founders Day speakers.
Where discoveries are delivered.SM