Immunoengineering

Immunoengineering harnesses the power of the immune system to treat diseases such as cancer and promote tissue regeneration and healing.

Education in Immunoengineering

Our curriculum trains students at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels. Particular emphasis is placed on novel materials and methods to harness the body’s immune system to fight disease, and to promote tissue repair and healing. Students develop new biomaterials, vaccines, therapeutics, and systems to understand immune cell function and guide immune cell behavior.

Research in Immunoengineering

Our students and faculty are pioneering immunoengineering approaches to augment tissue regeneration, and to treat cancer and other diseases. Key research areas include:

Biomimetic Materials

We are controlling the signals that regulate immune cell responses at the macro and nanoscale through biomimicry and advanced materials design.
Regenerative Immunology and Aging

We are innovating platforms that modulate innate and adaptive immune responses to promote tissue regeneration and wound healing. We are investigating the impact of aging on the immune system and its function in repair and disease.
Immuno-Oncology

We are innovating platforms that modulate immune responses to potentiate vaccine efficacy, enhance drug delivery systems, and improve cancer treatment.

Host Defense

We are designing new material and cell-based therapies for correcting improper immune response, in the case of attack against self and autoimmune disorders, or for augmentation, in the case of ridding the body of foreign invaders.
Systems Immunology and Computational Immunoengineering

We are investigating how immune cells connect with each other and tissues to exert their functions. We are building systems models of cell and tissue function to provide insights that guide experimental and translational studies, and utilizing bioinformatics for improved neoantigen discovery.
Molecular Engineering

We are redesigning natural proteins and creating entirely new proteins as tools to both understand and manipulate the immune response. We are inventing biotechnologies to direct immune cell function.
Synthetic Biology

We are designing, fabricating, and integrating new biological components, ranging from individual molecular players such as proteins to cell-based platforms.