Seoungjoo Haam tells Journal of Materials Chemistry about his hot paper.

1. Could you explain the significance of your article to the non-specialist? 
Nanomaterials are finding increasing applications in biomedical fields due to their remarkable physicochemical properties in nanoscale. Our major interests are to construct "all-in-one concept" nano-platforms to endow with simultaneous cancer diagnosis and treatment and to confirm their efficacies in the cellular level. Herein, we reported the antibody conjugated anticancer drug-magnetic PLGA nanoparticles for targeted detection and treatment of breast cancer as a proof of concept.

2. Where do you see this work developing in the future? 
The detection of cancer in its early stages and simultaneous cancer treatment using nanotechnology is being intensively studied in our lab. Our lab is currently undergoing synthesis of many different types of multifunctional nano-platforms such as novel smart nano drug carriers and localized thermo-therapy, combined with ultrasensitive magnetic nanocrystals providing potential for efficient cancer therapy and synchronous cancer diagnosis. Furthermore, these multifunctional systems can be applied to various biomedical fields such as targeted drug delivery, MRI probes, biosensor, cell labeling and separation.

3. Are there any particular challenges facing future research in this area? 
One of the challenges is to integrate various anti-cancer therapeutic tools into a single multifunctional nanoplatform for breakthrough in individualized and personalized medicine by developing novel nanosystems. Especially, we will develop the integrated system consisting of targeted drug delivery nanosystems with their real-time monitoring components for anticancer treatment by using multimodal imaging machines.

Seoungjoo Haam (left) is professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Yonsei University. He holds a BSc degree in chemical engineering from Yonsei University, Korea, and MS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from Ohio State University. Haam's research interests include synthesis and processing of organic/inorganic nanomaterials for biomedical applications such as drug delivery systems, nano-medical imaging materials and magnetic cell separation. 

Yong-Min Huh (centre) is MD and PhD of the Department of Radiology at the College of Medicine in Yonsei University. He holds BSc, MS, PhD and MD degrees in radiology, from the College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Korea. His research interests include nanotechnology based medical imaging dealing with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), live cell imaging and simultaneous cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Jaemoon Yang (right) is a PhD candidate of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Yonsei University.  He holds BSc and MS degrees in chemical engineering from Yonsei University, Korea. He is undergoing development of an ultra-sensitive imaging agent using organic/inorganic nanomaterials for biomedical applications.