Nanoscience collaboration shares expertise with Cuba

25 August 2009

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Dr Sonia Trigueros, James Martin Research Fellow at the Institute of Nanoscience for Medicine, recently travelled to Cuba to convene a five day course for Cuban academics. "Nanotechnology in Medicine", which ran from 19-24 May 2009, was aimed at raising awareness of the ground-breaking advances being made in this dynamic field.

The Institute of Nanoscience for Medicine is using nanoscale structures to deliver drugs to precise sites in the body (e.g. to the site of a tumour), an idea which has the potential to revolutionise medicine. Over five days, Dr Trigueros explained some of the principles behind her work, which seeks to improve understanding of how nanostructures interact with cell compartments, in order to establish design principles for such delivery methods.

The course, organised by The International Institute for Cuban Studies UK, London Metropolitan University UK and National Center for Scientific Research CNIC, attracted approximately 60 Cuban academics, from professors to young researchers and medical students. The event gave rise to several mutually beneficial academic collaborations.

In response to the overwhelmingly positive response to this first event, Dr Trigueros has been asked to returning to Cuba in 2010, to hold a further "Advanced Course for Nanotechnology in Medicine" and as invited speaker in the XV International Scientific Congress CNIC'2010 organized by the National Center for Scientific Research CNIC. Dr Trigueros said: "This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to involve enthusiastic and talented colleagues in effort to apply nanotechnology to medicine, as well as to share knowledge and skills with a new generation of researchers".

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