December 5, 2024
Princess Imoukheude, PhD
Hunter and Dorothy Simpson Endowed Chair
Professor and Chair
University of Washington, Bioengineering
"Quantitative Systems Biology Meets Clinical Translation: From Growth Factor Networks to Labor Management"
Abstract
Biomedicine increasingly demands a precise understanding of cellular communication networks to develop effective therapies. This presentation demonstrates how systems biology and computational biology provide insights into unexpected signaling mechanisms and guide therapeutic innovations.
Our investigation of vascular signaling networks has revealed previously unknown cross-family communication between PDGF and VEGF pathways. Using quantitative binding assays and computational modeling, we have identified novel ligand-ligand interactions that challenge traditional receptor-ligand paradigms. These findings suggest new mechanisms for modulating angiogenic responses and highlight implications for anti-angiogenic therapies.
We extend these quantitative approaches to reproductive medicine, where variable patient responses to oxytocin present significant clinical challenges. Through systematic characterization of oxytocin receptor variants, we uncovered disrupted oxytocin receptor localization and signaling. To address this, we have identified novel pharmaceutical chaperones that enhance oxytocin receptor function. These compounds show promising efficacy in both cellular systems and clinical samples from pregnant patients. We have further developed predictive models of receptor dynamics that inform personalized dosing strategies.
This research shows how engineering approaches-from molecular to systems analysis-can bridge fundamental science and clinical applications. By combining quantitative measurements with computational modeling, we are developing next-generation tools for precision medicine in both cardiovascular and reproductive health.
Biography
Dr. Imoukhuede is a distinguished bioengineer renowned for her groundbreaking research on blood vessels and their regulation. She holds an SB in Chemical Engineering from MIT and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Caltech, where she made history as the first African-American woman to receive this degree.
Throughout her academic career, Dr. Imoukhuede has been recognized for her research and her commitment to social responsibility. She has received numerous awards and professional development grants, including a United Negro College Fund/Merck Fellowship. She has also served on the board of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and the nominations committee of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and has been inducted as a Fellow in both.
Currently, Dr. Imoukhuede is the Hunter and Dorothy Simpson Endowed Chair and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on blood vessel formation and the administration of synthetic oxytocin during labor and delivery. Her contributions to the field have earned her numerous honors, including the BMES 2021 Mid-Career Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and an AIMBE Professional Impact Award for Diversity Equity and Inclusion.
November 21, 2024
Alexander X. Cartagena-Rivera, PhD
Stadtman Investigator
NIH Distinguished Scholar
Chief, Section on Mechanobiology
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
National Institutes of Health
"Aberrant Glycosylation Regulates the Cell Surface Architecture and Viscoelasticity of Pancreatic Cancer Cells"
Abstract
The cellular glycocalyx plays a crucial role in making pancreatic cancer one of the deadliest malignancies globally. It complicates early detection and reduces the effectiveness of conventional therapies. In pancreatic cancer, components of the glycocalyx are often upregulated or abnormally glycosylated, promoting tumor progression through immune evasion, enhanced metastasis, and drug resistance. While these biochemical effects are known, the biophysical impact of the glycocalyx on cancer cells is less understood. In our study, we explored the structural and biomechanics effects of modifying the glycoclyx architecture in pancreatic cancer cells using various chemical compounds. We employed a recently developed Atomic Force Microscopy nano mechanical mapping to visualize cellular mechanical heterogeneities in a high spatiotemporal context. This new method leverages recent advancements in viscoelastic analysis via discrete modified Fourier transform (Z-transform). Our new approach allows for the viscoelastic inversion of high-resolution spatiotemporal data at rates which are orders of magnitude faster (more than 37, 386-fold) than optimizing a traditional rheological model for each pixel. In addition, the method utilized model-free viscoelastic quantities, such as the material retardance and relaxance. Our nanoscale multi-timescale viscoelastic measurements revealed that 2D adherent human pancreatic cancer cells have reduced elastic storage modulus and viscous loss modulus compared to healthy pancreatic ductal epithelial cells. Additionally, we observed a progressive reduction in both moduli with metastatic progression, a hallmark of cancer metastasis. We further investigated the biophysical effects of glycocalyx architectural modulation in pancreatic cancer cells. Perturbations of hyaluronic acid (HA), silica acid (SA), mucous, and N-glycans through enzymatic treatments led to significant architectural remodeling of the cells surface. Interestingly, removal of SA and mucins resulted in a softer and more fluid cell surface, while removal of HA softened and increased viscosity. Our findings suggest that the glycocalyx of pancreatic cancer cells fundamentally regulates extracellular surface architecture, mechanical properties, composition, and function, thereby promoting tumor progression and metastasis by acting as a physical barrier to antitumor responses.
Biography
Dr. Alexander X. Cartagena-Rivera received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez in 2010. He received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 2014. He accepted a Post-Doctoral IRTA Fellowship position in the Section on Auditory Mechanics with the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health in 2014. Dr. Cartagena-Rivera joined the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) as an Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator position in 2019. He is now chief of NIBIB’s Section on Mechanobiology, where he and his lab staff continue work on understanding cellular and tissue molecular-mechanical regulation and development of advanced atomic force microscopy technologies for cancer biology and hearing research. In 2019 he received the prestigious NIH Distinguished Scholars Program award. His research interests lie in diverse and multidisciplinary fields including biomedical engineering, biophysics, fluid mechanics, soft matter, micro/nanomechanics, hearing mechanics, cellular biology, and living cells and viruses mechanics determined using the atomic force microscope in physiologically relevant conditions.
