鈥淲e are one of the few states in the nation where it is really happening,鈥� the governor said.

Beebe joined U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, as well as Chancellor Joel E. Anderson and University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt at the dedication of 糖心Vlog传媒LR鈥檚 newest facility.

The $15 million, five-story building provides research facilities for scientists and students to explore the interface between nanomaterials, plant biology, and mammalian biology.

The center鈥檚 50,534 square feet will house laboratories and a greenhouse on the roof, along with office space for Dr. Alexandru S. Biris, his nine-member research team, and other staff 鈥� a giant leap from the cramped 7,201 square feet of previously dedicated space.

鈥淭his building represents both technology much smaller than the naked eye can see and a huge opportunity for Arkansas鈥檚  economy that we all can see,鈥� Beebe said, attributing the quote to a staff member. 鈥淭hey are arranging molecules and atoms to create new material that never existed before. They are doing something that the stars did.鈥�

Dr. Biris, director and the chief scientist at the new center, said the additional space in the new building will mean more research opportunities for student scientists who interact with researchers and representatives of local companies to find answers and expand the understanding of how the properties of elements behave at the nano or atomic scale.

鈥淲hat we are doing here is quite unique 鈥� combining education with research and economic development,鈥� said Biris, who holds the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Sturgis Chair in Nanotechnology.

鈥淲e are growing the next generation of scientists in Arkansas. We are taking students and turning them into scientists, doctors, and researchers 鈥� highly educated individuals without whom it will be very difficult to advance the state economically.鈥�

CINS outreach programs that include a Nano Academy for high school students and an undergraduate research internship program create in-depth educational opportunities for young people in Arkansas that previously did not exist. The research done at the center then provides opportunities for these young scientists to advance their careers within the state.

Nanomaterials and their applications have been identified as one of nine focus areas with commercial potential for Arkansas. In 2006, the state invested $5.9 million to establish the Nanotechnology Center at 糖心Vlog传媒LR to foster world-class research and development in the state. CINS has since received $6.8 million in federal and state funding to expand research efforts.

In less than a decade, the state of Arkansas and 糖心Vlog传媒LR have developed a major research thrust in the areas of nanotechnology, nanomedicine, and nanotoxicology in partnership with 12 universities in the state and region, as well as the FDA鈥檚 Center for National Toxicological Research. Fifty researchers around the globe are affiliated with CINS.

Biris and his research team have produced more than 260 scholarly publications and presentations. Their research discoveries have generated eight issued patents with 27 patent applications pending.

Two spin-off companies in Arkansas, Orlumet, LLC and Poly Adaptive, LLC, have been established to commercialize some of these technologies.

Nanotechnology, the study and application of extremely small things (a human hair is about 90,000 nanometers wide), spans all science disciplines. Globally, nanotechnologies are estimated to grow to a $2.4 trillion economic impact by 2015, affecting everyday products such as eyeglasses, computer displays, fabrics, cosmetic products, dental implants, and pharmaceutical products. By 2020, nanotechnology is projected to create two million jobs in the U.S.

David Millay, associate vice chancellor of 糖心Vlog传媒LR Facilities Management, is optimistic that the green construction will achieve gold LEED certification. Seventeen percent of the construction work was performed by minority business enterprises. The contractor for the building was East Harding, Inc.; architectural firm was Witsell Evans Rasco; and engineering firm was TME, Inc. Funding for the project allowed for completion and furnishing of the first three of five floors.

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Center Director Dr. Alexandru Biris will offer tours of the research facility, with nanotechnology students and scientists giving demonstrations in the new laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment.

Scientists from affiliated research institutions including UCA, Arkansas State, 糖心Vlog传媒MS, and the National Center for Toxicological Research will be attending, as well as corporate partners in Arkansas and Dr. Robin Staffin of the U.S. Department of Defense.

The center, with a focus on research, education, and economic development, is helping the state by developing nanotechnology breakthroughs in areas such as tissue regeneration, industrial coatings, anti-counterfeiting solutions, ultra-thin solar cells, and cancer treatments.

The new center is located on the west side of campus between Dickinson and Fribourgh Halls.

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Dust is a major problem on spacecraft surfaces. Technology exists that uses electrodynamic shields (EDS) to mitigate dust. But NASA is searching for advances that can more efficiently maintain dust-free conditions on solar panels and optical lenses and other mission-critical space-based surfaces.

