Thomas J Webster

Title : Neuro nanomedicine: Penetrating the blood brain barrier, delivering stem cells, treating stroke and meningitis, and so much more

Abstract:

Nanotechnology has revolutionized numerous industries, particularly medicine. Nanoparticles, nanotubes, drug delivery nanoparticles, and nanotextured neural probes are just several of many examples where nanomedicine is positively impacting neuroscience. This presentation will summarize some of the more prominent studies where nanomedicine has been used to treat various neurological disorders. Specifically, it will cover in vivo studies which have demonstrated a faster and greater return of motor function to stroke induced rats when implanted with stem cells and carbon nanotubes. Further, it will cover the design of nanoparticles that can penetrate the blood brain barrier to more effectively deliver drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease. New self-assembled nanomaterials will also be covered which can kill bacteria in the brain. This presentation will also present what studies are needed for the field of nanomedicine to continue to positively impact neurological diseases.

Audience Take Away

• How nanomedicine is being used to diagnose and treat neurological diseases
• The future of using nanomedicine to deliver stem cells to the brain
• How to design nanoparticles to penetrate the blood brain barrier
• How to use nanomaterials to treat stroke and meningitis as well as other neurological diseases

Biography:

Thomas J. Webster’s (H index: 121; Google Scholar) degrees are in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (B.S., 1995; USA) and in biomedical engineering from RPI (Ph.D., 2000; USA). He has served as a professor at Purdue (2000-2005), Brown (2005-2012), and Northeastern (2012-2021; serving as Chemical Engineering Department Chair from 2012 - 2019) Universities and has formed over a dozen companies who have numerous FDA approved medical products currently improving human health.  He is currently helping those companies and serves as a professor at Hebei University of Technology, Saveetha University, Vellore Institute of Technology, UFPI, and others.  Dr. Webster has numerous awards including: 2020, World Top 2% Scientist by Citations (PLOS); 2020, SCOPUS Highly Cited Research (Top 1% Materials Science and Mixed Fields); 2021, Clarivate Top 0.1% Most Influential Researchers (Pharmacology and Toxicology); 2022, Best Materials Science Scientist by Citations (Research.com); and is a fellow of over 8 societies.  Prof. Webster is a former President of the U.S. Society For Biomaterials and has over 1,350 publications to his credit with over 53,000 citations. He was recently nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2023).