Building Immunity with Biomaterials
Event details
| Date | 05.03.2018 |
| Hour | 16:00 › 17:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. David J. Mooney, Wyss Institute, Harvard University, Boston, MA (USA) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
DISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
Abstract:
Dysfunction of the immune system underlies many diseases, and results from certain cancer therapies. However, strategies to effectively accelerate return of immune function and program disease-specific immune responses by manipulating stem cells and immune cells are at an early stage. We are creating biomaterials capable of concentrating, interrogating, and manipulating stem and immune cells ex vivo and in the body by controlling, in space and time, the interaction of the cells with various cues. The utility of this concept in the cancer therapies will be highlighted.
Bio:
Dave is a leader in the fields of biomaterials, mechanotransduction, drug delivery, tissue engineering and immunoengineering. He is interested in understanding how cells sense signals in their environment and how this alters cell behavior. His laboratory develops biomaterials that exploits these signals to regulate specific cells and their function. They were the first to demonstrate in 3-D culture that the mechanical properties of a substrate regulated stem cell fate. His lab also developed the first implantable biomaterial cancer vaccine that contained biochemical cues to recruit and re-educate the immune system to destroy cancer cells. Dave’s goal is to use our knowledge of cell biology in conjunction with materials to boost therapeutic effects.
Dave is the Robert Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a Core Faculty Member of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. He is a member of several national academies and has won numerous awards for his research and his mentorship/teaching. He has published over 400 articles and has been issued numerous patents, several of which have been licensed to companies, resulting in successful commercial products. He is also an active member in major engineering professional societies, an editorial advisor to multiple journals, and serves on several industry and government advisory boards.
Abstract:
Dysfunction of the immune system underlies many diseases, and results from certain cancer therapies. However, strategies to effectively accelerate return of immune function and program disease-specific immune responses by manipulating stem cells and immune cells are at an early stage. We are creating biomaterials capable of concentrating, interrogating, and manipulating stem and immune cells ex vivo and in the body by controlling, in space and time, the interaction of the cells with various cues. The utility of this concept in the cancer therapies will be highlighted.
Bio:
Dave is a leader in the fields of biomaterials, mechanotransduction, drug delivery, tissue engineering and immunoengineering. He is interested in understanding how cells sense signals in their environment and how this alters cell behavior. His laboratory develops biomaterials that exploits these signals to regulate specific cells and their function. They were the first to demonstrate in 3-D culture that the mechanical properties of a substrate regulated stem cell fate. His lab also developed the first implantable biomaterial cancer vaccine that contained biochemical cues to recruit and re-educate the immune system to destroy cancer cells. Dave’s goal is to use our knowledge of cell biology in conjunction with materials to boost therapeutic effects.
Dave is the Robert Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a Core Faculty Member of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. He is a member of several national academies and has won numerous awards for his research and his mentorship/teaching. He has published over 400 articles and has been issued numerous patents, several of which have been licensed to companies, resulting in successful commercial products. He is also an active member in major engineering professional societies, an editorial advisor to multiple journals, and serves on several industry and government advisory boards.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
Contact
- Institute of Bioengineering (IBI, Christina Mattsson)