鈥淐urrent EDS designs use metallic electrodes that reduce the amount of radiation reaching solar panels, reducing panel efficiencies,鈥� said Alexandru Biris, director and chief scientist of the Nanotechnology Center at 糖心Vlog传媒LR. 鈥淧oly Adaptive鈥檚 use of these new nanoscale materials for transparent and flexible electronic dust shields will mitigate the build-up of this dust without sacrificing solar panel efficiency.鈥�

The new company brings to the marketplace research developed by Biris and his 糖心Vlog传媒LR nanotechnology team. Under , the company will investigate the 糖心Vlog传媒LR-developed application and use new nanoscale materials to address severe limitations of existing electrodynamic shields.

The technology promises numerous non-NASA commercial applications, including solar panels, windows, windshields, optical devices, pharmaceutical devices, and other products that are impacted by the build-up of dust particles.

Charlie Buhler, Poly Adaptive principal investigator, said the company sees great potential in electronic dust shield systems for commercial solar panels.

鈥淟arge-scale solar installations are usually located in sun-drenched desert areas where dry weather and winds sweep dust into the air and deposit it onto the surface of solar panels, reducing their energy generating efficiencies,鈥� he said. 鈥淎n automatic, self-cleaning system for solar panel surfaces would contribute to the economic benefits of this green source of energy. The Poly Adaptive dust mitigation technology should be a viable, cost effective solution to this problem.鈥�

Poly Adaptive was founded to commercialize nanotechnology research discoveries made by researchers at the Nanotechnology Center of 糖心Vlog传媒LR and holds a license with 糖心Vlog传媒LR for this project鈥檚 subject technology. The firm鈥檚 co-founders include several successful Arkansas business and technology experts.

For additional information contact Michael B. Miller at mbmiller@poly-adaptive.com.

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(C) Arkansas Next Magazine

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Alexandru S. Biris, the director and chief scientist at 糖心Vlog传媒LR鈥檚 Nanotechnology Center, has been named to the Arkansas Business 鈥淔orty Under Forty鈥� group this year, along with 10 other 糖心Vlog传媒LR alumni.

Biris, who earned a Ph.D. in applied science at 糖心Vlog传媒LR in 2004, is one of 11 糖心Vlog传媒LR graduates honored this year by the exclusive annual selection. The list of up-and-coming leaders in central Arkansas also includes Tamika Edwards 鈥�05; Kevin Keech 鈥�98; Shannon Butler 鈥�01, 鈥�08; John Bacon 鈥�98; John Heard 鈥�02; Melissa Hendricks 鈥�01; Jason Taylor 鈥�02; Brian Vandiver, 鈥�00; and Elizabeth Elango Bintliff 鈥�07.

Biris, an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Science, directs 糖心Vlog传媒LR scientists and collaborators in developing applications for nanotechnology. His work ranges from developing nanoscale de-icing of airplanes and dust-repelling windshield coatings for the Mars Rover project to developing nanotubes to deliver cancer medications to fight the disease on the cellular level.

The Nanotechnology Center at 糖心Vlog传媒LR explores the science of nanostructures that can be used to alter the properties of other substances at the atomic level. Through collaborations with private corporations, other universities in the state and nation, and research institutes in the United States and abroad, Biris works to accelerate the development of  applications of nanotechnology.

The technology has the potential to revolutionize the way the next generation of products are manufactured. Key to Biris鈥� vision for the Nanotechnology Center is its aggressive outreach program to train and educate young people and other world-class scientists who will serve and attract business and industry to Arkansas from the region and the nation.

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BY CAROLYNE PARK

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE , p. 1 A, 5 A.

Little Rock scientists are developing a method for attacking cancer cells by injecting them with tiny magnetic particles that are then heated with low radiofrequency radiation, killing the cells from within.

Alexandru Biris, assistant professor and chief scientist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Nanotechnology Center, heads the research team that’s developing the technique in collaboration with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

“Once they’re heated, the cells disintegrate,” Biris said. “I’m very happy with some of the results that we’re getting.”

In early tests, the team killed about 98 percent of cervical cancer cells used in the study.

An article on their research was published last month in Nanotechnology, one of several scientific journals published by the Institute of Physics. The article is part of a growing body of research into ways nanotechnology can be used for medical treatments, said Carlo Montemagno, the journal’s North American regional editor.

There’s been a big increase in nanotechnology-based medical research in recent years, said Montemagno, also dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering. Scientists believe such research will soon lead to major medical advances.

“Ultimately, nanotechnology will … have as profound an effect on the treatment of human health as the development of antibiotics and X-ray equipment,” Montemagno said.
Scientists are using nanotechnology to develop therapies that, because of their size, have the potential to minimize side effects and be “highly targeted and highly effective,” he said. They’re essentially engineering ways to combat diseases on the same minuscule scale at which diseases develop.

