WHAT:

The Nano/Bio Interface Center, a new research program recently established with almost $30 million in funding, is the nucleus of a massive effort to lead the application of physical science and nanotechnology to medicine.

WHO:

Dennis Yablonsky, secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania.

Eduardo Glandt, dean of Penn School of Engineering and Applied Science

Dawn Bonnell, director of the NBIC

WHERE:  

University of Pennsylvania, Levine Hall, 1st Floor Lobby, 3330 Walnut St., Philadelphia

WHEN:

4:30-5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 23

The University of Pennsylvania has received funding from the National Science Foundation for a new Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center.  With this support, Penn Nano/Bio Interface Center will bring together researchers from across campus to study the intersection of technology and biology at the nanoscale or molecular level.

This $11.4 million program, renewable for a total of $23 million, will subsume other grants for a program total that nears $30 million.  The Center will receive the $11.4 million grant during the next five years.

The Center research program is structured around two major themes:  biomolecular function and molecular motors.  In addition, the Center will explore two cross-cutting initiatives: the creation of probes to analyze individual molecules and the ethics of nanotechnology.  A NanoProperty Lab will serve as a national resource for single molecule analysis.