Presented By: Chemical Engineering
ChE SEMINAR: “Embracing Immunodiversity: How Investigating Monocyte Phenotype can Improve Nanotechnology Design and Efficacy”
Elizabeth Wayne, Carnegie Mellon
Abstract:
With the emergence of immunomodulating nanotechnologies, cell-based therapies and a growing number of individuals living with one or more pre-existing chronic inflammatory diseases there is an urgent need to understand how immunodiversity—or variation in individual immune responses based on environmental and intrinsic features—effect therapeutic outcomes. My research group develops real-time bioluminescence cellular biosensor systems to explore the temporal and spatial dynamics of monocyte differentiation and polarization following infiltration into tumor, bacterial/viral infection, and pre-eclampsia microenvironments. For example, we explore how environmental stimuli such as GM-CSF and M-CSF effect monocyte phenotype during differentiation into macrophages. In addition, we use the monocyte biosensors as a diagnostic tool to screen nanotherapeutic libraries for their polarization and/or reprogramming capabilities.
Our studies show differences between naïve and disease-trained monocyte interactions with nanoparticle systems that we believe can be used to reverse engineering nanotechnologies and inform drug pharmacokinetic models. In the long-term, we hope our exploration of immunodiversity and response to biomaterials increases inclusion of samples used in biomedical research and lead the greater translational successes in the clinic.
Bio:
Elizabeth Wayne is a TED Fellow and Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. Elizabeth Wayne works at the interface of immunology and nanoparticle engineering, by exploring the function of monocytes as a cellular theranostic. Her group designs chitosan-based nanoparticles that can modulate macrophage phenotype under inflammatory contexts. Her group designs monocyte biosensors to enable real-time measurements of macrophage polarization. Currently, she is applying these concepts to investigate air-pollution, lung regeneration, atherosclerosis, pre-eclampsia, and cancer. Dr. Wayne’s research has competitively been funding through NSF, Genentech, and a prestigious NIH R35 Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award.
Dr. Wayne is a science communicator who uses her platform to discuss the future of immunoengineering and issues related to underrepresented minorities in science. In 2017, she gave a TED Talk on immunoengineering which currently has been viewed over 1.5 million times. Dr. Wayne was featured in the Super Cool Scientists: A Women in Science Coloring Book. She is also the co-host of the show PhDivas, a podcast that tells the stories of women in leadership and higher education. Dr. Wayne has been interviewed and written in various platforms including PBS News Hour Brief but Spectacular Series, Aspen Ideas Health Festival, Nature Careers, Nature Medicine, Bust Magazine, The Atlantic, and the LA Times.
With the emergence of immunomodulating nanotechnologies, cell-based therapies and a growing number of individuals living with one or more pre-existing chronic inflammatory diseases there is an urgent need to understand how immunodiversity—or variation in individual immune responses based on environmental and intrinsic features—effect therapeutic outcomes. My research group develops real-time bioluminescence cellular biosensor systems to explore the temporal and spatial dynamics of monocyte differentiation and polarization following infiltration into tumor, bacterial/viral infection, and pre-eclampsia microenvironments. For example, we explore how environmental stimuli such as GM-CSF and M-CSF effect monocyte phenotype during differentiation into macrophages. In addition, we use the monocyte biosensors as a diagnostic tool to screen nanotherapeutic libraries for their polarization and/or reprogramming capabilities.
Our studies show differences between naïve and disease-trained monocyte interactions with nanoparticle systems that we believe can be used to reverse engineering nanotechnologies and inform drug pharmacokinetic models. In the long-term, we hope our exploration of immunodiversity and response to biomaterials increases inclusion of samples used in biomedical research and lead the greater translational successes in the clinic.
Bio:
Elizabeth Wayne is a TED Fellow and Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. Elizabeth Wayne works at the interface of immunology and nanoparticle engineering, by exploring the function of monocytes as a cellular theranostic. Her group designs chitosan-based nanoparticles that can modulate macrophage phenotype under inflammatory contexts. Her group designs monocyte biosensors to enable real-time measurements of macrophage polarization. Currently, she is applying these concepts to investigate air-pollution, lung regeneration, atherosclerosis, pre-eclampsia, and cancer. Dr. Wayne’s research has competitively been funding through NSF, Genentech, and a prestigious NIH R35 Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award.
Dr. Wayne is a science communicator who uses her platform to discuss the future of immunoengineering and issues related to underrepresented minorities in science. In 2017, she gave a TED Talk on immunoengineering which currently has been viewed over 1.5 million times. Dr. Wayne was featured in the Super Cool Scientists: A Women in Science Coloring Book. She is also the co-host of the show PhDivas, a podcast that tells the stories of women in leadership and higher education. Dr. Wayne has been interviewed and written in various platforms including PBS News Hour Brief but Spectacular Series, Aspen Ideas Health Festival, Nature Careers, Nature Medicine, Bust Magazine, The Atlantic, and the LA Times.
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