Immune Cell Homing Biomaterials for Cancer Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy has shown the promise to cure cancer by boosting systemic anticancer immune responses, especially with the success of checkpoint blockades and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies in the past decade. However, there remains tremendous room for the development of new-generation immunotherapies that can generate more robust and persistent cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses. One of our research interestsisto understandhow immune cells can be manipulatedorengineeredusing chemistry, material, and chemical biology approaches, in order todevelop effective therapies for cancersand other diseases.In this talk, I will talk about three research projects centered around immunomaterials. In the first work, I will introduce how dendritic cells (DCs) can be recruited to a macroporous hydrogel and metabolically labeled with unique chemical tags in situ, for subsequent tracking and targeting of DCs in vivo. The chemically tagged DCs enable targeted conjugation of immunomodulatory agents via efficient click chemistry, for the development of potent cancer vaccines and cytokine therapies. In the second work, I will talk about how DC-homing macroporous gels can be utilized to develop antigen-free in situ cancer vaccines for treating poorly-immunogenic solid tumors. Lastly, I will introduce our recent work in developing a T cell-responsive macroporous hydrogel that enables activation and expansion of T cells in situ, which holds promise for improving current T cell therapies.
Prof. Hua Wang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, starting from August 2020. He is also affiliated with the Cancer Center at Illinois, Department of Bioengineering, Carle College of Medicine, Beckman Institute, MRL, and IGB. Prof. Wang received his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at UIUC in 2016, and pursued his postdoctoral research in immunoengineering and immunotherapy with Prof. David Mooney at Harvard University from 2016-2020. Wang lab is conducting research at the intersection of multidisciplinary fields, including cancer immunotherapy, metabolic glycan labeling, regenerative medicine, and biomaterials.Prof. Wang was a recipient of NSF CAREER Award, Wyss Technology Development Fellowship, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) International Student Research Fellowship.
