Achievement

Matthew Wall, 1st year student, present IGERT associate, mentored by Moritz Kircher (MSKCC) and Mike Drain (Hunter), is working on the rational design, synthesis and testing of novel surface enhanced (resonant) Raman spectroscopy (SE(R)RS) nanoparticles for in vivo imaging and theranostic purposes. In 7 months, he designed new and more effective SERRS nanoparticles. One SERRS nanoparticle resulting from this work exhibits Raman enhancement 1-2 orders or magnitude higher than the current gold-standard SERS nanoparticles. He has very promising preliminary in vitro and in vivo results for solid tumor and lymph node metastasis detection in living tumor mouse models. The Hunter/MSKCC team has filed an invention disclosure that involves the use of this particle and are in the process of working on a provisional patent application.