Straight talk with... Mauro Ferrari

Abstract

Mauro Ferrari has Texas-size aspirations for using nanotechnology to treat illness. He teaches at both the University of Texas and Rice University — and at the same time serves as president for the Alliance of NanoHealth, a Houston-based body for promoting nanomedicine. This past June, Ferrari also became professor and chairman of the newly established Department of Nanomedicine and Biomedical Engineering (nBME) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. With this new department, Ferrari aims to bring researchers from a wide range of medical and scientific disciplines together under one roof to develop new nanomedicines. The department will also train the next generation of medical students, allowing nanomedicine to become an integral part of the medical curriculum at the University of Texas. During a visit to the UK in June to speak at the launch of Swansea University's Centre for NanoHealth, touted as Europe's first center devoted to nanomedicine, Ferrari met with Jon Evans to discuss nanomedicine, the importance of matching technology to therapeutic need and becoming a medical student in his mid-40s.