NANOTHERANOSTICS FOR PERSONALIZED MEDICINE

RESEARCH TOPICS

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PROF. RACHELA POPOVTZER

Prof. Rachela Popovtzer is Head of the Laboratory of Nanotheranostics for Personalized Medicine in the Faculty of Engineering, and a member of the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, at Bar Ilan University. She has previously served as Vice Dean and head of the Bioengineering Track in the Faculty of Engineering, and was a visiting Professor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY. She is also the founder and CTO of Nanocarry Therapeutics. Prof. Popovtzer is a winner of numerous international biomedical grants and awards. She has recently been awarded the prestegious European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant, to lead research on a novel nanoplatform for delivery of CRISPR to the brain, to treat rare genetic diseases. She has also been awarded 8 million Euro from the European Union's Horizon 2020 program, to scientifically lead a European consortium focused on developing multimodal nanoparticles for non-invasive tracking of therapeutic stem cells for muscle regeneration. Prof. Popovtzer has won additional grants from the NIH, Germany-Israel Foundation (GIF), Israel Science Foundation, Israel Innovation Authority, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Featured publication

Trimodal Nanoparticle Contrast Agent for CT, MRI and SPECT Imaging:
Synthesis and Characterization of Radiolabeled Core/Shell Iron Oxide@Gold Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles have emerged as promising contrast agents for various imaging applications. In our recent paper, we demonstrated synthesis and characterization of a novel hybrid nano-structure, consisting of an iron oxide@gold nanoparticle, labeled with technetium-99m, for trimodal SPECT/CT/MRI imaging. The particles showed efficient capabilities as a CT/MRI imaging agent, and high radiochemical yield, indicating a potential single hybrid material for multimodal SPECT/CT/MRI.

The project was funded by the European Union Horizon Research and Innovation Program;
https://www.n-track.eu/
Published in Chemistry Letters; doi.org/10.1246/cl.180780.

Our new paper is out! Led by Dr. Adi Anaki, “Bispecific Gold Nanoparticles Enhance Therapeutic Efficacy in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer” is now published in Nanomedicine Therapeutics.

September 2026

Our new paper is out! Led by Dr. Adi Anaki, “Bispecific Gold Nanoparticles Enhance Therapeutic Efficacy in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer” is now published in Nanomedicine Therapeutics.

More news 
Congratulations to our PhD student Roman Radus on being selected for the prestigious German-Israeli Cancer Research School! 🎉👏
A fantastic achievement and a well-deserved opportunity. Wishing you lots of success and a great experience!

September 2026

Congratulations to our PhD student Roman Radus on being selected for the prestigious German-Israeli Cancer Research School! 🎉👏
A fantastic achievement and a well-deserved opportunity. Wishing you lots of success and a great experience!

More news 

Join us

Thanks for your interest!
We always have room for excellent, passionate and motivated students!
Outstanding graduate students with background in Chemistry and/or Engineering and/or Biology are welcome to send an email to rachela.popovtzer@gmail.com

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