The Results are In: Growth through Success Valuable intellectual property is being created as a result of the Dendrimer Center’s research activities. CMU faculty researchers have numerous invention disclosures, provisional patents, and full patent disclosures. Additionally, industry partner DNT researchers have also filed provisional patents, full patent disclosures, and recently received one patent as a result of the Dendrimer Center’s research program. All patent applications are promising and could have significant commercial value including new candidate materials as contrast agents for improved MRI diagnostic imaging, new drug delivery systems, and a discovery of a new class of Michael reactions which can yield higher branching dendrimeric materials in fewer steps. Research Based Growth Below is a partial listing of the many valuable projects being conducted by faculty and private sector researchers at the Dendrimer Center: Synthesis of buckyball-coated PAMAM dendrimers (J. Am. Chem Soc. submission) which may find uses in drug catalysis and microbial decontamination Discovery of methods to use dendrimers to stabilize quantum dots, and in a related work described experimentally and theoretically how dendrimers suspend gold nanoparticles Development of nuclear magnetic methods which discriminate between drugs binding on the surface of dendrimers as opposed to being carried internally Expanded the knowledge of the toxicology of a range of dendrimers, which will be essential in determining which dendrimers can serve as drug carriers Developed a lower-cost synthetic route to new proprietary dendrimers Drug encapsulation and release protocols have been established and tested on initial anti-inflammatory drug systems with a range of dendrimer carrier structures Dendritic architectures have been used to stabilize nano-crystals or quantum dots with unique optical, electronic or other properties for use in bio-labeling, flat panel display technologies, or optical switching Methods have been developed for the attachment of oligonucleotides to dendrimers for targeting, amplification or detection in biological systems Economic Growth and Impact Fourteen undergraduate and graduate students actively involved in the Dendrimer Center’s research program Twenty new high-skill, high-wage jobs created Seven post-doctoral students hired by CMU faculty members to assist and learn from this valuable research program Eight researchers, including five chemists, two molecular biologists, and a pharmacologist hired by DNT One full-time CEO hired by CMU Research Corporation, the applied research and business development arm of CMU (also serves as the Executive Director of the Dendrimer Center) One Director of Analytical Laboratories hired by CMU Research Corporation to provide training and maintain advanced analytical equipment Back to Top