Lectures and seminars OnkPat Friday Seminar: Quantitative Imaging of Nanomedicine Delivery in Cancer

Host: Kasper Karlsson, Department of Oncology-Pathology

Biography

Dr. Giovanni Marco Saladino is a Postdoctoral Researcher with an interdisciplinary background in nanochemistry, biomedical imaging, and translational nanomedicine. He has just completed a two-year appointment in the Department of Radiology at Stanford University as a Wallenberg Postdoctoral Fellow and is now transitioning back to Sweden under a KAW Repatriation Grant at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Abstract

Nanomedicine holds considerable potential for cancer imaging and therapy. However, its clinical translation remains limited by inefficient delivery to tumors. Conventional biodistribution measurements provide limited spatial and temporal information on nanoparticle accumulation in vivo. In this presentation, I will describe how complementary quantitative imaging methods can address this challenge from whole-body to microscopic scales. I developed nanoprobes for X-ray fluorescence imaging (XFI), including multimodal formulations. XFI enables element-specific and multiplexed detection without radioactive tracers, with a spatial resolution of approximately 100 μm. I applied the technique in vivo to map biodistribution and iteratively optimize tumor targeting. In glioblastoma, I combined MRI with intravital microscopy and histological analysis to correlate whole-tumor MRI contrast with microscopic nanoparticle accumulation. I also employed MRI-guided focused ultrasound to enhance nanoparticle delivery across the blood-brain barrier. Further integration of these methods could support rational nanoprobe design, identify poorly exposed tumor regions, and enable more precise selection and monitoring of nanomedicine-based interventions.

Selected publications

Transient blood-brain barrier opening by focused ultrasound enhances ferumoxytol accumulation in glioblastoma.
Saladino GM, Martinez PJ, Wang J, Roudi R, Annio G, Airan RD, Daldrup-Link HE
Mater Today Bio 2026 Jun;38():103280

Multimodal imaging approach to track theranostic nanoparticle accumulation in glioblastoma with magnetic resonance imaging and intravital microscopy.
Saladino GM, Mangarova DB, Nernekli K, Wang J, Annio G, Varniab ZS, Khatoon Z, Ribeiro Morais G, Shi Y, Chang E, Pisani LJ, Tikhomirov G, Falconer RA, Daldrup-Link HE
Nanoscale 2025 Apr;17(16):9986-9995

Iterative nanoparticle bioengineering enabled by x-ray fluorescence imaging.
Saladino GM, Brodin B, Kakadiya R, Toprak MS, Hertz HM
Sci Adv 2024 Mar;10(12):eadl2267

Optical and X-ray Fluorescent Nanoparticles for Dual Mode Bioimaging.
Saladino GM, Vogt C, Li Y, Shaker K, Brodin B, Svenda M, Hertz HM, Toprak MS
ACS Nano 2021 Mar;15(3):5077-5085