June 11, 2009
Amrita Center for Nanosciences

Dr. Manzoor K., Professor at the Amrita Center for Nanosciences, is currently in Europe on the prestigious Marie Curie fellowship that funds top scientists from around the world to work on short- and long-term projects in various European institutions and develop new technologies in advanced scientific areas. Dr. Manzoor has been at the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Netherlands for just under a year now; the fellowship will also continue to fund his research for another year after he returns to Amrita this summer.
“I have been working to develop targeted nanophotomedicines for molecular imaging guided photodynamic therapy,” shared Dr. Manzoor. “This can be used for laser therapy in cases where we encounter drug-resistant cancer.” Nanophotomedicines make use of the photo properties of nano particles to mark and destroy malignant cancerous cells in a targeted manner. The therapy offers many advantages over more conventional methods such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Dr. Manzoor’s work has led to an international patent application filed jointly by the Amrita Centre for Nanosciences as well as the Erasmus University Medical Center. It has also been presented in international conferences such as the European Clinical Nanomedicine Conference and the World Congress of International Photodynamic Therapy Association. The work has also been published in journals of repute such as Nanotechnology, Biomaterials and Small.
“Dr. Manzoor’s research work will go a long way in facilitating clinical applications of nanophotomedicne in Europe, India and the US,” remarked Dr. Shanti Nair, Director of the Amrita Center for Nanosciences. “In addition to this award from the European Commission, we are also working on other collaborative projects such as developing targeted photosensitive nanoparticles to several cell types including cancer cells with the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Centre of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in the USA. This project is driven by Dr. Deepthy Menon, another faculty of our Centre. In addition, we have projects with the Magnetic Resonance Imaging/NMR Group of TU-Delft University as well as the Molecular Imaging Group of Leiden Medical University.”