Multifunctional Polymer Microbubbles for Advanced Sentinel Lymph Node Imaging and Mapping

Abstract : The goal of this Postdoctoral Award is twofold. First, the proposed research seeks to design microbubble ultrasound contrast agents with enhanced dye loading capacity for imaging and surgical labeling of sentinel lymph nodes. Second, the training plan seeks to improve the PI s scientific development through a combination of junior scientist mentoring, grant-writing, and external presentations. Here, the research portion has met with some setbacks, including poor yields and dispersities through the original proposed fabrication plan. Switching to a new format has led to some progress in creating more uniform dye loading, although problems with yield remain. The PI has also made progress in identifying polymer and chemical structures that break easily under ultrasound. On the training side, the PI has been quite successful in obtaining additional external funding through NIH, presenting at numerous conferences, and mentoring several students. In addition, he has applied for multiple faculty positions, obtained five interviews, and expects two offers in the next month at major research universities.