Presenting on "Nanomedicine Approaches to Monitor and Control Macrophage Polarization"

Dr. Laura Suggs, Professor and Associate Chair of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin will speak at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, November 15, 2021 in Brauer Hall, Rm 12.

My laboratory is motivated by interdisciplinary and multifaceted approach to recognizing, understanding, and treating disease. Diseased states create a complex biological environment that includes the tissue cells, the extracellular matrix, soluble biochemical signals, and importantly, cells of the innate inflammatory system. The immune system is both implicated in creating inflamed states and one of its primary effectors. Detection of macrophage phenotype and polarization facilitates identification of this pathway and a roadmap for potential therapy. Our portfolio includes metal nanoparticle platforms used in combination with photoacoustic imaging to characterize the inflammatory response to cell therapies and polymeric nanoparticle systems to drive macrophage polarization either towards pro- or anti-inflammatory phenotypes depending on the disease condition. In this talk, I will describe the development of a variety of nanoparticle sensors made from biomimetic and metal- and polymer-based materials to detect characteristics of inflammatory disease—particularly chronic oxidative stress, dysregulation of proteases, and changes in macrophage phenotype and polarization from a pro-regenerative M2 state to pro-inflammatory M1.

Seminar presented by Institute of Materials Science & Engineering and co-sponsored by the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

NOTE:
Parking is available in the new East End Garage. Click here for the map. If taking the subway, the nearest metrolink stop is Skinker.