Daniel A. Heller, Ph.D.

Brain tumors are notoriously hard to treat. One reason is the challenge posed by the blood-brain barrier, a network of blood vessels and tissue with closely spaced cells. The barrier forms a tight seal to protect the brain from harmful substances, but it also prevents most drugs from getting to brain tissue. This severely limits therapies that can be used for brain tumors.

Now, a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) team led by Sloan Kettering Institute biomedical engineer Daniel Heller, PhD, in collaboration with Praveen Raju, MD, PhD, a pediatric neurologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, may have found a way to carry drugs across the blood-brain barrier using nanoparticles — tiny objects with diameters one-thousandth that of a human hair. The researchers showed that this approach could work in mouse models of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant (cancerous) pediatric brain tumor… Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the election of Daniel A. Heller, Ph.D., to its College of Fellows. Dr. Heller was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for outstanding contributions to nanotechnology for drug delivery and biosensors.

The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers in the country. The most accomplished and distinguished engineering and medical school chairs, research directors, professors, innovators, and successful entrepreneurs comprise the College of Fellows. AIMBE Fellows are regularly recognized for their contributions in teaching, research, and innovation. AIMBE Fellows have been awarded the Nobel Prize, the Presidential Medal of Science and the Presidential Medal of Technology and Innovation and many also are members of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences… Continue reading.