November 14, 2024
Daniel J. Cohen, PhD
Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Director of Graduate Studies, Bioengineering Institute
Princeton University
"Adventures in cellular herding:how cities, sheepdogs, and Frankenstein can help our tissues to heal and grow"
Abstract
We are working to accomplish cells something akin to what a shepherd and sheepdogs bring to flocks of sheep: control over large-scale collective cellular motion. As collective cell migration underlies development, regeneration, and even cancer invasion, cellular 'herding"raises exciting possibilities for accelerated healing, tissue engineering, and new therapies. To herd cells, we need to first understand the collective, crowd behaviors within a living tissue, which we do by combining approaches from urban planning, swarm theory, machine learning, and cell biology. We've used these approaches to measure, model, and learn the 'rules' of collective behaviors during growth and healing, allowing us to use guided self-assembly to generate intricate, large-scale tissue assemblies. Next, we identified a unique bioelectric cue-electrotaxis-as a powerful 'sheepdog' to program large-scale collective cell migration, enabled by our 'SHEEPDOG' bioreactor. Here, we manipulate natural ionic currents to accelerate cell migration during healing, regulate organic form, direct immune cells in real-time, and even push towards 'kidneybots'. We would especially appreciate collaborations and advice in these areas as the amount of interdisciplinary intersections is both exciting and overwhelming!
November 7, 2024
Erin Anderson
PHD Candidate | Meaney Lab
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pennsylvania
"Decoding brain health and neuro-immune relationship through extracellular vesicles"
Abstract
Current technologies to monitor brain health broadly measure the brain's structure, perfusion, and neurochemical composition to estimate how individual brains change over a lifespan. However, there is a critical technological gap limiting our prognostic prediction of brain function. Moreover, we do not know the underlying cellular 'decision making' influencing brain function. Extracellular vesicles (EV's) shed normally by cells provide a snapshot into the molecular state of their parent cell. My work has focused on using cell-specific, nanotechnology-based sorting of neuronal EV's from circulating bloodstream. We used this EV sorting technology to answer three related questions for brain health: 1. Can we use EV's to examine neuronal signaling changes after different concussion scenarios? 2. Does the information from neuronal EV's provide a clinically valuable measure of head impact exposure? and 3. Does considering the microglia-mediated immune response improve outcome biomarkers? In this seminar, I will explore the possibility that microglia sense and relay injury severity to neurons, and demonstrate how we can use EV's to survey neuro-immune relationships and predict long-term cognitive outcomes. These observations point to an entirely new possibility to both monitor and redirect brain health through targeting microglia. In my future work, I will aim to couple these surveillance techniques with microglia-targeted therapeutic technologies to address immune dysregulation in neurological disease. (e.g., glioceuticals).
Biography
Erin Anderson is a PhD Candidate in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania developing technologies to study traumatic brain injury. Previously, she completed her BSE in Bioengineering at Rice University and worked in Dr. Jacob Robinson’s on magnetogenetics for remote neuronal control. While completing her PhD in Dr. Dave Meaney’s Lab at Penn, she developed in silico network models to study how brain and neuronal circuits respond to injury and therapeutic intervention. For her dissertation, Erin is working to identify neuro-immune molecular signatures of complex head trauma, both from circulating extracellular vesicles and brain tissue at single-nucleus resolution. At Penn, Erin was recognized for her commitment to Senior Capstone Design with the university-wide Penn Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Graduate Students in 2022. Upon completion of her PhD, Erin will build on her experience developing computational and molecular techniques for uncovering the effects of neurological disease and work to develop drug delivery systems that target the brain’s immune system to treat neurological disease.
November 5, 2024
Natalie Artzi, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Medicine
Division of Engineering in Medicine
Harvard Medical School
"Supercharging Immunotherapy Through Nanotechnology: Chemical Structure Matters"
Abstract
A one-size-fits-all approach to biomaterial design overlooks the significant changes in tissue surface chemistry and biology, leading to suboptimal material performance across different tissue types and physiological states (healthy vs. diseased). In response, my lab has developed materials that adapt to biological cues from tissues and cells, optimizing both therapeutic efficacy and tolerability.
At the tissue levels, we have engineered adhesive hydrogels that are tunable to specific tissue types and pathological conditions, enhancing materials performance, adhesion strength, and biocompatibility. At the cellular level, we designed nanoparticle architectures that respond to intracellular environments, improving their stability and potency while expanding the therapeutic window-allowing us to probe drug mechanisms of action more effectively.
Using these nanostructures, we uncovered the critical role of secondary lymphoid organs, such as the spleen, in generating long-term immune memory essential for preventing tumor recurrence. Additionally, we identified a novel "Paracrine Transfer Effect," where nanotheapeutics are transfered from an initial "waypoint cell" call to a "target cell", modulating both-paving the way for innovative therapeutic strategies.
Recently, we applied these technologies to create 'living' therapeutics through the localized, sustained delivery of chemoimmunotherapy to brain tumors, which reprograms the immune system. This strategy led to the complete elimination of established tumors across multiple syngeneic, orthotropic models and induced immune memory that protected against tumor regrowth upon contralateral rechallenge.
