The National Science Foundation’s Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems recently extended a Nanoscale Interactions Program grant for UW-Madison Materials Science and Engineering Assistant Professor and Grainger Institute for Engineering Fellow Jiamian Hu.
Hu serves as principal investigator for the project titled “Magnetic-field Control of Ionic Bonds on Polar Surfaces by Design,” which includes co-principal investigators Chang-Beom Eom, Raymond R. Holton Chair for Engineering and Theodore H. Geballe Professor from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Alexei Gruverman, Charles Bessey Professor of Physics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The grant extension, which runs from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023, will total close to $800,000 over three years. The grant supports Hu’s research into a novel magnetic drug delivery system in which special nanoscale ferromagnetic particles are able to deliver precise doses of drugs to affected organs. It’s hoped that this type of targeted delivery could help avoid the systemic side effects of chemotherapy and other powerful drugs.