Talk Overview:

Cancer immunotherapy has achieved significant clinical success in the past few years, but there remains tremendous room for the development of new-generation therapies with more robust and persistent antitumor immune responses. My research interests are largely directed towards understanding how cancer cells and immune cells can be manipulated or engineered using chemistry, material, and chemical biology approaches, in order to develop effective therapies for cancers, injured tissues, and other diseases. In this talk, I will start with my phd journey in exploring cancer-selective metabolic labeling and targeting, and then share how metabolic cell labeling can be utilized for tracking and targeted modulation of immune cells in vivo. Lastly, I will talk about a biomaterial-based antigen-free cancer vaccine for the treatment of poorly-immunogenic solid tumors.

Bio:

I am currently a Wyss Technology Development Fellow at Harvard University, aiming to integrate my research background in chemistry, materials science, and chemical biology with cancer immunotherapy and immunoengineering here. More specifically, I am exploring approaches to modulate or engineer cancer and immune cells in vivo, in order to improve and innovate current immunotherapies for cancers and other immune-related diseases. Before moving to Harvard, I earned my Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (08/2012-06/2016), and my Bachelor’s degree in Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Science and Technology of China (08/2008-06/2012).