The UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital announced a new Mattel UCLA NanoPediatrics program on Friday, which organizes research of nanotechnology and treatment for children.
The program will take a closer look at personalized medicine for children, including opportunities and risks, according to a university statement.
It’s one of the world’s first to focus especially on nanomedicine for pediatric patients, said Dr. Edward McCabe, physician-in-chief of Mattel Children’s Hospital.
McCabe, who is the founding director of the new program, said the idea originated out of the need to really focus on medicine for kids.
“We have this mantra that children are not small adults ““ they react differently from adults,” McCabe said.
He said applying adult-targeted programs to children could potentially put them at risk, thus creating a need for specialized pediatric research to the application of nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology involves manipulating atoms and molecules, according to a university statement. The small pieces of matter are used to create small devices, smaller than one-thousandth the diameter of human hair, according to the statement.
The California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA will partner with the hospital, McCabe said.
Dr. Leonard Rome, a cell biologist who works at the UCLA School of Medicine and the Associate Director of the California NanoSystems Institute, said he spoke at a conference regarding the new nanopediatrics program on Friday.
He said he gave examples of nanotechnology, and more specifically, how nanotechnology affects medicine.
Projects undertaken by the program will include nanodiagnostic tool development and application, including DNA-based newborn screening tests for genetic abnormalities, according to the statement.
It will also include development of nanodevices for children with genetic diseases and cancer, and investigation of nanoparticles used for diagnostic imagining during and after pregnancy.
Nanomedicine, which is fueled by technology, may enable more personalized medical care, McCabe said.
“Everyone is talking about nanomedicine affecting personal medicine, for example what drugs we should and shouldn’t be taking,” he said. “Nanopediatrics will enable personalized medicine for children.”
The program was created after the Mattel Foundation ““ the same foundation that named the Mattel Children’s Hospital ““ gave the hospital a $2 million gift to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
Of that gift, $1.8 million will fund the nanopediatrics program, McCabe said.
The program first began developing in spring 2008, and it will invite UCLA medical faculty to assist.
“Right now we’re bringing together people who are already here and working on it, but we’ll be bringing together not only from pediatrics, but people from engineering and perhaps chemistry,” McCabe said.
McCabe said the Mattel Foundation has been of particular assistance in its creation.
“The Mattel Children’s Foundation is excited to support this groundbreaking program in nanopediatrics, which can potentially revolutionize the research and treatment of illnesses that affect young patients,” said Kevin Farr, chairman of the foundation and chief financial officer of Mattel Inc., in a statement.