Engineering Immunity: Design and Development of Customized Nanomaterials with Controlled Immunostimulatory Effects for Biomedical Applications

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are rapidly emerging as a new class of materials that allow tuning of their physicochemical properties for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications, e.g., drug delivery, tissue engineering and vaccines. ENMs could interact with biological entities at the nano-bio interface, which could induce cascades of signaling pathways leading to the activation of immune responses including both innate and adaptive immunity. It has been identified that hydrophobicity, size, and surface charge are the possible parameters affecting the biocompatibility of ENMs. However, the detailed mechanisms by which ENMs could generate immunostimulatory effects at the nano-bio interface are still not fully understood. In light of this, my research will focus on immunoengineering, which will involve developing ENMs with tunable physicochemical properties, investigating the interaction of ENMs with immune systems, and further customizing their applications in vaccine development, tissue engineering, and cancer immunotherapy.