Our work demonstrates that the design and structure of materials profoundly influence therapeutic outcomes, shaping the spatial and temporal dynamics of immunomodulatory responses in solid tumor treatment. These materials also provide new tools to address fundamental questions in immunobiology.
Biography
Natalie Artzi is the Head of Structural Nanomedicine at Mass General Brigham's Gene and Cell Therapy Institute (GCTI) and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is also a Core Faculty at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and a Principal Research Scientist at the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) at MIT.
A chemical engineer and scientist, Dr. Artzi is renowned for her transformative contributions to structural nanomedicine and pioneering development of tissue- and cell-responsive materials. She designed materials that activate in response to chemical cues, enabling precise drug delivery, and uncovering a novel "paracrine transfer effect", where nanotherapeutics transfer from one cell to a neighboring cell—a process which can be used to enhance therapeutic outcomes.
Dr. Artzi is the principal investigator of a $27M ARPA-H grant to develop a disease-agnostic innate immunotherapeutic RNA platform to treat cancer and infectious diseases. Her groundbreaking work has earned numerous prestigious honors, including the 2024 Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal, the 2024 Clemson Award for Applied Research, and the mid-career award from the Society for Biomaterials. She was also the inaugural recipient of the Kabiller Rising Star Award in Nanomedicine. Dr. Artzi is a Fellow of both the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Controlled Release Society.
October 10, 2024
Natsumi Komatsu, PhD
Schmidt Science Fellow, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley
Future Leader in Bioengineering
"Illuminating Neurochemical Signaling in Social Animal Models with Fluorescent Nanosensors"
Abstract
Neurochemicals are fundamental to neuronal communication and their imbalance is central to neurological conditions. Oxytocin, a key neuropeptide, plays a crucial role in social process, and its dysregulation is implied in autism spectrum disorder. However, tools for direct and selective imaging of oxytocin remain limited, hindering understanding of the timing, location, and conditions under which oxytocin is released or impaired in social disorders.
To this end, I have developed a synthetic fluorescent nano sensor for oxytocin based on functionalized nanomaterials, which enabled real-time imaging of oxytocin in the brain (Adams, Komatsu, et al. 2024). I have also established a novel assay to image oxytocin's role in social behavior within prairie voles, a social rodent species. By conducting this first real-time imaging of oxytocin release in prairie voles, my study revealed altered oxytocin regulations in the absence of receptors, providing molecular insights into oxytocin neurocircuits in social animals for the first time (Komatsu*, et al. in prep).
Biography
Natsumi Komatsu is a Burroughs Wellcome Fund CASI Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Markita Landry at the University of California, Berkeley, where she develops and applies synthetic fluorescent nanosensors to image neurochemical signaling in the brain. Natsumi earned her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University with Prof. Junichiro Kono, engineering optical properties of carbon-based nanomaterials. By combining her PhD expertise in nanomaterial engineering and advanced optics with her current research in chemical engineering and neuroscience, her independent group aims to develop a versatile neuroimaging platform to illuminate neurochemistry in social animals. She was a 2022 Schmidt Science Postdoctoral Fellow and a 2017 Funai Foundation PhD Fellow
September 19, 2024
Yichun Wang, PHD
Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame
"Engineering Biomimetic Materials to Empower Multifunctional Therapeutic Small Extracellular Vesicles"
Abstract
Abstract: Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are lipid-based nanoparticles with diameters between 50nm and 150nm, secreted by most eukaryotic cells. They are promising drug delivery vehicles due to their size biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and reduced toxicity in comparison with synthetic nanoscale formulations such as liposomes, dendrimers, and polymers. However, there remain fundamental challenges to the utilization of sets in the clinic i.) drug loading efficiency into sEVs is very limited ii.) the production of sets has yet to reach sufficient high throughput for further development; iii.) endowing sets with multiple abilities for satisfactory disease targeting, tracking and combinational therapies is highly demanding. In this seminar, I will introduce a convergent bioengineered platform enabled by engineered biomimetic materials developed in The Wang Lab at the University of Notre Dame for advancing therapeutic sEVs in future medicine. This platform includes 1) a high-efficiency sets drug loading technology with chiral graphene nanoparticles: 2) a high-yield in vitro sEV production cell culture scaffold with stimulating piezoelectric nanofibers: 3) engineered hybrid sEVs with biomimetic nanoparticles as a multifunctional targeted delivery system for cancer treatment. The platform allows loading drugs into sEVs with high efficiency, biomanufacturing sEVs in high throughput, and further engineering sEV-based drug delivery systems for various diseases with desired functions including targeted delivery, imaging, and multifunctional therapies.
