(72a) Immunomodulatory Biomaterials for Vaccines, Cancer, and Inflammation

The immune system is crucial to our body’s ability to fight diseases such as viruses and cancer. However, its overactivation can also cause certain diseases, for example as a result of chronic inflammation. Therefore, modulating immunity in these contexts is critical to improving human health. In this presentation, I will give a brief overview of the three main projects of my postdoctoral studies which use immunomodulatory biomaterials in the development of novel vaccines, cancer immunotherapies, and anti-inflammatory therapies.

First, I will discuss how engineering nanoparticles to look more like virus particles enhances immunity against SARS-CoV-2. Second, I will discuss how altering the genetic material of cancer cells improves their responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Third, I will discuss how targeting cytokines to sites of inflammation results in local immunosuppression without systemic effects. Finally, I will discuss how my future lab will use biomaterials to modulate immunity in the contexts of cancer and autoimmunity.