Nanomedicine Research Lab

Design With the Scale in Mind

Nanomedicine Manufacturing Laboratory (NML) is a research and development laboratory specializing in nanomaterials and biomaterials for imaging, oxygen delivery, and drug delivery, with a core emphasis on scalable manufacturing and Quality-by-Design (QbD).

Led by Dr. Jelena M. Janjic, the Nanomedicine Manufacturing Laboratory develops colloidal nanosystems and implantable biomaterials that support molecular imaging modalities, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and near-infrared fluorescence; biosensing, drug delivery; oxygen delivery; and theranostic nanomaterials, used for local and parenteral administration or as implantable biomaterials.

A major barrier to the advancement of nanotechnology-based therapeutics is not conceptual innovation but manufacturability, cost, and quality control. The Nanomedicine Manufacturing Laboratory addresses these challenges by incorporating manufacturing process design, scalability, and quality control at the earliest stages of material design. Over the past decade, the laboratory has established robust, reproducible, and cost-effective nanomedicine manufacturing methods by applying QbD frameworks, enabling reliable scale-up and controlled performance.

nanomed group — Photo (left to right): Top row: Smith, Amit, Lynn, Dr. J, Newaj, Diponkor, Lu; Bottom row: Pinky, Sanjida, Vidya, Riddhi

Using this approach, the Nanomedicine Manufacturing Laboratory has delivered advances including imaging-supported nanomedicines for trauma and surgical pain, oxygen-carrying nanomaterials with integrated imaging for real-time tracking during organ and limb preservation, longitudinal immunomonitoring in non-human primate and porcine models using clinical-grade imaging systems, and functional recovery following local and systemic nanomedicine implantation in nerve injury models.

In parallel, the Nanomedicine Manufacturing Laboratory designs and manufactures biocompatible, multi-drug delivery hydrogels and biomaterials for applications including neuroregeneration, local immunosuppression, and wound healing. Laboratory processes have been scaled to multi-liter batch production and evaluated in human organ/tissue preservation trials, demonstrating performance beyond benchtop conditions.

The laboratory鈥檚 work is supported by the U.S. Air Force, the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), and ARPA-H through collaborative programs spanning academia, industry, and government. The Nanomedicine Manufacturing Laboratory operates at the intersection of materials science, manufacturing, and translational medicine, with a focus on developing innovative nanomedicines and biomaterials that translate into accessible, cost-effective future treatments for civilian and military medical needs.

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In the News

2025 Nanomedicine Lab Making Big Strides with Tiny Particles
2024 福利免费毛片 has received a new $1.5 million grant that will expand research into using nanoparticle technology to preserve human limbs for transplantation surgeries.
2022 鈥溾€� 福利免费毛片 Times
2021 鈥�Nanotechnology May Help Improve Organ Transplantation Outcomes鈥� 福利免费毛片 Times and McGowan Institute newsletter
2020 Article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
2020 Article in the 福利免费毛片 Times: 鈥淩esearcher Helps Lead Nanomedicine Effort in Transplantation鈥�
Jelena Janjic is the Invited Speaker for 鈥淩ipple Effect鈥� Main Conference, March 30, 2019 鈥�
2018 Interview with Joe Palca, NPR: Joe's Big Idea

2018 Highlights from the American Pain Society Scientific Summit: A session at the March 4-6, 2018, event featured animal studies on macrophage-targeted nanomedicine by Ashley Cowie on 29 May 2018
2018 (Channel 4 News)
2018 鈥溾€� By Joaquin Gonzalez, April 3, 2018 NPR, WESA interview
2017 Interview for the podcast Regenerative Medicine Today - Janjic -
2014 鈥湼＠夥衙� Professors Collaborate to Pioneer Research On Chronic Pain鈥� September 23, 2014
福利免费毛片 Magazine, Fall 2014 鈥淲here Does It Hurt? New Processes Development by 福利免费毛片鈥檚 Chronic Pain Consortium Could Provide the Answer鈥� April 16, 2014, 福利免费毛片 University News
2014 鈥淕ot Collaboration? New Provost Award Encourages Interdisciplinary Research鈥� 福利免费毛片 Times April 9, 2014
2012 鈥淕rant Funds Chronic Pain Study at 福利免费毛片,鈥� 福利免费毛片 News, February 1, 2012

