CARRYFORWARD: The University of KY Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center (UK CNTC)

The UK Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center (UK CNTC) will provide advanced multidisciplinary training for predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in a highly collaborative environment comprised of eminent faculty and productive laboratories in four Colleges located in close proximity to each other on one campus. The 34 faculty members include 16 nanotechnology researchers in the Departments of Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and 18 biomedical scientists or clinical oncologists in the Colleges of Pharmacy or Medicine with expertise in gastrointestinal cancer, lung cancer, gliomas, radiation medicine, surgery, cancer screening, imaging, and pharmacokinetics and dynamics. Multidisciplinary focus area teams are proposed which build on relationships already developed among the faculty through existing collaborations. Our overall goal is to foster the development of a new genre of cancer nanotechnology researcher who will fully appreciate the breadth of disciplines involved in translating novel laboratory findings to cancer diagnosis and treatment. This will be accomplished through their immersion in cross-disciplinary mentored laboratory training projects, individualized problem-based instruction and focused laboratory training, participation in seminars, undergraduate and early graduate student mentoring, and outreach activities designed to educate the public. Trainees will acquire a clear understanding of the molecular basis of cancer and the unresolved clinical problems plus sufficient expertise in nanotechnology to envision, articulate, and carry-out research to find realistic nanotechnology solutions to these problems.