ANDREW LYON
As the anthrax attacks of 2001 showed, determining which biological or chemical agents were used in an attack can be a very slow process. The faster authorities can detect what was dispersed, the faster they can treat those who were exposed. Andrew Lyon is working to help them speed up that process.
He is developing tunable hydrogel microlenses that instantly change their focal length in the presence of certain proteins or small molecules. Looking at the focal length of the lenses, authorities could determine which agents, if any, were used, reducing the amount of time required to administer medical attention.
Using the same materials, Lyon is also trying to take the pain out of chemotherapy. He's developed a class of particles called core/shell nanogels that are designed to infiltrate tumor cells and kill them from the inside.
Tumor cells are thirsty for folic acid and have an overexpression of receptors for the vitamin on their surface. Using a Trojan horse approach, Lyon coats the nanogels with folic acid, which the tumor cells eagerly invite inside. When the nanogels are in place, an oncologist can apply heat to the tumor mass in the form of ultrasound, starting a chain of events that results in the death of the tumor.
"If there's a way to specifically target medicine to the site of disease, that makes this potential treatment all the more effective because presumably you could use smaller doses and avoid the collateral damage that occurs during traditional chemotherapy," said Lyon.
Lyon is a 1999 National Science Foundation CAREER award winner. He received his doctoral and master's degrees from Northwestern University in 1996 and 1993, respectively. He came to Tech in 1999.