Publications

Patel S, Pinky PP, Das AC, Copus JS, Aardema C, Crelli C, Troidle A, Lambert E, McCallin R, Surti V, et al. . Pharmaceutics. 2026; 18(2):143.
Das, A.C.; Reddy, G.A.; Newaj, S.M.; Patel, S.; Vichare, R.; Liu, L.; Janjic, J.M. . Pharmaceutics 2025, 17, 1010. (cover page article) - The research originated from the GPSC508 course student project.
Riddhi Vichare and Jelena M. Janjic,*&苍产蝉辫;鈥�Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsions in Drug Delivery: Design, Development and Manufacturing鈥� Theranostics. 2025 Feb 10;15(7):3013鈥�3034.
Riddhi Vichare, Yalcin Kulahci, Rebecca McCallin, Fatih Zor, Fatma Nurefsan Selek, Lu Liu, Caitlin Crelli, Anneliese Troidle, Michele Herneisey, James M. Nichols, Andrew J. Shepherd, Vijay Gorantla, Jelena M. Janjic* 鈥溾€� Theranostic nanoemulsions suppress macrophage-mediated acute inflammation in rats. J Nanobiotechnol 2025, 23, 80
Srishti, Sanjida Ahmed, Paromita Paul Pinky, Ryan Taylor, Jacob Guess, Natasha Karlik, and Jelena M. Janjic* "" Pharmaceutics 2024, 16, no. 12: 1487. The research originated from the GPSC508 course student project.
AC Das, JM Nichols, CV Crelli, L Liu, R Vichare, HV Pham, CM Gaffney, FR Cherry, PM Grace, AJ Shepherd*, JM Janjic* 鈥淚njectable, reversibly thermoresponsive captopril-laden hydrogel for the local treatment of sensory loss in diabetic neuropathy鈥� Scientific Reports 2024, 14, Article number: 18978
I Cortez, CM Gaffney, R Vichare, CV Crelli, L Liu, E Lee, J Edralin, J M Nichols, HVu Pham, S Mehdi, JM Janjic*, Andrew J Shepherd* 鈥淣euromuscular Polytrauma Pain is Resolved by Macrophage COX-2 Nanoimmunomodulation鈥� International Journal of Nanomedicine 2024, 7253-7271
Ibdanelo Cortez, Caitlyn M. Gaffney, Caitlin V. Crelli, Eric Lee, James M. Nichols, Hoang Vu Pham, Syed Mehdi, Jelena M. Janjic* and Andrew J. Shepherd*"Sustained Pain and Macrophage Infiltration in a Mouse Muscle Contusion Model" Muscle and Nerve 2024 69(1):103-114. doi: 10.1002/mus.28001 (IF: 3.852)
A Gorantla, JTVE Hall, A Troidle, JM Janjic* 鈥淏iomaterials for Protein Delivery: Opportunities and Challenges to Clinical Translation鈥� 2024 Micromachines 15 (4), 533 (invited review)
Janjic, J. M.*, McCallin, R., Liu, L., Crelli, C., Das, A. C. and Troidle, A. 鈥淚n vitro Quality Assessments of Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsions for Near-infrared Fluorescence Imaging of Inflammation in Preclinical Models鈥� 2023 Bio-protocol 13(19): e4842. DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.4842. (invited paper)
van Heeswijk RB, Bauer WR, B枚nner F, Janjic JM, Mulder WJM, Schreiber LM, Schwitter J, Fl枚gel U. 鈥淐ardiovascular molecular imaging with fluorine-19 MRI 鈥� the road to the clinic鈥� Circulation Cardiovasc Imaging. 2023, 16(9):e014742.(IF: 39.92) (invited expert review)
Vichare R, Crelli C, Liu L, Das AC, McCallin R, Zor F, Kulahci Y, Gorantla VS, Janjic JM* 鈥淎 Reversibly Thermoresponsive, Theranostic Nanoemulgel for Tacrolimus Delivery to Activated Macrophages: Formulation and In Vitro Validation鈥� 2023;15(10):2372. (IF:6.525), invited paper for a special issue
Vichare R, Crelli C, Liu L, McCallin R, Cowan A, Stratimirovic S, Herneisey M, Pollock JA, Janjic JM* 鈥淔olate-conjugated near-infrared fluorescent perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions as theranostics for activated macrophage COX-2 inhibition鈥� Scientific Reports 2023, 13(1):15229. (IF:4.997)