Biography
Dr. Yichun Wang joined Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Notre Dame as an assistant professor in 2020 fall. She received her training as a postdoctoral research fellow in Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, where her research was focused on the development of new generation nanobiotics targeting amyloid protein in extracellular matrix of biofilm. She obtained the PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan, working on theoretical and experimental framework of ex-vivo evaluation system based on engineered 3D tissue culture models with tunable microenvironment. Currently, her research lab at Notre Dame is dedicated to the rational design of biomimetic nanomaterials, including chiral nanoparticles and nanocomposites, to empower next-generation medicine for treating cancer and neurodegenerative disease, by combining engineering, theoretical models, and computation. By doing so, she aims to provide valuable insights and advancements in the application of nanomaterials in healthcare. Her work holds great promise in innovating healthcare through cutting-edge nanotechnology research, earning her multiple recent grants, including NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) and NSF CAREER awards. Seminars
September 12, 2024
Hanie Yousefi, PHD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, Chicago, Illinois
Future Leader in Bioengineering
"Implantable Devices for Studying the Correlation of Chronic Disease and Inflammation"
Abstract
Chronic diseases such as heart failure (HF) are increasingly prevalent conditions that are difficult to manage. Patients often experience significant deterioration between clinic visits, and by the time they become symptomatic, their condition cannot be managed outside the hospital. Inflammation has recently been identified to take roles on promoting and inducing HF but there are no insights on the mechanism of disease progression. The ability to perform continuous monitoring of protein biomarkers on a body-implanted device will transform our capacity to diagnose disease, preserve wellness, and propose potential treatments. Using Flexible and Implantable sub-millimeter polymeric substrates, we propose a new solution for remote, continuous monitoring of chronic disease clinical biomarkers (BNP, Troponin I, IL6, TNFa as proof concept) to manage patients' health. We recently developed the first of-its-kind reagent-less molecular sensor for in situ detection of a wide range target, such as viral particles and proteins. However, continuous monitoring of chronic disease requires installing a miniature device inside the human body and continuously monitoring the patient for an extended period. In this work, we fabricated implantable and flexible electrochemical electrodes that house our DNA based protein measurement assay for function inside the body. The small device connected to the electrode array, provides efficient reaction rates with a sub-millisecond resolution, which has not been achieved using current common diagnostic paradigm. By moving from materials used in traditional electrochemistry to using unconventional recent developments in the fields of material science, we introduce a new generation of sensing platforms that are biocompatible, affordable, reliable, and environmentally friendly to deliver the promised goals of chronic disease management. Using an HF rat model and accessing interstitial fluid via contact with the device's implantable part, we monitor disease progression, inflammation, and biomarker levels during a 4-week treatment period. This technology will provide a new generations of devices for the continuous monitoring of vital biomarkers in HF rat models.
Biography
Doctor Hanie Yousefi (She/Her/Hers) is a biotech innovator, mentor, entrepreneur, and an advocate for equitable health. Hanie is currently a Chan Zuckerberg Fellow building tissue integrated bioelectronics for understanding the role of inflammation in disease progress. She holds a BSc and an MSc in Chemical Engineering. Hanie earned her PhD degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Shana Kelley where she built reagentless electrochemical systems for infectious disease diagnostics. She co-founded a biotech startup, Arma Biosciences, in 2020 to take this technology to the market. Hanie has mentored over 20 high school, undergraduate, and graduate students and is a proponent of teamwork having published with over 50 co-authors. Hanie has a demonstrated record in service to her community and has held multiple leadership roles such as the chair of student services and the president of the graduate student association in her past institutions. She has been well recognized during her studies with awards and honors such as the NSERC-CGSD PhD fellowship, NSERC-PDF, Pfizer Canada graduate student fellowship and University of Toronto’s leadership award. She has been named a rising star by MIT, Stanford U., and UC Berkeley, a future faculty by ACS PMSE and MRS, and a CAS future leader. She is an advocate for equitable personalized health for everyone and is dedicated to building a research program aimed to build affordable and scalable diagnostics technologies.
August 29, 2024
Polly Fordyce,PHD
Associate Professor
Departments of Genetics and Bioengineering Stanford University
“Microfluidics for high-throughput and quantitative biophysics and biochemistry”
Abstract
Recent technological advances in genomics and proteomics have driven an explosion in our knowledge of the molecular parts within cells. Interactions between these parts drive all biological processes: proteins bind DNA and RNA to regulate transcription and translation, dense networks of protein-protein interactions convey cellular signals, and enzyme-substrate interactions allow all if the chemical transformations essential for metabolism and signaling. The strength of these interactions predicts the timing and identify of downstream responses; therefore, quantitative biophysical and biochemical measurements are critical to decipher these networks, predict how they are disrupted in disease, and develop novel therapeutics to resture them to health. In this seminar, I'll present the development of and results from several new microfluidic platforms that make it possible to acquire quantitative biochemical and biophysical data in vitro for thousands to millions of sequence variants in parallel.
Biography
Polly Fordyce is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering and Genetics and Institute Scholar of ChEM-H at Stanford, where her lab develops and applies new microfluidic platforms for quantitative and high-throughput biophysics, biochemistry, and single-cell biology. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with undergraduate degrees in physics and biology before moving to Stanford University, where she earned a Ph.D. in physics for work with Professor Steve Block developing instrumentation and assays for single-molecule studies of kinesin motor proteins. For her postdoctoral research, she worked with Professor Joe DeRisi to develop a new microfluidic platform for understanding how transcription factors recognize and bind their DNA targets as well as a new technology for bead-based multiplexing. She is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, NIH New Innovator and Pioneer Awards, and she is a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator.
September 4, 2024
Joseph DeSimone, Ph.D.
Sanjiv Sam Gambler Professor of Translational Medicine and Chemical Engineering.
Departments of Radiology and Chemical Engineering.
