M.S. (Summa Cum Laude) Biomedical Engineering, Technion, Israel, 2002
     B. Pharm. Pharmacy (Summa Cum Laude), Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel 2000
          

Research Activities:

Topic Area: Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (MION) as a Drug Carrier

Development of a drug delivery system for controlled target site accumulation and subsequent cell internalization would be a huge step in improvement of cancer drug therapy. Such a system would be of particular benefit in the therapy of brain tumors. Brain tumors are one of the most lethal forms of cancer. They are extremely difficult to treat. Traditionally, brain tumors are treated by surgical excision combined with radiotherapy and sometimes followed by chemotherapy. The prognosis, however, remains extremely poor in spite of the aggressive treatment schedules. For example, the median survival of patients with malignant gliomas, the most common primary brain tumor, is only about 12 months .

Even though many potent chemotherapeutic agents are now available, their delivery to the site of action within the tumor is hampered by a host of barriers. Thus, design of strategies for safe and effective delivery of drugs to brain tumors remains an ongoing challenge of chemotherapy. The aim of this project is to design a novel multi-component platform for selective delivery of drugs into brain tumor cells. The system is based on a clinically used MRI contrast agent MION (magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles) and combines targeting and prodrug features with MRI observability. The accumulation of the inactive system at the tumor site is induced by ''magnetic targeting'' approach and monitored by non-invasive MR imaging. Once the system reaches the target site, it is activated by an externally applied trigger. The platform is not limited to delivery of small hydrophobic drugs and can also be applied to deliver hydrophilic macromolecules, insusc! eptible to the mechanisms of multidrug resistance. If proves feasible, the proposed system could offer the effective, selective, safe and yet minimally invasive treatment for brain tumors.

Recent Honors:

Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship
Elizabeth Broomfield Award
Fred W. Lyons Fellowship

Publications:

Beata Chertok , Bradford A Moffat , Allan E David , Faquan Yu , Christian Bergemann , Brian D Ross , Victor C Yang. Iron Oxide nanoparticles as a drug delivery vehicle for MRI monitored magnetic targeting of brain tumors. Biomaterials, 2007 Oct. 25

Beata Chertok , Allan E David , Yongzhuo Huang , Victor C Yang. Glioma selectivity of magnetically targeted nanoparticles: A role of abnormal tumor hydrodynamics. J Control Release, 2007 June 2.

Presentations:

''Magnetic nanoparticles for possible simultaneous MR imaging and drug therapy of brain tumors'' (Poster).Beata Chertok, Bradford A. Moffat, Allan E. David and Victor C. Yang Particles 2006, Orlando FL, May 13-16, 2006

''Magnetic Resonance Imaging of magnetically targeted nanoparticle accumulation in an orthotopic 9L gliosarcoma brain tumor model'' (Proffered Talk). Beata Chertok, Victor C. Yang and Bradford A. Moffat. The Fifth Annual Meeting of the Society for Molecular Imaging, Hilton Waikoloa Village, Waikoloa, Hawaii, August 30 - September 2, 2006

''Magnetic nanoparticles as a promising, MRI-visible platform for brain tumor drug delivery'' (Poster)Beata Chertok, Bradford A. Moffat, Allan E. David and Victor C. Yang AAPS Annual Meeting, San Antonio TX, October 29 - November 2, 2006

''Glioma accumulation of magnetically targeted iron oxide nanoparticles : hydrodynamics versus magnetics'' (Poster). Beata Chertok, Bradford A. Moffat, Allan E. David and Victor C. Yang.  13^th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Drug Delivery Systems, Salt Lake City, Utah, February 26-28, 2007

Brief Biography:

Beata was born in Russia and completed her schooling in Israel before coming to the United States.