The aims of the module are to
• Explain colloidal/self-assembling systems in detail and their role in nanomedicine;
• Inform about the state of the art of materials for nanomedicines and the synthetic routes used;
• Explain the pharmacological behaviour of nanomedicines and how different diseases require different approaches for successful treatment
• Explain diagnostic medicine with a focus on NMR for medicine and MRI, including development of MRI contrast agents and other inorganic nanomaterials for cancer diagnosis and therapy

(LO1) Students should be able to show that they can define and explain colloidal systems, colloidal stability and name examples of different colloids.

(LO2) Students should be able to describe the different types of materials for medicines, in particular nanomedicine, and discuss the range of advanced synthetic routes used to produce different structures for oral and injectable administration, and be able to explain the advanced methods available for the characterisation of nanomedicines.

(LO3) Students will understand the principles behind pharmacokinetics and the importance of these principles to nanomedicine.

(LO4) Students should be able to discuss the behaviour of nuclear spins and their ensembles in an external magnetic field and the influence of magnetic interaction on the appearance of NMR spectra and MRI data.

(LO5) Students will be able to describe the structure of modern NMR and MRI spectrometers, explain the concepts of data acquisition and processing and show an understanding of magnetisation and relaxation.

(LO6) Students should be able to explain the origins of relaxation, the principles of the determination of T1 and T2 relaxation times, their calculation from NMR data, and the relationship between relaxation, molecular motion and MRI contrast.

(LO7) Students will be able to describe synthesis and application of imaging agents, i.e MRI contrast agents.

(LO8) Students will be able to examine the state of the art for nanomedicines and discuss the future research directions.

(LO9) Students should be able to critically compare different healthcare technologies and their suitability to tackle a particular problem in medicine.

(S1) Problem solving skills

(S2) Numeracy

(S3) Commercial awareness

(S4) Learning skills online studying and learning effectively in technology-rich environments, formal and informal

Lectures. 28 x 1 hr in person lectures covering the core content of the module.
In addition to the lectures, students will be required to undertake independent reading of the resources specified on the reading list.
These resources will primarily be journal review articles and leading publications (which will be made available on Canvas).

Coursework. Two assignments that involve understanding and critically reporting on research articles, based on the material discussed in the lectures.
These problem-based assessments will take approximately four hours each for an average student to complete.

Tutorials. 2 x 1 hr, for discussion and general feedback on the coursework assignments.

*Lectures: 28 hr
*Tutorials: 2 hr

The syllabus consists of:

Part A: Nanomedicine and therapeutics
1. Introduction to nanomedicine: debunking the hype and placing size in context
2. Pharmacology: establishing a baseline of understanding of clinical action and need
3. Nanomed Essentials: grounding in colloid science, particle formation and measurement
4. Synthesis of Nanomedicines: nanomedicine strategies and case study for anticancer liposomal product manufacture
5. Materials and therapeutics at Liverpool: research from nanomed programmes including long-acting therapeutics
6. Focus lecture on cancer

Part B: diagnostics
1. Introduction to diagnostics: setting the scene with a materials/physical focus
2. NMR Essentials: manipulating the nuclear magnetism
3. Relaxation : understanding and controlling relaxation
4. NMR for medicine
5. MRI - how gradient pulse works, how MRI works: NMRing a patient and identifying disease s
6. Non-NMR based diagnostics modalities for medicine (MPI, CT, SPECT)
7. Materials for imaging: how you make an MRI agent and how they are used for cancer
8. Inorganics for cancer therapy
9. Theranostics - 'futures' theme