Application of nanomaterials and nanotechnology to medical diagnosis and therapy has brought tremendous advances in the development of targeted drug-delivery and bioanalytical systems. Chemically engineered nanostructures tagged with appropriate biomolecules such as antibodies, proteins, DNAs, drug molecules, etc. offer multifunctional nanoprobes enabling transport across biological barriers making cellular and subcellular delivery of poorly soluble drugs possible. Moreover, nanostructures are optimally suited for combination of therapeutic and imaging modalities on a single nanocarrier to deliver dual-vectors that make drug-delivery and cellular diagnostics more effective. Recent advances have shown the potential of biofunctional nanoparticles in stimuli-responsive and site-specific delivery of therapeutic payloads, tracking of intracellular processes and visualization of endocytosis and uptake processes. Moreover, the sensitive extraction and detection of prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers such as microRNAs, proteins and other biomolecules, including those encapsulated in extracellular vesicles, using nanotechnology-based approaches represents a key advancement on the way to early disease diagnosis.

The promises of nanomedicine to improve medical diagnosis and tumor therapy emphasizes the need of an interdisciplinary dialogue at the interface of materials science, biology and medicine. This is especially crucial to address the bottlenecks associated with the translation of proof-of-concept studies into clinically tested and approved products. The major motivation behind this symposium is to bring together scientists exploring nanomaterials for biological and medical applications with experts from regulatory agencies.

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