Events for May 01, 2024
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Alfred E.Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering - Seminar series
Wed, May 01, 2024 @ 09:45 AM - 10:45 AM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jeff Saucerman, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Cardiovascular Medicine Vivian Pinn Scholar, School of Medicine University of Virginia
Talk Title: Fusing mechanistic networks and machine learning to understand inflammation-fibrosis coupling
Abstract: Inflammation and fibrosis are conserved phases of wound healing in the heart,skin, and other organs. Yet therapeutic attempts at manipulating inflammationand fibrosis have had limited success. In this talk, I will present ourcomputational and experimental systems biology research on cardiacinflammation and fibrosis. These studies include large scale computationalmodels of the intracellular signaling networks of multiple cardiac cell types,experimental drug screens, and new methods that fuse mechanistic andmachine-learning approaches to understand how these drugs work. Ourcomputational models are validated with new experiments in cells and mice.
Biography: Dr. Jeff Saucerman is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor ofCardiovascular Medicine at the University of Virginia. He leads a research group in cardiacsystems biology, focused on identifying and controlling the molecular networks involved inheart disease. He received a B.S. in Engineering Science from Pennsylvania StateUniversity, Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of California San Diego, andcompleted a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Donald Bers at Loyola University Chicago. Dr.Saucerman has received a number of awards including an NSF CAREER Award, Fellow ofthe American Heart Association and American Institute of Medical and BiologicalEngineering, the Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award, BME Mentoring Award, and theVivian Pinn Scholar Award.
Host: Stacey Finley
Location: 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Carla Stanard
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Alfred E.Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering - Seminar series
Wed, May 01, 2024 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Paula Cannon, Ph.D. , Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the Keck School of Medicine of USC
Talk Title: Move over CAR T cells -“ engineering B cells to express custom molecules
Abstract: We use CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to reprogram B cells to express custom antibodies and antibody-like molecules. These include broadly neutralizing antibodies that can control HIV, but which are not made in response to candidate HIV vaccines. To do this, we developed a simplified gene editing protocol that inserts custom antigen-recognizing domains into constant regions of the immunoglobulin locus, resulting in molecules that mimic the heavy chain only antibodies found in Camelids. This approach preserves the important features of natural antibody expression, allowing engineered B cells to respond to matched antigens and differentiate into antibody-secreting cells. I will present our data evaluating this approach in ex vivo human tonsil organoids and in non-human primates, and describe the flexibility and potential applications of this new type of immune cell therapy.
Biography: Paula Cannon, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the Keck School of Medicine of USC. She obtained her PhD in bacterial gene transfer from the University of Liverpool in the UK and did postdoctoral work on HIV and gene therapy at both Harvard and Oxford Universities. Dr. Cannon uses gene editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 to manipulate immune cells, with the goal of developing cell therapy treatments for HIV, cancer and other chronic diseases. Most recently, her group has been editing B cells to express completely customized molecules, such as antibodies that can neutralize multiple different strains of HIV. Such a platform could turn B cells into factories in the body to secrete antibodies with desirable properties, including those that are not easily generated by vaccination. Dr. Cannon is well known as a gene therapist and will become the president of the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy in 2024.
Host: Peter Wang
Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 146
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Carla Stanard