B Deal, K Phillips, C Crelli, JM Janjic*, JA Pollock 鈥淩NA-Seq Reveals Sex Differences in Gene Expression during Peripheral Neuropathic Inflammation and in Pain Relief from a COX-2 Inhibiting Theranostic Nanoemulsion鈥� International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2023, 24 (11), 9163 (IF: 6.208)
M Herneisey and JM Janjic* 鈥淢ultiple Linear Regression Predictive Modeling of Colloidal and Fluorescence Stability of Theranostic Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsions鈥� Pharmaceutics 2023, 15 (4), 1103 (IF:6.525)
Deal, L. Raynolds, C. Patterson, J.M. Janjic and J. A. Pollock* 鈥淏ehavioral and inflammatory sex differences revealed by celecoxib nanotherapeutic treatment of peripheral neuroinflammation鈥� Scientific Reports 2022, 12, 8472 (IF:4.997)
Vichare and J. M. Janjic* 鈥淢acrophage-Targeted Nanomedicines for ARDS/ALI: Promise and Potential鈥� Inflammation 2022, 45 (6), 2124-2141
M Balogh, JM Janjic*, AJ Shepherd* 鈥淭argeting Neuroimmune Interactions in Diabetic Neuropathy with Nanomedicine鈥� Antioxidants & redox signaling 2022, 36 (1-3), 122-143 (invited review article) (IF:6.6)
Charaschanya, T.S. Maskrey, M.G. LaPorte, J.M. Janjic*, and P.Wipf* 鈥淪ynthesis and Optimization of Nitroxide-Based Inhibitors of Ferroptotic Cell Death in Cancer Cells and Macrophages鈥� ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2022, 13 (3), 403-408 (IF:4.632)
JM Nichols, CV Crelli, L Liu, HV Pham, JM Janjic*, AJ Shepherd* 鈥淭racking macrophages in diabetic neuropathy with two-color nanoemulsions for near-infrared fluorescent imaging and microscopy鈥� Journal of Neuroinflammation (2021), Vo. 18, Article number: 299 (IF: 9.3)
SKR Adena, M. Herneisey, E. Pierce, PR Hartmeier, S. Adlakha, MA Hosfeld, JK Drennen, JM Janjic* 鈥淨uality by Design Methodology Applied to Process Optimization and Scale up of Curcumin Nanoemulsions Produced by Catastrophic Phase Inversion鈥� Pharmaceutics, 2021, Vol 13(6), 880 (IF:6.525)
Lambert and J.M. Janjic* 鈥�Quality by design approach identifies critical parameters driving oxygen delivery performance in vitro for perfluorocarbon based artificial oxygen carriers鈥� Scientific Reports 2021, 11, Article number: 5569 (IF:4.997)
M Herneisey, PF Salcedo, T Domenech, C Bagia, SS George, R Tunney, S. Velankar, T.K. Hitchens, M. Janjic* 鈥�Design of thermoresponsive polyamine cross-linked perfluoropolyether hydrogels for imaging and delivery applications鈥� ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2020 (10^th Anniversary Special Edition, invited manuscript); Vol. 11, 10, 2032鈥�2040 (IF:4.632)
Stevens, M. Saleem, B. Deal, J.M. Janjic, J.A. Pollock.* "Targeted COX-2 inhibiting nanomedicine results in pain-relief and differential expression of the RNA transcriptome in the dorsal root ganglia of injured male rats". Molecular Pain, 2020 Volume 16: 1鈥�19 (IF:3.37)
L Liu, H Karagoz, M Herneisey, F Zor, T Komatsu, S Loftus, BM Janjic, VS Gorantla and JM Janjic* 鈥淪ex Differences Revealed in a Mouse CFA Inflammation Model with Macrophage Targeted Nanotheranostics鈥� Theranostics 2020, 10 (4), 1694 (IF:12.4)
F Zor, H Karagoz, H Kapucu, Y Kulahci, JM Janjic, VS Gorantla* 鈥淚mmunological considerations and concerns as pertinent to whole eye transplantation鈥� Current opinion in organ transplantation 2019, 24 (6), 726-732
