Pedro M. Valencia
Langer Lab, Koch Institute
Transmission Electron Micrograph

"These nanoparticles were synthesized using a novel microfluidic platform developed in our lab that enables the reproducible, controlled and high-throughput synthesis of uniform polymeric nanoparticles – which has not been seen in commonly used bulk synthesis methods.  When I took this image, I wanted to see how the nanoparticles I prepared really look like and if they matched the results obtained from other methods of measuring nanoparticle size such as dynamic light scattering (DLS).  

My research goal is to develop technologies to synthesize homogenous polymeric nanoparticles in a reproducible, high-throughput manner. Such technologies could potentially accelerate the discovery of nanoparticles and their clinical translation from bench side to bedside. The image I took was the first one showing I could make remarkable nanoparticles with our recently developed microfluidic technology."