National Institute of Health (NIH) Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award
Grant number 5T32EB021962-07
Program Director and Co-Directors
Program director: Julia E. Babensee (Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, GT)
Co-directors: Rafi Ahmed (Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, Emory) and Susan Thomas (Professor, Mechanical Engineering, GT)
Objective:
The goal of this program is the training of Georgia Tech Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Bioengineering (BioE) doctoral students in state-of-the-art immunology, with application of engineering principles, within a strong professional development environment, to equip them to be able to take on prominent positions in Immunoengineering academia and industry.
Learn:
With medical and engineering advancements in strategies for diagnosing disease, companies are developing new Immunoengineering-oriented approaches and therapies for treating immune/inflammatory diseases, resulting in translation and commercialization. Another trend is personalized medicine for patient-specific diagnosis and treatment. High throughput, large data set analysis technologies facilitate this personalized approach. Companies specializing in vaccine development/manufacturing, cell-based therapies for cancer treatment or production of immunobiologics (such as monoclonal antibodies for treating inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis) also look to hire highly qualified personnel to fill various roles within their industry. The translation of the next generation medical therapies that have attributes including patient specific-medicine, point-of-care diagnostics, and pathway-specific immunomodulation, rather than generalized/’one-size-fits-all” immunosuppressive drugs, will best be done by Immunoengineers. These highly specialized personnel would have a strong background in engineering tools and principles applied to biological situations, as do biomedical engineers and bioengineers. Furthermore, new therapeutics developed in the laboratory are often on the path to commercialization and having an employee familiar with the technological/biological aspects we well as commercialization will be a big plus.
Most companies working in this area of Immunoengineering hire basic scientists since immunology is a basic science, albeit one that has a lot of applications amenable to translation, in order to positively impact patients’ lives (e.g., anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive drugs, avoiding transplant rejection, adoptive cell therapy for cancer treatment). However, these individuals do not have training in engineering nor quantitative or systems perspectives. In contrast, engineers are also hired into companies that work in Immunoengineering areas, but often they do not have immunology training. The training program described in this application is aimed to better equip engineers by training them in immunology (as well as in engineering). Through this Immunoengineering training program, we will develop a new type of engineering trainee, one who can apply engineering principles with knowledge of immunology to make impacts on new treatments for disease and who will fill a critical gap in existing bioengineers entering today’s work force. Our training program will provide translational medicine and ethics training to equip trainees with important “soft skills” such as project and time management, ethics and understanding of the translational aspects of bring a product to market.
Required Immunoengineering Program Components:
Required Courses:
- Immunoengineering (BMED8813, offered every other Fall term, even years)
- Concepts in Immunology (IBS542, offered every Fall semester)
Center for Immunoengineering at Georgia Tech Participation:
The Center for Immunoengineering at Georgia Tech runs several activities in which the Immunoengineering trainees will participate. These activities are:
- monthly student-lead Immunoengineering Trainee Seminars
- Annual Georgia Immunology Consortium symposium or the like – poster presentation recommended
- Immunoengineering invited speaker seminars
Immunoengineering Journal Club:
Trainees will meet every month with an Immunoengineering Steering committee member or trainee advisor for discussion of a journal paper related to Immunoengineering. Each trainee will be in charge of leading the discussion twice a year. These events will be trainee lead and organized.
Immunoengineering Trainee Interactions with Steering Committee, Training Faculty and Immunology Faculty:
- Annual trainee meeting with the Steering Committee to discuss research progress and direction
- Attend a bi-annual social reception with steering committee members and training faculty
- Research project should have a significant Emory immunology collaborative component
- Trainees strongly encouraged to have Emory immunology co-advisor
- Thesis committee is required to include an immunologist from Emory University School of Medicine, CDC, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta or elsewhere (requirement may be filled by co-advisor)
- Regularly attend Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis (IMP) or other immunology-related seminars at Emory University
Immunoengineering Industry Visit:
Immunoengineering trainees will visit the R&D and manufacturing facilities of 1-2 well-known molecular/cellular immunotherapy and vaccine companies.
Immunoengineering Industry Seminars and Lunches:
Immunoengineering industry representatives, recommended by trainee faculty members, representing various functions within Immunoengineering companies such as manufacturing, regulatory, clinical, R&D will be invited to visit Georgia Tech, present an industry-focused seminar, meet at a lunch with trainees and meet with Immunoengineering training faculty. These events will be trainee lead and organized.
Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR)
Immunoengineering trainees will receive formal RCR instruction in one of two mechanisms, depending on their Ph.D. degree program. These mechanisms address the five instructional components (format, subject matter, faculty participation, duration of instruction, and frequency of instruction) per NIH NOT-OD-10-019. In addition, informal training in RCR will occur during the normal research experience and supervised by the faculty advisor. Components of the RCR training will include: Online RCR training; In-person RCR training; and In person RCR refresher training. Immunoengineering trainees will receive RCR training at least every 4 years.
Yearly Progress Report
Participation in these required events (and additional enrichment events) will be documented in the yearly progress report submitted by trainees to the Program Director for discussion with the Steering Committee to assess progress.
Program Commitment
Trainees will also provide a yearly progress report to be incorporated into the NIH Progress Report submitted by the grant PI. The trainee will also comply with requests from NIH for information during the duration of their time on the training grant and afterwards as needed.
