SC6: Liquid Biopsies based on Extracellular Vesicles: Prospects, Challenges, and Opportunities

MONDAY, AUGUST 19 | AFTERNOON, 2:00–5:00 PM

Franklin/McPherson

ABOUT THIS COURSE:

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) exhibit a number of properties that make them attractive as a rich source of biomarkers for disease diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and therapeutics, including their abundance in a wide breadth of bodily fluids, nucleic acid and protein content, and protective lipid membrane that preserves this cargo from degradation. This course reviews key discoveries in EV research, describes current efforts to exploit their properties to capture market value, and takes a look at exploratory and emerging technologies aimed at accelerating their study and use. Existing gaps in understanding along with current efforts to address these unknowns will also be elucidated.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

• Role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in disease progression
• EV market: Present size, growth areas, and projections
• Overview of key players and strategies
• Moving forward: Technology gaps and opportunities
• Clinical perspective on EVs as an important source of biomarkers

MEET THE INSTRUCTORS:

Joshua T. Smith, PhD, Research Staff Member and Silicon Development Team Leader, Translational Systems Biology and Nanobiotechnology, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center

Joshua Smith received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 2011 on a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Award and joined the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center as a Research Staff Member. With a background in low-dimensional nanoelectronics, Dr. Smith developed a growing interest in biomedical engineering and biotechnology, and in 2013 he helped establish the Translational Systems Biology and Nanobiotechnology Group at IBM Research. Within the group, he oversees R & D efforts as the technical team lead and works to establish paths toward manufacturing for microfluidic devices aimed at separation and detection of single molecules for advanced biomedical diagnostics and preparative platform technologies. His current research interests include the translation and commercialization of diagnostics tools for healthcare. Dr. Smith has recently held a position as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University in the Department of Electrical Engineering and is presently an IBM Master Inventor with over 70 patents.

Hakho Lee, PhD, Associate Professor and Hostetter MGH Scholar, Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Lee has extensive experience in nanomaterials, biophysics, microfluidics, and electrical engineering. His research focuses on developing novel biomedical sensors for clinical applications. Dr. Lee’s group also pioneered new analytical technologies for EV characterization, including nPLEX (nanoplasmonic exosome), iMEX (integrated magneto-electrochemical exosome), iMER (integrated magnetic exosomal RNA), and SEA (single EV analysis).