Program Structure

Module 1: What Nanomedicine Can Change in Healthcare

• Why conventional therapies fail: off-target toxicity, poor bioavailability, resistance, and late detection.
• What nano enables: targeted delivery, controlled release, better imaging, and multi-functional therapies.
• Where nanomedicine is used: cancer, infections, inflammation, CNS disorders, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases (overview).
• Therapeutic goals: efficacy, safety, patient adherence, and cost-to-benefit thinking.

Module 2: Nano-Bio Interactions (How the Body “Sees” Nanoparticles)

• Size, shape, charge, surface chemistry: why they control circulation and uptake.
• Protein corona concept and its implications for targeting.
• Immune recognition: clearance pathways and stealth strategies (PEGylation concepts).
• Cellular uptake basics: endocytosis pathways and intracellular trafficking.

Module 3: Nanocarrier Platforms for Drug Delivery

• Liposomes and lipid nanoparticles: what makes them suitable for drugs and nucleic acids.
• Polymeric nanoparticles and micelles: controlled release and stability concepts.
• Dendrimers and nanogels: high loading and surface functionalization advantages.
• Inorganic nanoparticles: gold, iron oxide, silica (therapy + imaging roles, overview).
• Hybrid and biomimetic systems: membrane-coated and exosome-inspired concepts.

Module 4: Targeting Strategies & Controlled Release

• Passive targeting concepts (EPR effect overview) and its real-world limitations.
• Active targeting: ligands, antibodies, peptides—how targeting is designed.
• Stimuli-responsive systems: pH, enzymes, redox, temperature, light (conceptual).
• Controlled release profiles: burst vs sustained release and why it matters clinically.

Module 5: Nanodiagnostics & Theranostics

• Nano-biosensing basics: signal amplification, surface functionalization, specificity challenges.
• Imaging agents: contrast enhancement concepts for MRI/CT/optical imaging (overview).
• Theranostics: combining imaging + therapy in a single nano-platform.
• Decision-making value: early detection, monitoring, and treatment personalization.

Module 6: Disease-Focused Case Frameworks

• Cancer: tumor targeting, drug resistance, microenvironment barriers (overview).
• Infectious diseases: antimicrobial delivery, biofilm challenges, localized therapy concepts.
• Inflammation & autoimmune disorders: targeted immunomodulation concepts.
• CNS delivery: blood–brain barrier challenge and delivery strategies (intro-level).
• Cardiometabolic diseases: targeted vascular delivery and sustained release (overview).

Module 7: Safety, Toxicology & Responsible Design

• Key safety risks: toxicity, immunogenicity, oxidative stress, organ accumulation.
• Biodistribution and clearance: what “safe elimination” means.
• In vitro vs in vivo translation gaps: why lab success may not scale to patients.
• Responsible design: simplifying formulation, minimizing risky components, and dose realism.

Module 8: Manufacturing, Quality & Regulatory Readiness (Concept-Level)

• Scale-up challenges: reproducibility, stability, sterilization, and shelf-life.
• Quality attributes: size distribution, encapsulation efficiency, endotoxin control, batch consistency.
• Formulation stability: aggregation, leakage, and storage conditions.
• Translational pipeline: preclinical evaluation, clinical testing overview, documentation mindset.

Final Project

• Develop a concept-level nanomedicine solution for a chosen disease area.
• Define: therapeutic goal, target tissue/cells, nano-platform choice, payload, targeting strategy, and release profile.
• Create a basic evaluation plan: characterization, in vitro testing concepts, safety checks, and stability plan.
• Deliverables: design brief + workflow diagram + risk/limitations note (translation-aware).