UCLA Nanosystems Institute, Japan's NOF Corp. to Collaborate on Drug-Delivery Research

(Originally published by UCLA)

December 18, 2009

The California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA has announced a new collaboration with Japan-based NOF Corp. to explore initiatives in nanotherapeutics research for new drug-delivery systems.

"CNSI is committed to strong and productive collaborations with industry," said Paul S. Weiss, CNSI director and UCLA's Fred Kavli Chair in Nanosystems Sciences. "We look forward to working with the researchers at NOF's Drug Delivery Systems Development Division."

"We are delighted to collaborate with the stellar group of investigators at CNSI and UCLA on shared interests in new methods and materials for drug delivery," said Akiharu Kobayashi, director and operating officer of NOF and general manager of the company's Drug Delivery Systems (DDS) Development Division.

The collaboration agreement between the CNSI and NOF, signed on Dec. 15 by Weiss and Kobayashi, also marks the beginning of the Frontier Research Program, an industry-affiliated research initiative at the CNSI.

The program is designed to promote close interdisciplinary research collaborations between diverse industries and researchers at UCLA and focuses on novel technologies for the nanodelivery of drug therapies. In the future, the Frontier program aims to cover activities in three main areas of research: information technology, including nanolectronics, computation and information technology; green technology, including water, solar and other technologies; and human health and the environment, including nanomedicine, health care devices and nano-safety.

NOF Corp., headquartered in Tokyo, was incorporated in 1937 and has become Japan's leading oleochemicals group, producing a highly diversified range of products. NOF pursues multi-faceted business development in eight divisions, based on its own technologies, with the aim of creating new values in a broad spectrum. The company focuses in particular on the areas of life sciences, electronics and information, and energy and the environment.

The California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA is an integrated research center operating jointly at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara whose mission is to foster interdisciplinary collaborations for discoveries in nanosystems and nanotechnology; to train the next generation of scientists, educators and technology leaders; and to facilitate partnerships with industry, fueling economic development and the social well-being of California, the United States and the world. The CNSI was established in 2000 with $100 million from the state of California and an additional $250 million in federal research grants and industry funding. At the institute, scientists in the areas of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, mathematics, computational science and engineering are measuring, modifying and manipulating the building blocks of our world — atoms and molecules. These scientists benefit from an integrated laboratory culture enabling them to conduct dynamic research at the nanoscale, leading to significant breakthroughs in the areas of health, energy, the environment and information technology.