Stevens AM, Liu L, Bertovich D, Janjic JM, Pollock JA*. Differential Expression of Neuroinflammatory mRNAs in the Rat Sciatic Nerve Following Chronic Constriction Injury and Pain-Relieving Nanoemulsion NSAID Delivery to Infiltrating Macrophages. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Oct 24;20(21). pii: E5269. doi: 10.3390/ijms20215269.
JM Janjic* and VS Gorantla 鈥�Nanomedicine: new hope for transplant paradigms lost?鈥� Nanomedicine 2019, 14 (20), 2645-2649: Foreword to Special Issue 鈥淣anomedicine in Organ Transplantation and Regenerative Surgery鈥揂dvances, Applications, and Future Directions鈥� Nanomedicine, November, 2019, Co-Edited by. V.S. Gorantla and J.M. Janjic
Lambert, V. Gorantla, J.M. Janjic* 鈥溾€� Nanomedicine 2019, Published Online:28 Oct 2019 Part of Special Issue 鈥淣anomedicinein Organ Transplantation and Regenerative Surgery鈥揂dvances, Applications, and Future Directions鈥� Nanomedicine, November, 2019, Co-Edited by. V.S. Gorantla and J.M. Janjic
M Saleem, B Deal, E. Nehl, JM Janjic, JA Pollock* 鈥淣anomedicine-driven neuropathic pain relief in a rat model is associated with macrophage polaritry and mast cell activation.鈥� Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2019. 7, Article number: 108
Herneisey, E.Lambert, A. Kachel, E. Shychuck, J. K. Drennen III and J.M. Janjic* 鈥溾€� Molecules 2019, 24(11), 2066; The research originated from the GPSC508 course student project.
M Saleem, AM Stevens, B Deal, L Liu, J Janjic, JA Pollock* 鈥淎 New Best Practice for Validating Tail Vein Injections in Rat with Near-infrared-Labeled Agents.鈥� Journal of visualized experiments: JoVE 2019 (146), e59295, doi:10.3791/59295
M. Janjic 鈥�Inflammation Targeted Nanomedicine: A perspective on the promise and potential of biomedical technologies for pain diagnosis and management.鈥� (Invited Article) Practical Pain Management 2019, Vol (19), Issue 1, pages: 33-35
Lambert, J.M. Janjic* 鈥淢ultiple Linear Regression Applied to Predicting Droplet Size of Complex Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsions for Biomedical Applications鈥� Pharmaceutical Development and Technology 2019, 24, 700-710
Herneisey, L. Liu, E. Lambert, N. Schmitz, S. Loftus, and J.M. Janjic* AAPS PharmSciTech 2019, 20: 65.
M. Janjic* and V.S. Gorantla* 鈥� 2018, 5 (4), 369-372
M. Janjic*, K. Vasudeva, M. Saleem, L. Liu, S.K. Patel, A. Stevens, J.A. Pollock* 鈥溾€� Journal of Neuroimmunology 2018, (The first Theranostic Pain Nanomedicine)
M. Janjic* and V. Gorantla "", Proc. SPIE 10508, Reporters, Markers, Dyes, Nanoparticles, and Molecular Probes for Biomedical Applications X, 1050803 (20 February 2018); doi: 10.1117/12.2289288
M. Janjic* and V. Gorantla 鈥淧eripheral Nerve Nano-Imaging: Monitoring Treatment and Regeneration鈥� 2017, AAPS J. Sep;19(5), 1304-1316 (invited review)
Herneisey, M., Williams, J., Mirtic, J., Liu, L., Potdar, S., Bagia, C., Cavanaugh, J.E., Janjic, J.M.* Development and characterization of resveratrol nanoemulsions carrying dual-imaging agents Therapeutic Delivery 2016, 7 (12), 795-808
BJ Kolber, JM Janjic, JA Pollock, KJ Tidgewell Summer undergraduate research: A new pipeline for pain clinical practice and research BMC Medical Education 2016 (1), 16:135 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-016-0648-7
