Professor Xu's group has developed a new family of nanoparticles that have been shown to be successful in carrying therapeutics across the brain/blood barrier.  These new nanocarriers, which are formed from the self-assembly of amphiphilic peptides and polymer, have been shown to hold promise for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, a virtually inoperable cancer of the brain known as "octopus tumors".  A paper describing the work, co-authored with collaborators at UC Davis and UC San Francisco, was published in The Journal of Controlled Release.  More information about the research can be found here.