USF recently held a big meeting about exploring the very small.

In November, the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy hosted the 12^th annual NanoFlorida International Conference on the USF campus.  The three-day conference, which included keynote addresses by USF President Steven Currall and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, was centered around future developments in the field of nanotechnology.

Participants pose for a group photo during the NanoFlorida International Conference.

“Nanotechnology is to work in the smallest scale possible, called nanoscale,” explained USF Health professor Shyam Mohapatra, PhD, director of the Center for Education and Research in Nanobioengineering and conference chair of the International Academy of Nanotechnology.

For comparison, one nanometer is one-millionth the diameter of single strand of human hair, Dr. Mohapatra said.

USF President Steven Currall gave a keynote address during the NanoFlorida International Conference in the Marshall Center on USF campus.

Nanotechnology is being studied in a wide range of sciences, including chemistry, engineering and medicine. The technology is already being used in many industries and products people use every day. For example, nanotechnology has helped reduce the size of cell phones from the unwieldy devices of yesteryear to the advanced computers that now fit in your pocket.

But it’s not just consumer goods where nanotechnology is making a difference. USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy is looking at how the technology can help better deliver medication to patients.

“The whole notion of pharmaceutical nanotechnology is to take a molecule and make it even smaller so we can deliver (medicines) into parts of the body that normally we can’t get into,” said Kevin Sneed, PharmD, FNAP, FNPHA. Dr. Sneed is senior associate vice president, USF Health and dean of the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy.

Kevin Sneed, PharmD, FNAP, FNPHA, talks to dignitaries during the NanoFlorida International Conference. Dr. Sneed is senior associate vice president, USF Health and dean of the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy.

For instance, researchers are studying how nanotechnology can assist the treatment of brain cancers and brain disorders.

“Lots of medications cannot get into the brain when taken orally or otherwise,” Dr. Sneed said, “By making them smaller, now we can transport them into the brain.”

The Taneja College of Pharmacy is embracing pharmaceutical nanotechnology by offering a master’s in science degree in pharmaceutical nanotechnology – the first such degree in the state of Florida.

“We had an opportunity to build a pharmaceutical or drug delivery program,” Dr. Sneed said. “Nanotechnology was very futuristic, and we wanted to be a very futuristic, very innovative, very transformative pharmacy program.”

About 50 students are currently enrolled in the pharmaceutical nanotechnology degree program.

Shyam Mohapatra, Distinguished USF Health Professor, Director of Center for Education and Research in Nanobioengineering in the Morsani College of Medicine and Associate Dean Graduate Program in the Tanjea College of Pharmacy and Conference Chair of the International Academy of Nanotechnology, opens the NanoFlorida International Conference.

During the NanoFlorida International Conference, participants attended a number of plenary sessions discussing advances in nanotechnology and its use, and students from USF and other major colleges presented 138 research posters for judging.

Sonali Kannaujia (left) and Liguan Li, a graduate student and a PhD candidate both studying electrical engineering, look at their poster presentation before the start of judging during the NanoFlorida International Conference. The USF students created a Wireless Interrogated MEMS Capacitive Intraocular Pressure Sensors to help with the treatment of Glaucoma.

The NanoFlorida International Conference is organized by the Florida Association for Nanotechnology, a society composed of basic and translational nano-bio technologists who use a variety of nanoscale sciences and technologies to better understand the way the nano-bio systems function.

Video, photos and article by Allison Long, USF Health Communications & Marketing

Tampa, FL (Nov. 8, 2012) – Nursing education and research designed to meet the health needs of veterans, service members and their families will be the focus when the nation’s top nurse educators and scientists gather Tuesday, Nov. 13 in Tampa, FL, for a conference hosted by the University of South Florida College of Nursing.  The first annual JOINING FORCES TO RESTORE LIVES: Nursing Education and Research in Veterans Health conference will be held at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) in downtown Tampa.

The conference is part of USF’s commitment to support the Joining Forces campaign, a comprehensive national initiative to mobilize all sectors of society to give service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned.

Keynote speaker James L. Harris, DSN, APRN-BC, MBA, CNL, FAAN, deputy chief nursing officer, Office of Nursing Services, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Washington, D.C, will discuss linking nursing education and research to the Joining Forces initiatives. Dr. Harris helps lead the VA’s 80,000-plus nursing personnel, but the message he will deliver at the conference is vital to all the nation’s registered nurses. While 36 percent of the nation’s 23 million veterans receive health care through the VA, the majority seek care outside of the VA health system, usually at local primary care facilities or hospitals in their communities, a 2009 U.S. VA Services report indicates.  At 3-million strong, nurses comprise the nation’s largest sector of health care professionals.

“The USF College of Nursing is a national leader in educational preparation and nursing research that addresses health care issues unique to service members, veterans and their families,” said Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, RN, WHNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN, senior associate vice president of USF Health and dean of the College of Nursing. “We are glad to bring our expertise to the table as we join forces with nursing professionals, educators and nurse scientists across the country in a commitment to this important initiative.”

Nursing education and research experts presenting at the conference will come from 13 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Texas and West Virginia.

Attendees at this first-of-its-kind conference will include global nursing executives, scientists, faculty, researchers, educators, advanced practice nurses and registered nurses interested in supporting veterans’ health education and research.

For event and registration information, please visit the USF College of Nursing website:  http://health.usf.edu/nursing.

-USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50^th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities.

-RESTORE LIVES at USF Nursing-

The USF College of Nursing RESTORE LIVES – Research and Education to Rehabilitate and Restore the Lives of Veterans, Service Members and their Families – directly impacts the lives of veterans and service members. USF has a long history of supporting our nation’s service members, veterans and their families with workforce issues, innovative educational programs and out-of-the-box nursing research conducted by our world class faculty. The USF College of Nursing is Transforming Healthcare, Transforming Lives: Creating the Nursing Leaders of Tomorrow and the Research that Improves Health.

Media contact: 
Ashlea Hudak, College of Nursing Communications
(813)396-9642 or ahudak@health.usf.edu