news image

Nature Materials Paper is Out Online + Press Release

Paper: Zhang, G.; Palmer, G. M.; Dewhirst, M. W.; Fraser, C. L. “Dual Emissive Materials Design Concept Enables Tumor Hypoxia Imaging” Nat. Mater. 2009, advance online publication.

Press Release: "New Light-Emitting Biomaterial Could Improve Tumor Imaging, Study Shows" 8/10/09

Guoqing and Prof Fraser

photo credit: Dan Addison

This press release by Fariss Samarrai, UVA was picked up in stories on the following sites:

University of Virginia

Science and Technology

Nanotechnology

Medicine and Biotechnology

Sustainability

News General

News China

News India

Posted: 8/11/09

 

Research Holds Promise for Biomedical Applications

Our collaborative nanoSTAR seed project, "Multiemissive Boron PLA Nanoparticles for Vascular Optical Hypoxia Imaging" with Prof. Richard Price in Biomedical Engineering was highlighted in UVA Today, Research News, and A&S Online.

Posted: 7/14/09; updated 7/23/09

Fraser Price Zhang

 

China Trip

In June 2009, Guoqing, Ruffin and Prof. Fraser traveled to China. Original plans to visit four universities were thwarted by the swine flu scare. We visited Shanghai, Hefei, Chengdu, Xi'an, Xinxiang, and Beijing. In Hefei we visited the University of Science and Technology of China, where we were generously hosted by Prof. Shiyong Liu and the prestigious Department of Polymer Science and Engineering. All three of us gave presentations to a packed house of students and faculty. Prof. Fraser and Ruffin spoke in English, and Guoqing was kindly asked to speak in Chinese. This was Ruffin's first formal scientific presentation and he impressed us all. (Our hosts thought that he was a graduate student, and included him on the schedule as such. See poster below.) We also had the good fortune to meet and spend time with Song Pan Xu (aka Spanx), an incoming graduate student and recent graduate of USTC who will join our group this fall. We appreciate his assistance from start to finish. In Xinxiang, Guoqing's home town, we had the opportunity to visit his former high school and this too made a big impression on us. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience for all of us, fostering new ties, greater appreciation and has changed our perspectives considerably. We are immensely grateful to Guoqing's family, his parents in particular, and their vast network of friends who made our stay in China a very memorable one indeed.

Posted: 7/14/09

 

Guoqing Song Pan USTCRuffin Guoqing Song Pan Lord Bao

USTC Poster

GZ CF RE Olympic Village

Article Highlighted in ACS Noteworthy Chemistry

Our article entitled "Difluoroboron Dibenzoylmethane PCL-PLA Block Copolymers: Matrix Effects on Room Temperature Phosphorescence" (Macromolecules 2009, 42, 3162-3169) has been highlighted by "Noteworthy Chemistry", a news weekly published electronically by the American Chemical Society (ACS). (highlight)

Posted: 5/18/09

 

Kirsti Campbell Receives UVA College Science Scholars Summer Research Funding

Kirsti's project involves the synthesis of boron biomaterials exhibiting fluorescence and oxygen-sensitive room temperature phosphorescence with implications in imaging and real-time oxygen sensing under hypoxic conditions in tumors, vascular blockages, and organ transplants. She will work with Guoqing Zhang and Laura Strausberg, graduate students in the lab and collaborators in the Biomedical Engineering Department and in Transplant Surgery at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Posted: 4/13/09

 

Ruffin Evans Receives GlaxoSmithKline Undergraduate Fellowship Award

Ruffin's project involving light emitting biomaterials for tumor hypoxia imaging was selected for research funding. GSK mentioned that competition was particularly stiff this year. Application numbers were up and there were many strong candidates. This is reason to celebrate! Congratulations Ruffin!

Posted: 3/24/09

 

Ruffin Evans Honored with Harrison Undergraduate Research Award

Ruffin's research project involving halide substituted boron dyes for phosphorescence and oxygen sensitivity tuning was awarded UVA Harrison funding. Ruffin also proposes to pioneer computational studies involving light emitting boron biomaterials.

Posted: 3/15/09

 

Tumor Hypoxia Imaging Project Receives UVA Cancer Center Funding

The Fraser Lab conducts collaborative research with Prof. Mark Dewhirst and Dr. Greg Palmer in the Radiation Oncology Department at Duke utilizing boron nanoparticles for ratiometric oxygen sensing and tumor hypoxia imaging. A pilot project grant from the Cancer Center provides critical seed funding for this effort. Kelly and Klibanov (UVA Biomedical Engineering) and Sheng, Read and Berr (UVA Radiology) are key consultants on targeting, imaging, and translational aspects of this project.

Posted: 3/15/09

 

Plastic Project Awarded Page Barbour Funding

The interdisciplinary Plastic Project received support from the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information about this collaborative program contact plastic@virginia.edu.

Posted: 2/14/09

 

Guoqing Zhang Honored with ACS Polymer Division Graduate Travel Award

Guoqing will present research results at the 2009 ACS Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah in a talk entitled "Luminescence Color Tuning for Difluoroboron Beta-Diketonate-Polylactide Biomaterials". (Coauthors: Sarah J. Payne, Steven E. Kooi, J. N. Demas, and Cassandra L. Fraser)

Posted: 11/7/08

 

Fraser Lab Research Featured in UVA Patent Foundation 2008 Annual Report and Research News

Enhancing Biomedical Imaging Through Sustainable Design, Breakthroughs, UVA Patent Foundation 2008 Annual Report.

Enhancing Biomedical Imaging Through Sustainable Design, UVA Research News.

Posted: 11/7/08

Fraser UVAPF Image

 

Boron Nanoparticles Featured by Frost and Sullivan

Frost and Sullivan Nanotechnology Alert. Nanonets for Flexible Circuits; Manganese-Based Nanoparticles for Medical Imaging; Nanostructured Sensor for Detecting Disease-Causing Microbes. This week's issue profiles manganese-based nanoparticles for medical imaging and drug delivery, oxygen sensing nanoparticles with tunable fluorescence emission properties, nanonets for flexible circuits, and a nanostructured sensor that can detects disease-causing microbes and toxins. Deliverable Type: Technical Insights. Date Published: 1 Aug 2008.

Posted: 11/7/08

 

Postdoc Position—Light Emitting Boron Biomaterials—Fraser Lab—UVA

A postdoc position is available now on an interdisciplinary project investigating the synthesis, fabrication, properties and applications of a new class of light emitting boron biomaterials for imaging and sensing. Presently we are collaborating with biologists, biomedical engineers and MDs in cancer, cardiovascular and diabetes areas, and networking with companies regarding optical imaging and oxygen sensing applications. Synthetic experience (e.g. organic, inorganic, polymers) and strong analytical skills are essential. The ability to work collaboratively, and teach and learn from others is important. Interest in biomedical applications and sustainable design is a plus.

For more information, contact Prof. Cassandra L. Fraser.

Posted: 8/12/08