Join us to celebrate a special milestone for our new professors and hear about their inspiring career journeys. Doors for this event will open at 16.45, with the lectures to commence at 17.00. A drinks reception will be held immediately after the lecture at 18:00.

Professor Tomoki Arichi

Baby Blobology: a window into activity in the developing human brain

Abstract

In the weeks leading up to and following birth, the human brain undergoes a dramatic yet highly programmed sequence of maturation during which activity emerges and its supporting framework of lifelong connections are established. Functional MRI(fMRI) holds great promise for allowing detailed studies of how activity in the brain emerges and contributes to development. Through taking into account developmental differences in brain physiology and improved methodology, we have found that even in the newborn period, the human brain is capable of processing a wide variety of stimuli and that this processing is considerably more complex than initially thought. Much like the structure of the brain, we see that this activity rapidly matures in the time around birth and find evidence that this process is both shaped by experience and altered by disease.

Biography

Professor Arichi is an MRC Senior Clinical Fellow and Head of the Research Department of Early Life Imaging, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences at KCL.  He received his PhD from Imperial College London in 2012, following the award of a Chain-Florey Fellowship from the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre. The work of his thesis focused on the optimisation of functional MRI techniques for studying the emergence of brain activity in the newborn brain. He was appointed as an MRC Clinician Scientist in March 2017. Prof. Arichi is also a Consultant in Paediatric Neurodisability at the Evelina London Children's Hospital where his clinical work focuses on the early identification and resulting management of the disabilities associated with perinatal brain injury.

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Professor Maya Thanou

Activatable nanoparticles

Abstract

Nanoparticles are transforming the detection and treatment of cancer. Their unique biodistribution and ability to carry high drug loads enable them to identify lesions and deliver drugs efficiently. Composed of multiple functional components, nanoparticles provide properties that conventional drugs or biologicals cannot achieve.

My team develops lipid-based nanoparticles incorporating imaging agents, responsive lipids, and therapeutic payloads. These nanoparticles are combined with advanced imaging techniques like MRI and non-invasive activation methods such as focused ultrasound or microwaves. Imaging allows us to track the nanoparticles within lesions, while ultrasound or microwaves interact with and activate them to release their therapeutic cargo.

This approach enables us to selectively treat tumors using lower drug doses, minimising adverse effects. We have successfully tested these nanoparticles and demonstrated their ability to selectively treat triple-negative breast cancers and brain tumors.

Biography

Maya Thanou is a Professor at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science and Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She finished her PhD at Leiden University, The Netherlands in 2000. In 2002 she became a Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Cardiff University. In 2004 she joined Imperial College London, as a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow. Maya joined King’s College London in 2009 as a Senior Lecturer. In her research, she is developing nanoparticles for cancer detection and targeted drug delivery. She is the vice chair of the British Society for Nanomedicine. She is the inventor of ten patents. In 2017 she co-founded the AJMmed-i-caps that develops products for colorectal cancer. In 2020 she co-founded Apeikon Therapeutics which develops activatable nanoparticles. She is an academic researcher and innovator.