UNC College of Arts and Sciences scientist and entrepreneur Joseph DeSimone has been invited to join an elite list of speakers at this year’s TEDMED Conference in San Diego, Calif., Oct. 25 – 28.
DeSimone’s presentation, “Can Nanotechnology Deliver Mega Results?”will explore the latest advancements in nanomedicine, including PRINT technology, a technique invented in his UNC lab to produce nanoparticles with control over properties such as size, shape and chemistry.
TEDMED is an annual conference where cutting-edge science and technology leaders “connect, understand and inspire” to advance the art of health and medicine with new ideas. The conference’s roster includes more than 50 speakers including the winner of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Dr. Peter Agre, and the U.S. Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin.
DeSimone is the Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University. He also is a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and an adjunct member at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
His projects include developing a nanoparticle vaccine for prostate cancer and creating particles that mimic red blood cells, potentially paving the way for the development of synthetic blood.
He also is co-founder of Liquidia Technologies, a Triangle-based nanotechnology company developing vaccines and therapeutics based on the PRINT (Particle Replication in Non-Wetting Templates) technology.
DeSimone’s presentation will be available following the conference at www.tedmed.com and on the UNC-Chapel Hill YouTube channel.
