Henry Ford Hospital
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Meser Ali, PhD, Director, Cellular and Molecular Imaging Lab at the Department of Neurosurgery, Henry Ford Hospital, USA. My research goal is in the discipline of nanomedicine and drug delivery with noninvasive molecular imaging. Nanomedicine, carrying therapeutic payloads and delivered within close proximity of the tumor, can be designed to play a significant role in increasing treatment effectiveness while decreasing severity of side effects. Specifically, my research work focuses in developing small-sized nanoparticles that can cross tumor blood brain barrier and target primary glioblastoma multiform (GBM) selectively. My work resulted in the development of a series of new dendrimer-based multifunctional nanoparticles that are detected by standard MR relativity methods or new MRI methods based on Paramagnetic Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (PARACEST). My developments of small nano-sized molecular imaging agents that can target brain tumor selectively minimizing systemic toxicity. Therefore, primary GBM tumor selective drug delivery and imaging can be accomplished by using these dendrimer-based nanoparticles that possess long blood half-lives. We have reformulated promising anti-cancer drugs that failed to reach clinical trials, or failed in clinical trials due to toxicity or poor bioavailability. These reformulations have reproduced usable, safe therapies using nanoparticles. I have also used state-of-the-art MRI methods to study tumor progression and the early responses to chemotherapies in pre-clinical animal models.
