Medicine should help you, not cause harm. But what if the latest trend in medicine – nano-bio – could be harmful to your health?

Dr. Kartik Ghosh studies the characteristics of nanoparticles. He wants to find out which ones work with the human body, instead of against it.

It’s especially important in this field. These nanomaterials are attached to medical applications or drugs. Then the medicine goes directly to the affected part of the body.

Like a therapy sent to cancer cells, for instance.

“When nanomaterials are attached to the body, the body may not be able to take it. It might be toxic,” said Ghosh, professor of physics at Missouri State University.

In fall 2017, he took a sabbatical to study alongside colleagues in India at the S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences. He built a network of collaborators for projects he can continue at his MSU lab.

“The world is facing a lot of biological issues,” said Ghosh. “We’re looking at how nanotechnology can be useful in real world biomedical or biosensing applications.”