Department of Chemistry (by Courtesy).
Department of Materials Science & Engineering (by Courtesy).
Graduate School of Business (by Courtesy).
Stanford University
"The Delicate Interplay Between Light, Interfaces and Design: The Complex Dance that Allows 3D Printing to Scale to Manufacturing"
Abstract
The production of polymer products relies largely on age-old molding techniques. A major reason for this is that additive methods have not delivered meaningful alternatives to traditional processes-until not. In this talk, I will describe Continuous Liquid Interface Productions (CLIP) technology, which embodies a convergence of advances in software, hardware, and materials to bring the digital revolution to polymer additive manufacturing. CLIP uses software-controlled chemistry to produce commercial quality parts rapidly and at scale by capitalizing on the principle of oxygen-inhibited photopolymerization to generate a conjugal liquid interface of uncured resin between a forming part and a printer's exposure window. Instead pf printing layer-by-layer, this allows layerless parts to 'grow' from a pool of resin, formed by light. Compatible with a wide range of polymers, CLIP opes major opportunities for innovative products across diverse industries. Previously unmakeable products are already manufactured at scale with CLIP, including the large-scale production of running shoes by Adidas (Futurecraft 4D); mass customized football helmets by Riddell; the world's first FDA-approved 3D printed dentures; and numerous parts in automotive, consumer electronics, and medicine. At Stanford, we are pursuing new advances including digital therapeutic devices in pediatric medicine, new multi-materials printing approaches, recyclable materials, and the design of a high-resolution printer to advance technologies in the microelectronics and drug/vaccine delivery areas, including novel micro needle designs as a potent vaccine delivery platform.
Biography
Joseph M. DeSimone is the Sanjiv Sam Gambhir Professor of Translational Medicine and Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. He is also Co- Director of Stanford’s Precision Health and Integrated Diagnostics (PHIND) Center (Canary Center) and the founding Faculty Director of the Center for STEMM Mentorship at Stanford. He holds appointments in the Departments of Radiology and Chemical Engineering with courtesy appointments in the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Previously,
DeSimone was a professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and of chemical engineering at North Carolina State University. He is also Co-founder, Board Member, and former CEO (2014 - 2019) of the additive manufacturing company, Carbon.
DeSimone has published over 380 scientific articles and is a named inventor on over 240 issued patents. He has mentored 80 students through Ph.D. completion in his career, half of whom are women and members of underrepresented groups in STEM. In 2016 DeSimone was recognized by President Barack Obama with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor in the U.S. for achievement and leadership in advancing technological progress.
DeSimone is responsible for numerous breakthroughs in his career in areas including green chemistry, medical devices, nanomedicine, and 3D printing, also co-founding several companies based on his research. In the 1990s he and students invented a green manufacturing process for the synthesis of fluoropolymer materials that eliminated so-called “forever chemicals” like PFAS, which was only partially commercialized by DuPont. In the mid-2000s, DeSimone and students developed a nanoparticle manufacturing platform rooted in an imprint lithography-based r2r process, PRINT (particle replication in non-wetting templates)—the first technology to enable large-scale fabrication of uniform nanoparticles for medicine with independent control over particle features such as size, shape, and composition. Based on PRINT, DeSimone co-founded Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ: LQDA), which has multiple clinical products. DeSimone’s lab published a large body of research using PRINT to study how specific particle features influence biological processes and to advance the design of vaccines.
More recently, DeSimone and team invented a revolutionary 3D printing technology, CLIP (continuous liquid interface production). CLIP eliminates the slow, layer-by-layer construction seen with other polymer 3D printing approaches to enable parts to ‘grow’ continuously and rapidly from a pool of liquid resin. CLIP delivers production-grade parts comparable in performance to injection molded parts. Based on CLIP, DeSimone co- founded, and was the CEO of for six years, Carbon, Inc., now a global digital additive manufacturing company helping to advance product innovation in numerous industries, including medical, dental, footwear, automotive, and aerospace. CLIP is also used by many academic laboratories to advance research in areas including medical devices and implants.
DeSimone has received numerous recognitions for achievements in science, engineering, invention, and business. In addition to the U.S. National Medical of Technology and Innovation, these include the U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (1997); the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Invention (2005); the Lemelson-MIT Prize (2008); the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (2009); the AAAS Mentor Award (2010); the Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine (2015); the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment (2017); the Wilhelm Exner Medal (2019); the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2019 U.S. Overall Winner); and the Harvey Prize in Science and Techonlogy (2020). He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences one of only 25 individuals elected to all three branches of the U.S. National Academies (Sciences, Medicine, Engineering). DeSimone received his B.S. in Chemistry in 1986 from Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA and his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1990 from Virginia Tech.
April 25, 2024
Giovanni Traverso, MB, BChir, PHD
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Division of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Harvard Medical School
"Engineering drug delivery and sensing solutions for an extreme environment"
Abstract
Professor Traverso will aim to review ongoing efforts in his lab towards the development of drug delivery and sensing technologies capable of operating in extreme environments like gastrointestinal tract. Specifically, he will present advances in materials science, device development and translational efforts toward addressing medication non-adherence and the dosing macromolecules.
