➀ Louis DeRidder's near-death experience at 12 sparked his interest in medicine; ➁ His high school program led to a deep fascination with drug delivery to the brain; ➂ DeRidder's research at Johns Hopkins University focused on nanoparticle-drug conjugates for neurodegenerative diseases; ➃ At Harvard-MIT, he developed CLAUDIA, a device for personalized drug dosing during chemotherapy; ➄ DeRidder's work involves MATLAB and Simulink for modeling drug pharmacokinetics; ➅ He aims to move CLAUDIA towards clinical use and potentially start a company for commercialization; ➆ In addition, DeRidder is developing new nanoparticles for therapeutic nucleic acid delivery; ➇ He balances research with community service, helping the homeless in Boston; ➈ His long-term goals include developing treatments for neurological diseases and cancer.

1. Engineers at Johns Hopkins University have developed SPECTRA, an optical instrument using nanoprobes that light up upon binding to aggressive cancer cells, aiding in distinguishing between local and metastatic tumors. 2. The technique combines DNA origami and Raman spectroscopy, making it scalable and more economical. 3. SPECTRA successfully identified metastatic prostate cancer cells, providing a clearer molecular signature than traditional CT or MRI scans.