Devika Chithrani

Overview of research

 

Research projects

Nanotechnology involves creation and utilization of materials, devices or systems on the nanometer scale. The field of nanotechnology is currently undergoing explosive development on many fronts. Among other fields, nanotechnology is expected to generate innovations and play a critical role in the field of cancer nanomedicine.

My research program also involves the use of gold nanostructures as a versatile platform for integration of many therapeutic options towards optimizing combinational therapy platform in the battle against cancer. For example, radiation therapy and chemotherapy remain as the most widely used treatment options. Our studies show that the incorporation of gold nanostructures into those protocols have enhanced tumor cell damage. However, nanoparticle based platforms are still at the initial stage of development and much more research is required before they can be applied in clinical applications.

Therefore, this emerging field of nanomedicine requires better understanding of the interface between nanotechnology and medicine in order make use of their full potential in the clinic. My research program is designed to improve the understanding of the bio-nano interface. Better knowledge of the nano-bio interface would lead to better tools for diagnostic imaging and therapy. As a step forward in this direction, we have shown how the size, shape, and surface properties of nanoparticles (NPs) affect their intracellular fate both in vitro and in vivo. We also engineer three dimensional tissue-like models to test our nanoparticle systems before using then in animal models. These fundamental studies will facilitate building of better NP-based platforms for improved results in the future cancer care of patients.

 

Teaching

2023-2024 Academic year:

PHYS 120: This is an introductory physics course.

PHYS 232: This course delivers materials related to special topics in biomedical sciences. In other words, we will learn to use the physics we learned in the first year to understand their applications in biomedical sciences. This includes biomedical imaging, therapy, and diagnostics. We will also tour the British Columbia Cancer Agency to witness how some of the things you lean in the course is used in day today.

Graduate students

Current:

• Nolan Jackson (PhD); NSERC PGS D/ Mitacs Accelerate fellowship
• Daniel Cecchi (PhD): NSERC PGS D
• Kieren O-Neil (MSc)
• Kyle Brown (BSc)
• Amith Valath (BSc)

Previous Graduate Students:

• Abdulaziz Alhussan (PhD); NMIN graduate scholarship award
• Sara Eaton (MSc); NSERC CGSM
• Kyle Bromma (PhD); Received NSERC CGS D
• Kristy Rieck (MSc); Received NSERC and UVic fellowship
• Aaron Bannister (MSc); Received UVic fellowship
• Celina Yang (PhD); Funded by NSERC and OGST
• Celina Yang (MSc); Received NSERC
• Darren Yohan (MSc); Funded by NSERC
• Charmainne Cruje (MSc); Funded by NSERC
• Mehrnoosh Neshatian (MSc); Funded by NSERC

Previous Undergraduate students:

• Kieren O’Neil (Summer student)
• Reinali Calisin (summer student)
• Nolan Jackson (NSERC USRA summer student)
• Nicholas Pamerley (4^th year thesis student)
• Leah Cicon (NSERC USRA summer student; 4^th year thesis student, JCURA recipient)
• Antonia Kowalewski (Summer student)
• Dushanthi Dissanayake (Summer Student)
• Sarah Eaton (NSERC USRA summer student; 4^th year thesis student, JCURA recipient)
• Kyle Bromma (NSERC USRA summer student; 4^th year thesis student, JCURA recipient)
• Ashley Singh (Honors thesis)
• Rawan Ibrahem (Honors thesis)
• Qingmiao Ran (Honors thesis)
• Natasha Hegarty (Honors thesis)

