BANTech

Welcome/Feature

BANTech is an interdisciplinary program that integrates nanomaterials research with cell biology and bioscience research (i.e., bionanoscience) at the University of Idaho (UI). This program draws researchers and students from the Colleges of Science, Agricultural and Life Sciences, Engineering, and Business. It focuses on research in the areas of infectious disease, gene therapy, and biosensors built upon the platform of nanomaterials. New interdisciplinary graduate courses will be developed that will allow the researchers to train graduate students in several science disciplines. The outcome will be a research-driven, interdisciplinary graduate degree program. Furthermore, the program will work to develop intellectual property and potential startup companies based on the three research foci. This initiative will facilitate the growth of the UI into research and education that will be in high demand over the next decade and beyond. The goals of this program are summarized as follows:

1. Develop interdisciplinary research teams that incorporate nanomaterials and cell biology into cohesive research teams.
2. Develop a multidisciplinary graduate education program that promotes diversity.
3. Provide training to a new generation of scientists with specialized skills that will be in demand.
4. Establish the UI as a major player in the emerging field of bionanoscience.
5. Provide outreach to the community to educate them about bionanoscience that will affect all of our lives in the not too distant future.
6. Establish a self-sustaining program that will grow to include all of the relevant researchers in the university.
7. Develop entrepreneurial spin-offs of the intellectual property developed by the research teams.

The Bionanoscience Program has true potential to realign the UI such that it becomes competitive in an emerging field. The President’s investment in the Bionanoscience Program now will propel research at the UI into an emerging field of the 21st century, while supporting excellence in the Strategic Themes and creating opportunity to improve education and outreach.

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BANTech Researchers

Researcher		Department	Phone	Email	Research
D. Eric Aston	Associate Professor	Chemical Engineering	208-885-6953	aston@uidaho.edu	Physical and Chemical Properties of Nanowires
Gregory Bohach	Professor	Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry	208-885-6666	gbohach@uidaho.edu
Daniel S. Choi	Associate Professor	Department of Materials Science & Engineering	208-885-0352	dchoi@uidaho.edu	Engineered Nanomaterials for Medical Applications
Kurt Gustin	Assitant Professor	Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry	208-885-7525	kgustin@uidaho.edu	Intracellular Delivery of Biomolecules Using Nanomaterials
Rod Hill	Physiologist	Animal and Veterinary Science	208-885-2088	rodhill@uidaho.edu	Nanomaterials for Gene Knock-down
Patrick J. Hrdlicka	Assistant Professor	Chemistry	208-885-0108	hrdlicka@uidaho.edu	Bioorganic Chemistry
David N. McIlroy	Associate Professor	Physics	208-885-6809	dmcilroy@uidaho.edu	Nanomaterials for Biological Research
F. Marty Ytreberg	Assistant Professor	Physics	208-885-6908	ytreberg@uidaho.edu	Computational Studies of Nanomaterials
James J. Nagler	Associate Professor	Biological Sciences	208-885-4382	jamesn@uidaho.edu	Nanomaterials for Nucleic Acid Sensing
Deborah L. Stenkamp	Associate Professor	Biological Sciences	(208) 885-8963	dstenkam@uidaho.edu	Nanomaterials for Gene Knockdown In Vivo
Pamela Shapiro	Professor	Chemistry	(208) 885-5785	shapiro@uidaho.edu	Nanomaterials for Molecular Sensor Applications