92626 - Nanosciences for Pharmacy and Medicine

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Rimini
  • Corso: Single cycle degree programme (LMCU) in Pharmacy (cod. 9223)

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide the fundamentals of the chemical approach (also called "bottom-up" approach) to the application of nanotechnology in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields. The student will acquire skills (i) on the main synthetic processes of nanomaterials, (ii) on the charachterization techniques and (iii) on the design strategies lying behind the preparation of nanomaterials for pharmacy and medicine, finally reaching a broader vision on the application potential of nanosciences for both diagnostics and therapy in modern medicine.

Course contents

Nanosciences for Pharmacy and Medicine:

1) Introduction to nanomedicine

- Multimodal Nanomaterials

- Theranostic Nanomaterials

- Active and Passive Targeting

2) Lifecycle of a Nanomaterial

- Colloidal Stability of Nanomaterials

- Dynamic Light Scattering and Zeta Potential

- Mechanisms for Cell Internalizatio

- Intracellular drug release

- Excretion routes of nanomaterials

3) Silica Nanoparticles

- Synthetic Methods

- Active Targeting of silica nanoparticles

- Advanced silica nanoparticles: ultrasmall and breakable

4) Gold Nanoparticles

- Structures and properties

- Application in Diagnostic Assays

- Virustatic and Virucidal effects

5) Exosome-based Nanomaterials

- Bottom-up, top-down and hybrid methods

- Exosome doping

- Surface Functionalization

6) Other Nanomaterials

- Magnetic Nanoparticles

- RNA interference delivery nanoparticles

- Conductive nanomaterials and tissue regeneration

- Injectable nanocomposite hydrogels


 

Readings/Bibliography

The teaching material used for classes is available at IOL (insegnamenti on line) page.

Additional teaching material such as scientific articles, topical reviews etc will be provided during the classes, with the aim to integrate the class presentations.

Teaching methods

Classroom lecture

Assessment methods

Oral exam.

It is possible to start the exam with presentation of a scientific paper concerning one of the topics of the course (selected by the candidate).

The remaining of the discussion will be aimed to evaluate the preparation of the student on the main topics of the course, for an overall duration of ca. 20-30 minutes.

 

Teaching tools

Power point presentations used during the lessons and any research material will be provided to the students in electronic format via Internet.

Office hours

See the website of Damiano Genovese

SDGs

Good health and well-being

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.