Selected publications

1. Yang C, J Uertz, D Yohanand DB Chithrani, 2014. Peptide Modified Gold Nanoparticles for Improved Cellular Uptake, Nuclear Transport, and Intracellular Retention. Nanoscale, 6 (20), 12026. (Impact factor: 7.8); Over 150 citations.
2. Yohan D, C Cruje, X Lu and DB Chithrani, 2015. Elucidating the Uptake and Distribution of Nanoparticles in Solid Tumors via a Multilayered Cell Culture Model. Nano-Micro letters, 7 (2), 127. Featured on the cover. (Impact factor: 16.4).
3. Chithrani DB, S Jelveh, F Jalali, M van Prooijen, C Allen, R Bristow, R Hill and DA Jaffray, 2010. Gold Nanoparticles as a Radiation Sensitizer in Cancer Therapy. Radiation Research, 173 (6), 719 - 728. Featured on the cover of the journal
4. Chithrani DB and WCW Warren, 2007. Elucidating the Mechanism of Cellular Uptake and Removal of Protein–coated Gold Nanoparticles of Different Sizes and Shapes. Nano Letters, 7 (6), 1542. (Impact factor: 11.2); Over 2500 citations.
5. Chithrani DB, G Ghazani and WCW. Chan, 2006. Determining the Size and Shape Dependence of Nanoparticle – Uptake into Mammalian Cells. Nano Letters, 6 (4), 662. (Impact factor: 11.2; Citations: 5070). Over 5,500 citations.
6. Jackson N, Bromma K, Alhussan A, Beckham W, Weinfeld M and DB Chithrani, 2022. Combination of pyronaridine and gold nanoparticles for optimizing the outcome in radiotherapy. Pharmaceutics, 14, 2795. Work done by an undergraduate summer research student (NSERC USRA).
7. Bromma K,Santos ND, Barta I, Alexander A, Beckham W, Krishnan S and DB Chithrani, 2022. Assessing gold
8. Han O,Bromma K, Palmerley N, Monica M, Alhussan A, Howard P, Beckham W, Abraham A and DB Chithrani, 2022. Nanotechnology driven cancer chemoradiation: Exploiting the full potential of radiotherapy with a unique combination of gold nanoparticles and bleomycin. Pharmaceutics, 14 (2), 233. (Impact factor: 6.5). Work done by an undergraduate summer research student (NSERC USRA).
9. Alhussan A,Bromma K, Bozdoğan EP, Metcalfe A, Karasinska J, Beckham W, Alexander A, Renouf DJ, Schaeffer DF and DB Chithrani, 2021. Investigation of nano-bio interactions within a pancreatic tumor microenvironment for the advancement of nanomedicine in cancer treatment. Current Oncology, 28 (3), 1962.
10. Bromma Kand DB Chithrani, 2020. Advances in gold nanoparticle-based combined cancer therapy. Nanomaterials (Basel), 10 (9), 1671. Over 75 citations.
11. Bromma K,Cicon L, Beckham W and DB Chithrani, 2020. Gold nanoparticle mediated radiation response among key cell components of the tumour microenvironment for the advancement of cancer nanotechnology. Scientific Reports, 10 (1), 12096.This study was highlighted in “The conversation”, national post, Daily beast, and even in news week Japan.
12. Schuemann J, Bagley AF, Berbeco R, Bromma K,Butterworth KT, Byrne HL, Chithrani DB, Cho SH, Cook JR and V Favaudon, 2020. Roadmap for metal nanoparticles in radiation therapy: Current status, translational challenges, and future directions. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 65 (21), 21RM02. (Over 100 citations).

Book chapters

1. Alhussan A, Eaton S, Palmerley Nand DB Microtubule Targeting in Cancer Treatment. Organelle and Molecular Targeting (L.S. Milane and M. M. Amiji), 2021, pp. 403-420, CRC Press, Florida (Chapter (#14) in a research text).
2. Chithrani DB, 2018. Intracellular targeting using surface-modified gold nanoparticles, in: Biomedical Applications of Functionalized Nanomaterials(B. Sarmento and J. das Neves, ed.). pp. 315-333, Elsevier Press, Atlanta (Chapter (#11) in a research text).
3. Cruje C, D Yohan, C Yang, M Neshatianand DB Chithrani, 2014. Intracellular behavior of nanoparticles based on their physico-chemical properties, in: Handbook of Research on Diverse Applications of Nanotechnology in Biomedicine, Chemistry, and Engineering (S. Soni, A. Salhotra, and M. Suar ed.), pp. 10-35, IGI publishing, Pennsylvania. (Chapter (#2) in a research text).
4. Chithrani DB, 2013. Gold Nanoparticle-mediated Radiosensitization, in: Cancer Nanotechnology: Principles and Applications in Radiation Oncology(S. Krishnan and S.H. Cho, ed.), pp. 111-121, CRC press, Florida (Chapter (#9) in a research text).
5. Neshatian M, C Yang, N Hegarty and DB Chithrani, 2014. Optimizing the Bio-Nano Interface for Gold Nanoparticle, in: Precious metals for Biomedical Applications(N. Baltzer and T. Copponnex, ed.), pp. 87-106, Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge (Chapter (#4) in a research text).
6. Chithrani DB and WCW Chan, 2006. Nanoparticles in Biomedical Photonics, in: Encyclopaedia of Biomedical Engineering(M. Akay, ed.), John Wiley & sons, New Jersey. (Chapter in a research text).

Funding

• Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)
• Mitacs Accelerator Award
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC)
• The Government of Canada through the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program
• Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
• British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF)
• University of Victoria (UVic)