{"360101":{"#nid":"360101","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Ph.D. Proposal by Sangeetha Srinivasan","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhD Proposal\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESangeetha Srinivasan\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJanuary 7th\u0026nbsp;2015,\u0026nbsp;Wednesday, 11am-12:30pm\u003Cbr \/\u003EHowey (Physics) Bldg, room#S106\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAdvisor:\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EJulia E. Babensee, PhD\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace C. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThesis Committee:\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EJulie Champion, PhD\u003Cbr \/\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEdward Botchwey, PhD\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace C. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESusan Thomas, PhD\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EKrishnendu Roy, PhD\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace C. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETitle: \u003Cstrong\u003EBiomaterial-Based Engineering of Dendritic Cell Environments for\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETargeted Immune Tolerance Induction\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAutoimmune disorders are estimated to be among the top ten\u003Cbr \/\u003Eleading causes of death among women of all ages below 65, for which\u003Cbr \/\u003Eavailable treatments include systemic immunosuppressants that cause serious\u003Cbr \/\u003Elong-term side effects. There is hence a growing interest to engineer\u003Cbr \/\u003Emechanisms of inducing target-specific immune tolerance with biomaterials\u003Cbr \/\u003Eparticularly professional antigen presenting cells namely dendritic cells\u003Cbr \/\u003E(DCs). DCs previously studied in the context of biomaterials have been\u003Cbr \/\u003Ediscovered to elicit differential responses to biomaterials suggesting that\u003Cbr \/\u003Ematerials on their own have the ability to stimulate specific DC phenotype.\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs the phenotype of DCs is a key mediator of downstream adaptive immune\u003Cbr \/\u003Eresponses that lead to normal or aberrant immunity, there is increasing\u003Cbr \/\u003Einterest in delineating the underlying mechanisms of material-cell\u003Cbr \/\u003Einteraction. In this proposal, we initially investigate the role played by\u003Cbr \/\u003EDCs in the adjuvant effect shown by certain materials such as poly\u003Cbr \/\u003Elactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) and further exploit the differential nature\u003Cbr \/\u003Eof the response towards agarose compared to PLGA, to develop solely\u003Cbr \/\u003Ebiomaterial-based methods in inducing antigen-specific immune tolerance in\u003Cbr \/\u003Ean *in vivo* mouse model. Moreover, DCs can be locally treated with\u003Cbr \/\u003Especific immunomodulators rather than biomaterials to express a tolerogenic\u003Cbr \/\u003Ephenotype that can trigger antigen-specific immunoregulation. As a second\u003Cbr \/\u003Eand distinct approach, in this proposal, we examine the possibility of\u003Cbr \/\u003Edeveloping the spatiotemporally controlled delivery of immunomodulators\u003Cbr \/\u003Efrom a single implantable biomaterial niche. The design of such a delivery\u003Cbr \/\u003Edevice would call for not only incorporating a strategy for DC phenotype\u003Cbr \/\u003Emodulation but also a technique for promoting endogenous DC recruitment\u003Cbr \/\u003Eupon *in vivo* implantation; thus it would enable the localized delivery of\u003Cbr \/\u003Efactors while promoting systemic circulation of in situ primed DCs for\u003Cbr \/\u003Eeffective downstream immune function, a feature commonly lacking in\u003Cbr \/\u003Eexisting treatments of autoimmune diseases. Finally, the efficacy of this\u003Cbr \/\u003Etechnique will be assessed in the context of an autoimmune disease model,\u003Cbr \/\u003Eto explore its potential use as a therapeutic cure for individuals with\u003Cbr \/\u003Eautoimmune disorders.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Biomaterial-Based Engineering of Dendritic Cell Environments for Targeted Immune Tolerance Induction"}],"uid":"28077","created_gmt":"2015-01-05 10:18:26","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:10:54","author":"Danielle Ramirez","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2015-01-07T10:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2015-01-07T11:30:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2015-01-07T11:30:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2015-01-07 15:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2015-01-07 16:30:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2015-01-07 16:30:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"1808","name":"graduate students"},{"id":"102851","name":"Phd proposal"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}