IBSA, a joint project of the departments of science and technology in Brazil, India and South Africa, promotes research collaborations between scientists working on applications of nanotechnology. Its priority fields of research include health, water treatment and agriculture. India leads its flagship project on water purification.

IBSA publishes information on participating scientists from all three countries, ongoing projects, key global events and activities, and fellowships and job openings.

The institute at the University of Technology, Sydney, was set up in 2002 to put nanotechnology squarely on Australia's science and health agenda. One area of their research is focusing on the extent to which rich and poor countries are engaging in nanotechnology. Another key research area is nanotechnology for health.

In 2005 the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) set up a network of eight Nanomedicine Development Centers to form the NIH Nanomedicine Roadmap Initiative. The collaborative centres are staffed by multidisciplinary research teams including biologists, physicians, mathematicians, engineers and computer scientists. The recently completed first phase of the NIH programme was designed to investigate the chemical and physical properties of nanoscale biological structures. The next phase will be to use this understanding to treat disease.

The centre heavily invests in nanotechnology research for health. It has a laboratory dedicated to devising new methods of drug delivery, and another to identifying new molecular targets at which to aim drugs for cancer or other serious diseases. The centre actively seeks to engage in technology transfer with other developing nations.