“Nanotechnology is unique in that the engineered structures are of the same size scale as the fundamental molecules of life,” he said.

CANCER RESEARCH

In the past two decades, a number of nanotechnologybased products have been developed for the treatment of a variety of diseases and disorders, including influenza, multiple sclerosis, breast cancer and fungal infections.

The technique being developed in Arkansas involves injecting cancer cells with highly magnetic cobalt particles surrounded by layers of graphitic carbon. The particles 鈥� called nanoparticles 鈥� are about 7 nanometers in diameter. That’s a few thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, Biris said.

A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.

Through a high-powered microscope, the nanoparticles look like tiny black clouds clustering in and around the cancer cells, penetrating even into the nucleus. Once inside the cells, they’re heated with a low radiofrequency radiation, like that used in some electronic or electromagnetic devices.

The heat obliterates the cell, killing it completely, Biris said.

Dr. Piotr Grodzinski, director of the National Cancer Institute’s Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, said the concept isn’t new. Scientists have experimented for years with injecting tumor cells with different types of nanoparticles and then heating them with lasers or radiofrequency radiation.

What is new is the type of nanoparticles developed by Biris’ team.

Other researchers have experimented with different materials, such as gold and carbon.

“The whole area is really advancing, with lots of innovations,” said J. Donald Payne, president and chief executive officer of Nanospectra Biosciences Inc.

The Houston-based company started clinical trials this year to treat patients with head and neck cancer using materials developed at Rice University. Its method uses nanoparticles made of a gold shell and silica, or glass, core heated with near-infrared light.

Payne declined to comment on the status or results of clinical trials, other than to say they had to prove the methods’ safety and effectiveness before they could earn FDA approval to test it on humans.

Another example is from Dr. Steven Curley, a professor at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, whose team of scientists from different institutions has had success killing liver-cancer cells using carbon nanotubes heated with radio waves.

Vladimir Zharov, professor and director of the Phillips Classic Laser Laboratories in the 糖心Vlog传媒MS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, did research using gold nanoparticles heated by laser years before working with Biris on the carbon-coated cobalt particles.

MOVING TO CLINICAL TRIALS

The Arkansas team is at least two years away from doing clinical trials on humans, Zharov said.

“We need to test lots of issues,” he said.

Ongoing research is focusing on how the technique affects surrounding tissues and how to get the nanoparticles to the cancer cells. The nanoparticles’ graphitic carbon outer layers are expected to reduce toxicity of the cobalt core and minimize side effects, he said.

The team is working on bonding the nanoparticles to antibodies that will essentially pull them through the bloodstream directly to cancer cells.

By targeting all cancer cells in the bloodstream, rather than just tumors, hopes are the technique would prevent spread of the disease to other parts of the body and reduce cancer recurrence, Biris said.

“If all the cells are killed, they’re not going to be able to regenerate,” he said.

Grodzinski, with the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, said it can take a long time for scientists to get to the stage where they can experiment on people.
First scientists have to determine whether the nanoparticle is safe for use inside the body, how to get it to go to the tumor or cancer cells, and whether it can be heated without harming nearby healthy tissues.

The National Cancer Institute started the alliance three years ago in hopes of propelling such research forward. It was the first time the institute 鈥� which traditionally funds biology and clinical research 鈥� agreed to fund a technology-based program for the purpose of advancing cancer treatment, he said.

The alliance has brought together oncologists, biologists, engineers and physicists who have produced a large amount of research in a short period of time, Grodzinski said. It has about a dozen clinical trials under way.

While no Arkansas institutions are part of the alliance, the 糖心Vlog传媒LR and 糖心Vlog传媒MS team’s research is a “promising study which allows to treat tumors locally while not using chemotherapic drugs,” Grodzinski said.

“I think we can all be cautiously optimistic that some of these things will actually produce very significant solutions…. It’s a slow, tedious process. Nevertheless, it will definitely pay off.”

Outside of 糖心Vlog传媒LR and 糖心Vlog传媒MS, the 12-person research team also includes Steve Trigwell, a senior research scientist with NASA’s Electrostatic and Surface Physics Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center; Dorin Boldor, an assistant professor with the AgCenter at Louisiana State University; and Alexandru R. Biris and Dan Lupu of the National Institute for Research & Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies in Romania. Alexandru R. Biris is the father of Biris at 糖心Vlog传媒LR.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN
Dr. Alexandru Biris (left), chief scientist of the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Nanotechnology Center, and a team of doctoral students, Enkeleda Dervishi, Meena Mahmood and Jerry Li, have developed nanoparticles that can be injected into cancer cells and heated with radio-frequency radiation to destroy the cells from within.

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