Molecular engineering
Engineering the immune response
The Hartwell Immunoengineering Lab uses biomolecular engineering, drug delivery, and immunology to develop molecular vaccines and immunotherapies that direct the immune response towards activation or tolerance by targeting specific cells and tissues, with a focus on the mucosal immune system.
Engineering stem cell-derived immunotherapies
The Khalil group uses pluripotent stem cells and genetic engineering to study immune mechanisms in cancer and chronic diseases. By examining pathways that regulate immune cell functions, the lab seeks to create next-generation and transformative cell-based therapeutic strategies and enhance patient outcomes.
How cellular functions go awry
The Odde Lab aims to understand basic cellular functions in the context of diseases such as brain cancer and Alzheimer's. The team develops physics-based models that predict cell behavior, then use computer simulation and live cell imaging to identify potential therapeutic strategies.
Understanding protein networks
The Sarkar laboratory uses approaches from biomolecular engineering and biology to better understand how protein networks drive health-related processes at the cellular level. Ultimately, this could lead to more effective therapeutics, such as to stop the proliferation of cancer.
Engineering biomaterials to model diseases
Wei Shen’s laboratory engineers biomaterials, studies how they interact in microenvironments, and models diseases. They’ve created material for studying muscular dystrophy, a nanoparticle platform for antiviral therapy, and oxygen-releasing materials for cell-based therapy.
Research from our graduate faculty
Quantitative virus and cancer imaging
Louis Mansky’s research group is addressing questions involving macromolecular assemblies important in virus and cancer pathobiology with quantitative fluorescence, electron imaging techniques, and large data informatics.
Peptide-guided drug delivery
Hongbo Pang's lab utilizes phage display to rapidly identify novel disease-seeking peptides. These peptides can function as "GPS" to navigate drugs more selectively to disease sites in vivo, thus improving the therapeutic efficacy and safety.