Therapeutic uses of a variety of drug carrier systems havesignificant impact on the treatment and potential cure of many chronicdiseases, including cancer, diabetes mellitus, psoriasis, parkinsons,Alzheimer, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV infection, infectious diseases, asthma,and drug addiction. Scientific efforts in these areas are multidisciplinary,involving the physical, biological, medical, pharmaceutical, biologicalmaterials, and engineering fields.