Materials World Network: Structure-Response Relations of Advanced Diagnostic Tools

该奖项由2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助。先进诊断工具的结构-响应关系材料世界网络由弗吉尼亚理工学院的高分子和界面研究所、西澳大利亚大学的物理学院、西澳大利亚大学的显微和显微分析中心以及专注于利用磁场进行诊断的全球扩大的科学家和工程师网络组成。该国际团队将开发新的磁铁矿-聚合物造影剂，用于组织的定量核磁共振成像，这种造影剂具有生理条件下非常快的横向核磁共振弛豫特性，并将以规定的方式与生物成分相互作用。这项研究是由这样一个假设驱动的，即磁铁矿上的两亲性聚合物涂层的性质可以进行微调，以增强纳米粒子附近局部水质子的驰豫能力，同时包含能够与细胞组件有效相互作用的疏水成分。我们的集体MWN专长在于合成定义明确的磁芯和共聚物、胶体测量和建模，以及对磁性纳米粒子物理的深入了解。这些发现将最终形成一个预测材料-弛豫度关系的模型。虽然MRI已经是最常用的生物成像方法之一，但基于这种MWN的合理设计的新材料可能会导致体内跟踪干细胞的方法，通过加速跟踪癌细胞扩散的MRI方法更好地诊断癌症，并提高信号强度。我们的理念是为学生提供综合的研究/教育机会和工具，以解决用于诊断的聚合物纳米结构的科学和工程问题。该项目将使学生在跨越化学、物理、工程和高级诊断学传统界限的全球背景下接触跨学科研究。我们的愿景是，这些学生将把跨学科合作的创造性和解决问题的方法带入他们的职业生涯，他们将利用这种方法来实现改变，发现新的现象，并将复杂和杂交材料应用到生物技术中。MWN由NSF、澳大利亚研究理事会和澳大利亚国际科学联系计划共同资助。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The Materials World Network for Structure-response Relations of Advanced Diagnostic Tools comprises a research and education partnership among the Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute at Virginia Tech, the School of Physics at the University of Western Australia, the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis at the University of Western Australia, NIST, and a global expanded network of scientists and engineers focused on diagnostics utilizing magnetic fields. The International team will develop new magnetite-polymer contrast agents for quantitative MRi of tissue that have the combined properties of very fast transverse NMR relaxivities in physiological conditions AND that will interact with biological components in prescribed ways. The research is driven by the hypothesis that the properties of amphiphilic polymer coatings on magnetite can be finely-tuned to enhance the relaxivities of water protons in the local vicinity of the nanoparticle, yet contain hydrophobic components that enable efficient interactions with cellular components. Our collective MWN expertise lies in synthesis of well-defined magnetic cores and copolymers, colloid measurements and modeling, and a deep understanding of magnetic nanoparticle physics. The findings will be culminated in a model for predicting material-relaxivity relationships. Although MRi is already one of the most utilized bioimaging methods, new materials based on rational designs derived from this MWN could lead to methods for tracking stem cells in vivo, better cancer diagnosis through MRi methods that expedite tracking the spread of cancer cells, and improved signal intensities. Our philosophy is to provide students with integrated research/education opportunities and tools to address the science and engineering of polymer nanostructures for diagnostics. The program will expose students to interdisciplinary research in a global context that crosses the traditional boundaries of chemistry, physics, engineering and advanced diagnostics. Our vision is that these students will carry the interdisciplinary teamed approach to creativity and problem-solving into their careers, and that they will exploit this approach to effect change, discover new phenomena, and implement complex and hybrid materials into biotechnology. The MWN is jointly funded by NSF, the Australian Research Council and the Australian International Science Linkage program.