FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

 

For more information, contact:

Elizabeth Maynard-Garrett, APR

UTHSC Communications and Marketing

(901) 448-4957

 

Symposium to Foster New Collaborations in Nanotechnology

 

Memphis, Tennessee (September 21, 2005) -- Much of the discussion at the “Nanotechnology Applications in Medicine” symposium may deal with small-scaled items, yet organizers believe their emerging discoveries will have a large impact on the future of medicine.

On Wednesday, Sept. 28, researchers and faculty members from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), the Oak Ridge National Laboratory the University of Memphis, and Georgia Tech will come together to discuss their latest findings in nanotechnology, which is the science of engineering on a very small scale; it includes devices, structures and sensors that build, measure or detect objects smaller than one micron in size. (A micron is 1/1000 of a millimeter.)

Hosted by the UTHSC Hamilton Eye Institute Center for Vision Research and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, this multidisciplinary symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Freeman Auditorium at the Hamilton Eye Institute on the third floor of the 930 Madison Avenue Building.

“Nanotechnology is the next biomedical frontier with applications in medicine, computing, drug manufacturing, material science and many other areas,” said Edward Chaum, MD, PhD, Plough Foundation Professor of Retinal Diseases at the UT Health Science Center.

He continued, “The National Institutes of Health has a new funding initiative related to nanotechnology and views this area of research as an important one.”

Three specific topics that will be discussed at the symposium include: (1) imaging technology, (2) nanosensors and photonics and (3) nanomaterials and tissue engineering.

By providing a venue where presentations can be made on work that is being conducted in the region, organizers hope to foster new collaborative relationships between local researchers and to identify new areas in the biomedical sciences where novel nanotechnology approaches can achieve breakthroughs.

Anyone interested in attending the multidisciplinary symposium can RSVP by calling (901) 448-7827.