Biography
Dr. Traverso is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Associate Physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK, and his PhD from the lab of Prof. Bert Vogelstein at Johns Hopkins University where he developed non-invasive tests for the detection of colon cancer. For his post-doctoral research, he worked in the laboratory of Professor Robert Langer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he developed a series of novel technologies for drug delivery as well as physiological sensing via the gastrointestinal tract. His current research program is focused on developing the next generation of drug delivery systems to enable efficient delivery of therapeutics through the gastrointestinal tract as well developing novel ingestible electronic devices for sensing a broad array of physiologic and pathophysiologic parameters.
April 18, 2024
Danielle Tullman-Ercek, PHD
Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University, Co-Director of the NU Center for Synthetic Biology, Director of the Master of Science in Biotechnology Program
“Designing with nanoscale building blocks: How protein engineering enables new solutions for medicine, sustainability, and material”
Abstract
Self-assembling proteins make up precisely ordered nanostructures from filaments and capsules to pumps, each of which, is promising for applications ranging from biomanufacturing to medicine to materials. For example, a nanoscale protein-based container could serve as a vaccine or as a delivery vehicle for cellular or gene therapy. However, such structures must be tunable for each application, and despite great leaps in our ability to predict how amino acid sequences will fold into soluble protein, it remains a significant challenge to predict how proteins come together to form the assemblies and machines that are ubiquitous to life. To address this challenge, and inspired by advances in next-generation DNA synthesis and sequencing, we developed a workflow to fully characterize the assembly competency of all possible single mutations in several model systems, including those from a virus-like particle, a bacterial organelle, and a secretion system. The resulting high-resolution datasets challenge several conventional protein design assumptions on the composition of linkers, mutability of pores, and more. We then used the same approach but screened for desired functions to enhance the performance of each system in its target application space. For example, a protein filament of a secretion system was engineered to confer >2-fold higher production of a target product, a virus-like particle was engineered for improved endosomal release upon sensing a drop in pH, and a bacterial microcompartment was engineered to produce biochemicals in a sustainable manner. With this talk, I will provide examples of how our sequencing-based approach is useful as a tool for uncovering the fundamental rules of self-assembly as well as for engineering new function into self-assembling systems, highlighting how such approaches maybe used to generate nanoscale precision design in next-generation materials.
Biography
Danielle Tullman-Ercek is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University, Co-Director of the NU Center for Synthetic Biology, and Director of the Master of Science in Biotechnology Program. She is also D irector of SynBREU, which is the first NSF-funded Synthetic Biology undergraduate research program. Outside of Northwestern, she was also a founding council member of the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, serves as an Editor for mSystems, and is active in the American Chemical Society Biochemical Technology Division. She is also co-founder of a company, Opera Bioscience, which is built on her research innovations related to biomanufacturing. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She carried out postdoctoral research at the University of California San Francisco and the Joint Bioenergy Institute, while part of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Tullman-Ercek’s research focuses on building biomolecular devices for a wide range of applications, including energy, materials, manufacturing, and medicine. She is particularly interested in engineering multi-protein complexes, such as virus capsids and the machines that transport proteins and small molecules across cellular membranes. She received several awards for this work, including the Searle Leadership Award, an NSF CAREER award, and the Biochemical Engineering Journal Young Investigator award, and she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in 2023.
April 11, 2024
Treena Livingston Arinzeh, PHD
Professor of Bioengineering and Director of the Tissue Engineering and Active Biomaterials (TEAM) Laboratory at Columbia University
"Functional Biomaterials for Tissue Regeneration"
Abstract
Advances in biomaterial design and its impact on biological function has shown promise in the field of regenerative medicine. This presentation will describe biomaterial properties and designs that impart cues to stem cells and other cell types to affect their behavior and tissue formation in vitro and in vivo. The design of functional, bioinspired materials to be used alone to recruit endogenous cells for tissue repair will also be discussed. Our recent work utilizes protein-based biomaterials as a metabolic approach for bone tissue repair, where studies demonstrate an effect on stem cell migration and differentiation. In combination with a gene knockout model, we are learning about the role of glutamine, which becomes available upon biomaterial degradation, and its effect on bone repair. We have also developed novel glycosaminoglycan (GAG) mimetics, which are sulfated polysaccharides that vary in their degree of sulfation and can be combined to form polymer blends to create scaffolds. Studies demonstrate their sequestration of growth factors and their effect on cartilage repair. ECM proteins, such as collagen and elastin, exhibit electromechanical behavior. Our work using piezoelectric materials, which are materials that provide electrical activity in response to mechanical stimuli, have been explored in in vitro and in vivo models with recent work using degradable, piezoelectric materials having tunable properties. These biomaterials and their potential use in orthopaedic and neural applications will be discussed.
Biography
Treena Livingston Arinzeh, PhD is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. She is
also a co-leader of an Integrated Research Thrust (IRT) and the Director of Diversity of the NSF Science and Technology Center for Engineering Mechanobiology (CEMB). Dr. Arinzeh received her B.S. from Rutgers University in Mechanical Engineering, her M.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and her Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She was a project manager at the stem cell technology company, Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. and joined the faculty of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) as one of the founding faculty members of the department of Biomedical Engineering. She served as interim chairperson and graduate director, and was promoted to Distinguished Professor in 2020. She joined the faculty of Columbia University in 2022. Dr. Arinzeh has been recognized with numerous awards for her research, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). She is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). She has served as chairperson of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering (MTE) Study Section (2016-2018) and is currently Secretary of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) (2022-2024). She has 16 issued patents and is a co-founder of a start-up medical device company.
