Engineering Bacteria as Living Drug Delivery Systems
Event details
| Date | 26.02.2024 |
| Hour | 14:15 › 15:15 |
| Speaker | Tetsuhiro Harimoto, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Mooney Lab, Harvard University, Boston, MA (USA) |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR
Abstract:
Engineered living cells as therapeutic agents are transforming modern medicine. An emerging focus is tumor-colonizing bacteria, where systemically delivered bacteria have been demonstrated to selectively grow within solid tumors. This natural tropism to tumors presents a unique opportunity to engineer bacteria as programmable drug delivery vehicles to regions inaccessible with existing chemo- and immuno-therapeutics. In this talk, I will describe our recent efforts to enhance bacterial cancer therapies through synthetic biology. I will focus on strategies to address several key challenges for clinical translation, including bacterial delivery, therapeutic identification, and off-target toxicity. Our multidisciplinary approach, spanning from gene circuit design to in vitro and in vivo models, advances bacteria as next-generation drug carriers capable of sensing and responding to diseases within the body.
Bio:
Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University (2022)
B.S., Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto (2014)
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/68848415101
Abstract:
Engineered living cells as therapeutic agents are transforming modern medicine. An emerging focus is tumor-colonizing bacteria, where systemically delivered bacteria have been demonstrated to selectively grow within solid tumors. This natural tropism to tumors presents a unique opportunity to engineer bacteria as programmable drug delivery vehicles to regions inaccessible with existing chemo- and immuno-therapeutics. In this talk, I will describe our recent efforts to enhance bacterial cancer therapies through synthetic biology. I will focus on strategies to address several key challenges for clinical translation, including bacterial delivery, therapeutic identification, and off-target toxicity. Our multidisciplinary approach, spanning from gene circuit design to in vitro and in vivo models, advances bacteria as next-generation drug carriers capable of sensing and responding to diseases within the body.
Bio:
Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University (2022)
B.S., Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto (2014)
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/68848415101
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
Contact
- Institute of Bioengineering (IBI), Dietrich REINHARD