This is a copy of the slides presented at the meeting but not formally written up for the volume.

Nanomedicine encompasses a vast area of biomedical research, from the development of new generation of contrast agents for diagnostic imaging to synthesizing targeted delivery vehicles of therapeutic drugs. This talk will highlight the use of multifunctional nanoparticles with combined imaging, diagnostic and therapeutic functions for nanomedicine. In our Institute we are developing new optical nanoprobes for bioimaging. They include functionalized quantum dots, aggregation-enhanced two photon dyes as well as nanocomposite nanoparticles with combined optical, magnetic, plasmonic and PET imaging capabilities. The goal is to provide targeting nanoprobes for early detection of diseases as well as for real time monitoring of a disease progression or the progress of a therapy. The organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) nanoparticles have been developed as a new-generation drug carrier for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer, as well as for an efficient non-viral gene delivery, capable of transfecting neuronal cells in vivo with superior efficacy over viral vectors.