Associate Professor
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME), Department of Medical Imaging
University of Toronto
Naomi Matsuura is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. She is jointly-appointed between the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME), and she is also cross-appointed to the Department of Medical Imaging in the Faculty of Medicine.
Prof. Matsuura leads a research program at the intersection of nanoengineering and medicine, focusing on the design of new contrast agents to guide the imaging and treatment of cancer. Her current research interests include engineering new agents with specific sizes and material properties to enhance their interaction with radiation, such that they can be remotely ‘activated’ using medical imaging sources, externally from the patient. Such contrast agents may facilitate more focused and targeted delivery of cancer therapies to tumours for higher therapeutic ratios and can permit the treatment of hard-to-access organs like the brain in a minimally-invasive manner.
As a Canadian Institute of Health Research strategic training fellow, Prof. Matsuura was awarded the prestigious John Charles Polanyi Prize in 2007, following her work as head of a nanotechnology program in the imaging department of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She was recipient of a NSERC Discovery Accelerator Award, and an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. Prof. Matsuura is also active in international teaching and research at the intersection of materials science, biomaterials, nanotechnology and medicine, and is the Chair of the WMIS Women in Molecular Imaging Network (WIMIN) Leadership Committee, an international committee that works to advance women in molecular imaging sciences.