Nanotechnology scientists at UALR (University of Arkansas at Little Rock) and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will present a briefing at 10 a.m. CDT Monday, May 18, on a new discovery in the fight to eradicate cancer. The discovery has promise for a new generation of treatment options beyond surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.  The briefing will be in Room D of the Donaghey Student Center at UALR.

The briefing will be available on a live streaming webcast through UStream. To watch, click on this link before the 10 a.m. briefing begins: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Nanotechnology-Press-Briefing-18-May-2009. To participate with questions or comments, visit www.Ustream.com and click on “sign up” and set up a free account in advance. When it’s time to watch the briefing and join the discussion, click on the link above.

Researchers Dr. Alex Biris and Dr. Vladimir P. Zharov will describe their collaborative findings of what is believed to be the first demonstration of the real time detection, tracking, and killing cancer cells in live tissue with the use of carbon nanotubes.

Biris is chief scientist at the UALR Nanotechnology Center and research assistant professor of applied science in UALR’s Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT). Zharov is professor and director of the Phillips Classic Laser Laboratories in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS.

Their paper, recently published in the Journal of Biomedical Optics, describes their findings. Unlike recent nanotechnology research at other universities, their work maps nanotubes and how they circulate in live animals in real time.

Biris and Zharov will be describing their work and its potential applications.

For more information contact: Joan I. Duffy, Office of Communications, at 501.569.8600; jiduffy@ualr.edu; @JIDuffy