UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As biomedical challenges grow more complex, Penn State’s Dipanjan Pan is pioneering a multifaceted approach to nanomedicine that spans basic research, clinical translation and entrepreneurial deployment.
A chemist by training and innovator by instinct, Pan holds the Huck Chair Professorship in Nanomedicine and holds dual faculty appointments in Materials Science and Engineering and Nuclear Engineering. Since arriving in 2022, he has emerged as a central figure in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences’ mission to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration with real-world impact.
“I started as a chemist, but I quickly realized that no single discipline could solve the kinds of problems we face in human health,” Pan said. “The future lies in team science: many fields working together on a common goal.”
Pan’s research agenda is built around three pillars: advanced biomedical imaging, image-guided drug delivery and point-of-care biosensing. Together, these domains address the continuum from early detection to targeted treatment, he said, while also opening new avenues for the development of at-home diagnostics — which could help democratize medicine by lowering costs and increasing accessibility.
One of what Pan called his most promising platforms uses a coating of 2D nanomaterials on the surface of a non-invasive biosensor, which can be tailored to detect various molecules that could indicate specific diseases in sweat or other naturally shed bodily fluids without drawing blood. His lab is currently validating a point-of-care device that uses menstrual effluent to detect specific proteins that indicate endometriosis and cervical cancer risk — an innovation that could improve women’s health diagnostics globally.
“The key is orienting antibodies on nanomaterial surfaces to maximize both sensitivity and specificity,” he explained. “You want the ‘lock and key’ to be aligned at the molecular level. That’s what nanotechnology enables.”
With nearly 40% of his lab now devoted to biosensing and diagnostics, Pan is also advancing a suite of rapid tests for infectious diseases — including HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis — with funding from the National Institutes of Health. His Penn State-based startup Vitruvian Bio is developing an at-home HIV viral load monitor akin to a glucose meter, while another company he founded, RNA Disease Diagnostics, aims to democratize sexually transmitted infection testing via over-the-counter and kiosk-based systems.
“We need diagnostics that work at scale, not just in hospitals but in communities with limited infrastructure,” he said.
Pan’s entrepreneurial footprint spans five startups, including KaloCyte — a company developing synthetic blood as part of a $46 million DARPA-funded consortium — and Innsight Technology, Inc., which is pioneering tear-based diagnostics for systemic diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. These ventures, leading to intellectual property filings and supported by Small Business Innovation Research grants, showcase the translational potential of university-based nanomedicine, according to Pan.
Yet Pan said he remains deeply grounded in fundamental science. His team is advancing photon-counting CT imaging, a next-generation X-ray modality that generates full-spectrum images, enabling unprecedented resolution for cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diagnostics.
“We have one of the only spectral CT scanners of this kind at Chandlee Lab,” Pan said, explaining that the scanner can distinguish between different tissue types and track specially designed molecular probes to follow even the most minute disease changes. He also noted that the specialized imaging enables researchers to noninvasively peer behind the curtain of previously hidden structures and processes, such as how bee larvae develop into adults. “It’s a platform technology — not just for human imaging, but for agricultural and ecological research as well.”
Pan attributed much of his success to a network of interdisciplinary collaborators, including clinician-scientists at Penn State Health, the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“I may bring the materials science and bioengineering perspective, but the clinical partners bring the critical piece: the unmet medical need,” he said.
That spirit of collaboration — across departments, campuses and scientific cultures — was a major draw for Pan in choosing to join Penn State, he said.
“The Huck Institutes’ commitment to cross-disciplinary research is unique,” Pan said. “My office is next to a bee researcher. You never know where the next idea might come from.”
The enthusiasm is a two-way street, according to Christina Grozinger, director of the Huck Institutes and Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology.
“Dipanjan is one of those rare people who not only excels at doing the groundbreaking science but also has a phenomenal track record of translating that science into tangible results with real impact,” Grozinger said. “With his commitment to collaboration across disciplines, he epitomizes our research mission at Huck. We can’t wait to see what he does next.”