Thursday, March 28
Kharimat Lora Alatise
Ph.D. Candidate
Clemson University
Future Leader in Bioengineering
"Engineering multifunctional peptides to improve nucleic acid delivery for ovarian cancer treatment"
Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) therapies, such as small interfering RNA (siRNA), are high precision therapies capable of modulating the expression of disease-promoting genes with minimal off-target effects. For aggressive diseases like ovarian cancer, RNAi therapies can serve a robust treatment modality if delivered successfully. Ovarian cancer requires an effective therapeutic strategy to sensitize tumors to chemotherapy due to high relapse rates and drug resistance in advanced stages. As of 2024, the FDA has only approved six siRNA therapies- none of which are approved for cancer treatment. Enhancing siRNA delivery to extrathepatic sites is essential due to the extracellular and intracellular barriers that limit its effectiveness. One promising avenue for overcoming delivery challenges lies in the rational design of amino acid sequences, which can be tailored to engineer peptides with diverse functionalities. These peptides hold the potential to serve as versatile nucleic acid delivery systems, capable of navigating the intricate barriers within the body to reach their intended targets. This talk will highlight the feasibility of peptide sequences to effectively deliver siRNA and silence oncogenes in in vitro and in vivo ovarian cancer models. By harnessing the unique properties of these engineered peptides, potentially new avenues for targeted RNAi therapy can be unlocked, not only for ovarian cancer but also other diseases where RNSi therapy holds therapeutic promise.
Biography
K. Lora Alatise earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Rochester, working with Dr. Danielle Benoit in her Therapeutic Biomaterials lab as a Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Scholar. Her research focused on characterizing peptide-conjugated polymeric nanoparticles for small molecule drug delivery. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in Bioengineering at Clemson University, conducting research in Dr. Angela Alexander-Bryant’s Nanobiotechnology Lab, where her dissertation focuses on improving nucleic acid delivery to ovarian tumors. At Clemson, Lora has garnered recognition for her research and service, receiving several awards including the 2023 Eugene M. Langan III Service Award and the Call Me Doctor Fellowship. During her Ph.D., she gained additional expertise by conducting formulation research in Genetic Medicine at Eli Lilly and Company. Upon completing her Ph.D., Lora aims to continue advancing targeted delivery systems for nucleic acid delivery to study and treat diseases that affect distinct and minoritized populations. Lora is passionate about training the next generation of engineers – she actively mentors undergraduate students in research projects and outside of the lab.
February 29, 2024
Andrew Tsourkas, Ph.D.
Professor and Undergraduate Chair, Department of Bioengineering at The University of Pennsylvania
"Engineering novel antibody and nanoparticle platforms for imaging and therapeutic applications"
Abstract
A major goal of my research program is to develop novel molecular imaging agents and targeted therapeutics. In particular, we are (i) developing new nanoformulations for diverse biomedical applications, including image-guided surgery, photodynamic therapy, and sonodynamic therapy; (ii) investigating new targeted strategies that maximize specificity and sensitivity or improve the accumulation and penetration of nanomaterials within tumors; and (iii) developing new bioconjugation techniques that enable the highly efficient, site-specific labeling of proteins, including antibodies. These bioconjugation tools have allowed us to pursue a variety of unique applications, including the conversion of cancer patients' own antibodies into tumor-targeting, T cell re-directing bispecific antibodies. We have also taken advantage of our site-specific bioconjugation technologies to deliver antibodies and proteins into the cytoplasm of living cells, which has enabled the inhibition and degradation of 'undruggable' protein targets. We hope that these tools will help facilitate the movement towards more personalized medicine, whereby treatments are tailored to individual patients.
Biography
Andrew Tsourkas, Ph.D. is a Professor and Undergraduate Chair of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1997 from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Georgia Tech/Emory University joint Ph.D. program in 2002. He conducted a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Radiology at Harvard University, before joining Penn in 2004. Dr. Tsourkas is currently the Co-Director for the Center for Targeted Therapeutics and Translational Nanomedicine. He was a recipient of the Coulter Foundation Early Career Award, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and was elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
February 15, 2024
Robert Bowles, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
University of Utah
"CRISPR for Discovery, Design, and Development of Musculoskeletal Therapeutics"
Abstract
The development of CRISPR gene regulation systems have opened the door for novel gene and cell therapy strategies. While these systems allow for the targeted and precise regulation of gene expression and can be utilized to engineer cells for a multitude of applications, these systems are also very powerful tools for discovering novel biology and therapeutic targets. Here we will cover its use to neuromodulate pain, engineer cells for tissue engineering in the first part of the talk and explore our discovery of a novel regulator or senescence using theses systems, ZNF865, and its broad potential applications to aging, musculoskeletal disorders, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Biography
I have been studying the intervertebral disc (IVD) and related back pain for over two decades (23 years). I started as an undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania investigating spine biomechanics, which ignited my interest in IVD tissue engineering strategies that target the regeneration and replacement of degenerative IVD tissue at Cornell University. Wanting a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of pain, I pursued postdoctoral training as an NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at Duke University investigating the development and maintenance of pain in musculoskeletal preclinical animal models of osteoarthritis and peripheral neuropathies. This postdoctoral training had the added bonus of providing training in lentiviral gene delivery systems, drug delivery for inflammation, and, gene editing/regulation. I have been primarily focused on combining these skill sets, and using CRISPR gene regulation, to solve critical problems in the musculoskeletal space. My laboratory has the distinction of being the first to modify a stem cell with CRISPR epigenome editing and the first to characterize ZNF865, a novel regulator of senescence. My laboratory is currently funded by the NIH to investigate CRISPR epigenome editing in multiple cell types.