Janjic, J.M.*, Berlec, A., Bagia, C., Liu, L.S., Jeric, I., Gach, M., Janjic, B.M., Strukelj, B.NIR and MR imaging supported hydrogel based delivery system for anti-TNF alpha probiotic therapy of IBD (2016) Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE, 9723, art. no. 972309
Liu, Bagia, C., Janjic, J.M.* 鈥淭he First Scale up Production of Theranostic Nanoemulsions鈥� Bioresearch Open Access 2015, 4(1): 218-228. (Invited Paper)
Patel, S.K., Beaino, W., Anderson, C.J., Janjic, M.* Theranostic Nanoemulsions for Macrophage COX-2 Inhibition in a Murine Inflammation Model Clinical Immunology 2015, 160, 59-70.
K. Patel and J.M. Janjic* 鈥�Macrophage Targeted Theranostics as Personalized Nanomedicine Strategies for Inflammatory Diseases鈥� Theranostics 2015, (2), 150
Vasudeva, K., Vodovotz, Y., Azhar, N., Barclay, D., Janjic, M., Pollock, J.A.* 鈥淚n Vivo and Systems Biology Studies Implicate IL-18 as a Central Mediator in Chronic Pain鈥� Journal of Neuroimmunology 2015, 283, 43-49
Wen, Y., Liu, W., Bagia, , Zhang, S., Bai, M., Janjic, J.M., Giannoukakis, N., Gawalt, E. S., Meng, W.S.* 鈥淎ntibody-Functionalized Peptidic Membranes for Neutralization of Allogeneic Skin Antigen-Presenting Cells鈥� Acta Biomaterialia 2014, 10 (11), 4759-4767
Jia, N., Zhang, S., Shao, P., Bagia, C., Janjic, M., Ding, Y. and Bai, M.* 鈥淐annabinoid CB2 Receptor as a New Phototherapy Target for Inhibition of Tumor Growth.鈥� Molecular Pharmaceutics 2014, 11 (6), 1919鈥�1929
Janjic, M.*, Shao, P., Zhang, S., Yang, X., Patel, S.K., Bai, M.* 鈥淧erfluorocarbon nanoemulsions with fluorescent, colloidal and magnetic properties鈥� Biomaterials 2014, 35 (18), 4958-4968
Mountain, G.A., Jelier, B.J., Bagia, C., Friesen, C.M., Janjic, J.M. * 鈥淒esign and formulation of nanoemulsions using 2-(poly (hexafluoropropylene oxide)) perfluoropropyl benzene in combination with linear perfluoro (polyethylene glycol dimethyl ether)鈥�Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 2014, 162, 38鈥�44
Vasudeva, K. Andersen, B. Zeyzus-Johns, T.K. Hitchens, S.K. Patel, A. Balducci, J.M. Janjic, J. A. Pollock* 鈥淚maging Neuroinflammation In Vivo in a Neuropathic Pain Rat Model with Near-Infrared Fluorescence and 19F Magnetic Resonance鈥� PloS one 2014, 9 (2), e90589
J. Patrick^楼, J.M. Janjic^楼, H. Teng, M.R. O'Hear, C.W. Brown, J.A. Stokum, B.F. Schmidt, E.T. Ahrens*, A.S. Waggoner 鈥淚ntracellular pH measurements using perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions鈥� Journal of the American Chemical Society 2013, 135 (49), 18445-18457. (^楼Co-first authors)
K. Patel, J. Williams, J.M. Janjic* 鈥淐ell labeling for ¹⁹F MRI: New and Improved Approach to Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsion Design鈥� Biosensors 2013, 3(3), 341-359 (open access)
K. Patel, M.J. Patrick, J.A. Pollock, J.M. Janjic* 鈥淭wo-color fluorescent (near-infrared and visible) triphasic perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions鈥� Journal of Biomedical Optics 2013, 18 (10), 101312,
M. Janjic*, S.K. Patel, M.J. Patrick, J.A. Pollock, E. DiVito, M. Cascio 鈥淪uppressing inflammation from inside out with novel NIR visible perfluorocarbon nanotheranostics鈥� (Invited Paper) Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE 2013, 8596, art. no. 85960L
S.K. Patel, Y. Zhang, J.A. Pollock, J.M. Janjic* "Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibiting Perfluoropoly (ethylene glycol) ether Theranostic Nanoemulsions - In Vitro Study" PloS one 2013, 8(2):e55802.