MIT-Harvard Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence

The MIT-Harvard Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence is a collaborative effort among MIT, Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brigham and Women's Hospital. It is one of eight Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence awarded by The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It focuses on developing a diversified portfolio of nanoscale devices for targeted delivery of cancer therapies, diagnostics, non-invasive imaging, and molecular sensing. In addition to general oncology applications, the Consortium focuses on prostate, brain, lung, ovarian, and colon cancer.

Examples of projects that the Consortium is undertaking include the development of:

• Targeted nanoparticles for treating prostate cancer
• Polymer nanoparticles and quantum dots for siRNA delivery
• Next-generation magnetic nanoparticles for multimodal, non-invasive tumor imaging
• Implantable, biodegradable microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), also known as lab-on-a-chip devices, for in vivo molecular sensing of tumor-associated biomolecules
• Low-toxicity nanocrystal quantum dots for biomedical sensing

In addition to drawing on the scientific and technological expertise of its investigators, the Consortium uses available facilities for toxicology testing and the extensive mouse models of cancer collection at the collaborating institutions.

Project and Core Abstracts are available online:
NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, MIT-Harvard CCNE

Monthly Presentations for CCNE members (password protected):
CMIR Nanotechnology Program

Principal Investigators

Robert Langer, Ph.D.
Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ralph Weissleder, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Harvard Medical School
Director, Center for Systems Biology
Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital