Nanotechnology and its pursuit, in the treatment of COVID-19

COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus and became a pandemic on the 3^rd of March, 2020. Since then it has cause havoc on humanity lives, affecting all aspects. Initial treatments include chloroquinine and Remdesivir, amongst other drugs. The latter was discontinued by FDA. Since then, humanity has seen the emergence of several vaccines: Oxford AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sputnik-V, Sinopharm and Pfizer, amongst others. Virologists, biologists, pharmacists, materials scientists, and clinicians are collaborating to develop further efficient treatment strategies. The best vaccine is yet to emerge. In addition to these, nanotechnology in nanomedicine offers promises in the treatment of COVID-19.  Nanomedicine has already proven its value through its application in drug delivery and nanosensors in other diseases. Nanomedicine and its components can play an important role in various stages of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, vaccination, and research related to COVID-19. Nano-based antimicrobial technology can be integrated into personal equipment for the greater safety of healthcare workers and people. Nanomaterials such as quantum dots can be used as biosensors to diagnose COVID-19. Nanotechnology offers benefits from the use of nanosystems, such as liposomes, polymeric and lipid nanoparticles, metallic nanoparticles, and micelles, for drug encapsulation, and facilitates the improvement of pharmacological drug properties. Nanomaterials can aid in the drug/vaccine delivery process. Antiviral functions for nanoparticles can target the binding, entry, replication, and budding of SARS-COV-2  i.e various stages of the virus life cycle. The toxicity-related inorganic nanoparticles are one of the limiting factors of its use that should be further investigated and modified. Nanomaterials have already shown its uses in the treatment of pneumonia. This presentation will discuss the emerging role of nanotechnology in the development of therapeutic agents to totally eradicate the SARS-COV-2 virus. Of course, FDA and WHO approval will be necessary to see its use on humanity.

Audience take-away:

• Most of the audience are nanotechnologists and thus can incorporate part of my research in their work or apply them to their work.
• The audience will be more knowledgeable at work in nanotechnology, with specific focus on COVID-19. Thus research faculty can use part of my research to expand their research. However, they must reference my work. It will improve the accuracy of a design, or provide new information to assist in a design problem.

Prof. Raymond Jagessar obtained his BSc (Distinction) in Chemistry/Biology from the University of Guyana (1992) and his PhD from the UK (1995). He was Assistant Lecturer at the University of Guyana, 1991-1992. He held three Post Doctoral Research Fellowships (PDF) at the University of South Carolina, Columbia (USA), Wichita State University, Kansas (USA) and the University of the West Indies during the period, 1996 1999. He is also accredited with a distinction in DiPEd (higher education) at the University of Guyana in 2022. He has several international awards, amongst them are Chartered Chemist, CChem, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, FRSC, UK, Research Grants etc. He is an awardee of the Guyana Innovation Prize and a Fellow of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences. His research interests are broad, covering the spectrum of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Chemical Biology and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. He has published over one hundred (100) research articles, five book chapters, one book, three e-books and presented at over 100 conferences locally, regionally and internationally. He has given keynote presentations at several conferences at the international forum. He is a member of several editorial boards and reviewer to several journals. He is currently Professor of Chemistry at the University of Guyana (South America), former President of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences (2020-2023) and currently, Foreign Secretary of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences.