Event
BIOE Seminar: Nanoparticle engr to tailor immune responses & treatment of inflammatory diseases
Friday, October 28, 2022
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room 2121
Steven Jay
smjay@umd.edu
Ryan Pearson
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
Nanoparticle engineering to tailor immune responses and treatment of inflammatory diseases
This event will be offered in a in person format. If you do not currently receive our weekly seminars emails but you wish to attend this event, please email bioe-comms@umd.edu.
Abstract
Aberrant immune activation is prominent in human diseases and can contribute to the development of inflammatory, autoimmune, and allergic conditions for which there are limited therapeutic options available that address the underlying immune dysfunction. Modulation of innate and adaptive immune cell responses using nanoparticles is the basis for new therapies to reprogram dysregulated cell function back to the healthy state. Our group has taken an interest in the development of high-throughput formulation and screening approaches to assess inherent immunomodulatory activity of cargo-less nanoparticles to elicit anti-inflammatory responses for sepsis and traumatic injury applications. Furthermore, our group is focused on developing improved nanoparticle designs to modulate antigen-specific immune responses using protein and mRNA delivery approaches. Within this presentation, I will highlight the advancements in nanoparticle-based strategies used by our group and the immunological basis for their abilities to modulate non-specific and antigen-specific immune responses to treat inflammation-associated diseases.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Ryan Pearson is an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Science and Molecular Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Maryland. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy and was a postdoc at the University of Michigan prior to starting his independent career in 2018. Dr. Pearson’s laboratory focuses on developing nanotechnology-based strategies for treating dysregulated immune responses specifically focusing on sepsis, trauma, autoimmunity, and allergy. He has published over 35 peer-reviewed articles on his research in top journals including Biomaterials, Journal of Controlled Release, ACS Nano, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Advanced Functional Materials. Dr. Pearson’s significant scientific contributions relate to his development of nanoparticle-based inverse vaccines to induce antigen-specific immune tolerance and his studies evaluating the inherent immunomodulatory properties of polymeric nanomaterials. Dr. Pearson been recognized with several awards and recently received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy New Investigator Award, American Association of Immunologists Early Career Travel Award, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education Rising Star Award, Shock Society Faculty Research Award, and the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (R35 MIRA) from NIGMS. Dr. Pearson is an active member of the Bio- and Nano-technology center and the Computer-Aided Drug Design Center at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, and a member of the Marlene and Stewart Greenbaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Pearson serves on the editorial board of Pharmaceutical Research, as faculty advisor for the AAPS UMB Student Chapter, and as the Chair of the Immuno Delivery Focus Group for the Controlled Release Society.