February 22, 2024
Juan Hu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow-University of California, Irvine
Future Leader in Bioengineering
"High-Throughput Technologies to Illuminate the Molecular Basis of Membrane Penetration within the Rule of 5 and Beyond"
Abstract
How do molecules cross the cell membrane and what properties allow them to do so? Lipinski’s Rule of 5 generally defines physicochemical properties (molecular weight, lipophilicity) that correlate with good membrane permeability and oral bioavailability. Increasingly, drug discovery projects involve so called “undruggable” protein targets, which generally benefit from chemical space beyond the Lipinski's rule of 5 (bRo5), but these molecules suffer compromised cellular permeability and bioavailability due to unclear structure-permeation relationships. I have developed high-throughput permeation measurement technology – which could elucidate such relationships – as demonstrated through the discovery of unexpected relationships between stereochemistry and membrane permeation. My talk will describe this discovery and its potential implications for drug discovery and the origins of life. I will also discuss our ongoing efforts to explore and define the properties that confer membrane permeability within the Rule of 5 and beyond.
Biography
Dr. Hu achieved her doctoral degree in chemistry from Auburn University in 2018 under the guidance of Professor Christopher J. Easley in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. There, she developed sensitive immunoassays and microfluidic tools for studying dynamics of hormone secretion from cells related to diabetes and obesity. She then joined the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research for her postdoctoral training under the guidance of Professor Brian M. Paegel, and later moved with the Paegel Laboratory to UC Irvine in 2019. During her postdoctoral training, she has studied membrane permeability and developed high-throughput permeation measurement and screening methods. Her research has been published in Nature Chemistry, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, and Lab on a Chip. Dr. Hu received an NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00).
January 25, 2024
Arnab Mukherjee, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering & Biological Engineering
University of California, Santa Barbara
"Engineering biological water diffusion to create new genetic reporters for molecular MRI"
Abstract
The study of biological functions in intact organisms requires noninvasive genetic reporters to track cells, image gene expression, and monitor signaling pathways. While fluorescent and bioluminescent proteins are widely used as reporters, their utility in deep tissues is limited due to the scattering and absorption of light, which impede imaging beyond a depth of ~ 1 mm from the tissue surface. To overcome this challenge, my research harnesses unexpected connections between proteins and the physics of magnetic resonance (MRI) to create new biomolecular reporters for deep tissue imaging. In this talk, I will discuss our recent efforts to address three long-standing challenges in the development of viable MRI reporters: sensitivity, specificity, and sensor design. First, I will highlight our recent work in increasing reporter gene sensitivity to detect small numbers of genetically labeled cells, potentially, as few as hundred cells per imaging voxel. I will then describe the creation of chemically erasable reporters, which enable “hotspot” imaging with a low tissue background. Finally, I will discuss a new modular approach for programming MRI sensors based on protease modulation of reporter activity.
Biography
Arnab Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering & Biological Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to arriving at UCSB, Dr. Mukherjee completed a James G. Boswell fellowship in Molecular Engineering at Caltech (working with Prof. Mikhail Shapiro) and obtained his Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The Mukherjee lab works at the intersection of molecular engineering, synthetic biology, and molecular imaging to create new genetic reporters and sensors for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Research in the Mukherjee group has been consistently supported by the NIH, Army, and foundations; and recognized with notable awards, including an Outstanding Young Investigator Award (NIH MIRA), a Discovery Award from the DoD, the NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and a 2022 Scialog Fellows award in Advanced Bioimaging.
January 11, 2024
Robert Gray, Ph.D.
Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the School of Infection and immunity and an Honorary Consultant Pulmonologist at NHS GGC
"Cystic Fibrosis lung disease from inflammation to resolution and repair"
Abstract
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that is characterized by progressive and destructive lung disease. RG's seminar will cover how inflammation is a key feature of CF and in particular how CF immune cell dysfunction is key feature of the inflammatory process. New CF drug therapies that target the basic defect in CF have additional significant effects on CF immune cells that may be beneficial for people with CF and are increasing our understanding of the inflammatory process in CF. We are now using cells from people with CF to define the on-going inflammation process in CF and deploying them in ex-vivo tissue models to drive therapeutic discovery. A full understanding of the inflammatory process in CF will require cross-disciplinary collaborative research that will allow new therapeutic approaches to be discovered and tested before taking treatments back into clinical trial. RG will outline these initiatives today.
Biography
Robert Gray is Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the School of Infection and immunity and an Honorary Consultant Pulmonologist at NHS GGC. He completed training in Pulmonology in Edinburgh and then held consecutive intermediate (Welcome) and senior (NRS/CSO) fellowships prior to his appointment in Glasgow. The Gray lab studies lung inflammation, damage, and repair processes with a focus on Cystic Fibrosis and related diseases of the airways.