In this paper, we report the synthesis, characterization of drug-doped organically modified titania nanoparticles, and their applications in sustained drug release. The drug-doped nanoparticles were synthesized in the hydrophobic core of oil-in-water microemulsion medium. Structural aspects obtained through TEM and FESEM depicted that organically modified titania nanoparticles are monodispersed with spherical morphology, with an average size of around 200 nm. Their polymorphic forms and porosity were determined using powder XRD and BET, respectively, which showed that they are present in the anatase form, with a surface area of 136.5 m(2)/g and pore-diameter of 5.23 nm. After synthesis and basic structural characterizations, optical properties were studied for both fluorophore and drug encapsulated nanoparticles. The results showed that though the optical properties of the fluorophore are partially diminished upon nanoencapsulation, it became more stable against chemical quenching. The nanoparticles showed pH-dependent drug release pattern. In vitro studies showed that the nanoparticles were efficiently uptaken by cells. Cell viability assay results showed that though the placebo nanoparticles are non-cytotoxic, the drug-doped nanoparticles show drug-induced toxicity. Therefore, such porous nanoparticles can be used in non-toxic drug delivery applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.