Eric Tanifum, PhD

Dr. Tanifum received a BS in Chemistry from the University of Buea, Cameroon, in 1996. He moved to the United States in 2001 and earned a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Utah State University in 2006. Following graduation, he pursued postdoctoral research in bioorganic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and nanomedicine. In 2011, he joined the Department of Radiology at Texas Children’s Hospital as a senior research scientist and was appointed assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in 2013. His group’s research focuses on nanomedicine and precision drug delivery systems to intracranial disease targets. His earlier work has contributed to the first-in-human trial of a molecular MRI probe for imaging amyloid-β plaques in Alzheimer’s disease. His current efforts center on the precision delivery of efficacious concentrations of theranostics to biomarkers of neurodegenerative disorders, achieved without physical, mechanical, chemical, or electrical disruption of the blood–brain barrier.