Program Data
This training program represents the education component of the Center for Immunoengineering at Georgia Tech. Twenty-eight faculty, working at the interface of immunology and engineering, are in place at Georgia Tech and Emory to act as preceptors for training pre-doctoral students in Immunoengineering. Such a large number of Immunoengineering faculty is a key attribute and strength unique amongst top-tier engineering schools such as Georgia Tech.
The training grant is in its second round of funding and is currently in year 7 of its funding. The training grant is active until 2028. The training program has trained 16 doctoral students. There are 4 slots for trainee funding each year. Two new trainees are added each year.
- Why Immunoengineering?
With the burgeoning of the fields of immunology and immunotherapy in the last few decades, the use of pharmaceutical products, biomedical devices, immune cell therapy and biomaterials in immunological research and clinical applications, has rapidly expanded. Accordingly, there has been an increasing need for engineers trained with the quantitative, application-oriented skills necessary for both developing effective immunotherapies and translating these developments to industry. To meet these needs before now, individuals have trained as engineers in academic environments with an awareness of immunology, usually self-taught through reading immunology textbooks and the immunological research literature. The environment conducive for this is often with bioengineering leaders at prominent institutions who have established research and training relationships with medical school faculty in immunology. The recognition that the immune system plays a significant role in many diseases for which inadequate treatment exists has generated excitement of the general research community for immunology; the area of Immunoengineering has been born out of a desire to bring new tools and understanding to these complex problems.
The faculty at Georgia Tech, with our partners at Emory School of Medicine, are a strong, large faculty who are studying various aspects of Immunoengineering in a highly collaborative manner. Together we are defining this new field. With surging demand, there is now a desire for engineers to receive more formal Immunoengineering training through customized immunology course work and rich interactions with immunologists through research collaborations. This is what we as a training faculty aim to provide.
- What is Immunoengineering?
Immunoengineering is the application of engineering tools and principles to quantitatively study the immune system in health and disease and to develop new therapies or improve existing therapies by precisely controlling and modulating a patient’s immune response.
Description of Application Process
- Trainee nominations should be 2rd year BioEngineering or Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. students, working on an Immunoengineering research project. Trainees’ research project should have a significant Emory immunology collaborative component. Trainees are strongly encouraged to have Emory immunology co-advisor.
- Trainees on the training grant need to agree to fully participate in the activities of the training grant and fulfill the requirements of the training grant. Faculty advisors also need to be on board to fully participate and support the trainee and all requirements of the training grant. Additional information about requirements will be provided to selected trainees and advisors.
- Trainee nominations should be sent to the program director, Dr. Julia Babensee. Nominations are reviewed by the steering committee.
- The nomination package must include:
- 1. Nomination letter from advisor describing the proposed research project, fit for Immunoengineering, Emory Immunology collaborative component and Emory Immunology collaborator/co-advisor, agreement to trainee’s fulfillment of training requirements;
- 2. Nominee’s NIH-style biosketch, including unofficial GT transcript and GPA;
- 3. Personal statement from the nominee confirming concerning his / her, or their interest in Immunoengineering, agreement to fulfill training requirements, future career plans, and how training in Immunoengineering would best position them for this career path.
- start early by choosing an immunoengineering project/collaborative team/advisor in your first year
Deadline: Deadline will be announced each fall for a start date on the grant of January of next calendar year.
Review Criteria:
| Evaluation Criteria: |
| Nominee: Academic Record Research Record |
| Mentor(s): Training/Research record Collaboration with Immunologist |
| Project: Immunoengineering content Emory Immunology Involvement |
| Training Potential: Mentor(s) commitment to program Nominee’s commitment to Immunoengineering |
| Programmatic Fit: Diversity Program portfolio |
Program Outcomes:
- Graduated trainees have gone on to hold successful industry positions (Sofusa, Alcon, and start-up Guide Therapeutics) and consulting roles (Bain & Company)
- 12 students have graduated from the program and 6 students will be involved in the training grant in 2025
Past and Current Trainees, Academic Program, Project Titles and Advisors by Year Started in Program:
Cory Sago (2017), W.H.C. Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, worked with Dr. James Dahlman on a collaborative project withDr. Phil Santangelo at Georgia Tech andDr. Rafi Ahmed at Emory University entitled “Determining the role of inflammation in nanomaterial-immune interactions”.
Nicholas Beskid (2017), Mechanical Engineering/BioE, worked with Dr. Julia Babensee on a collaborative project with Dr. Brian Evavold at University of Utah entitled “Functionalized PEG-4MAL Hydrogels for Delivery of Dendritic Cells in Tolerogenic Applications”.
David Francis (2017), Chemical and Biomolecular Eng/BioE, worked with Dr. Susan Thomas on a collaborative project with Drs. Ned Waller and Hayden Kissick at Emory University entitled “Enhancing checkpoint inhibitor therapy and cancer immunotherapy via lymph node targeting and biomaterials nanoparticles”.
Katily Ramirez (2017), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, worked with Dr. Todd Sulchek on a research project entitled “Isolation of single cells based on their secretion using heterofunctional particles” in collaboration with Immunologists Dr. Ignacio Sanz and Dr. Frances Lee at Emory University.
Midori Maeda (2018), W.H.C. Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, worked with Dr. Shuichi Takayama on a collaborative project with Dr. Jason Knight at the University of Michigan entitled “Designing a high-throughput NETs degradation assay to characterize cellular and serological NETs clearance”.
Jeff Noble (2018), Chemical and Biomolecular Eng/BioE, worked with Dr. M.G. Finn on a collaborative project with Dr. Luc Teyton (Scripps Research, Dr. Paul Savage (Brigham Young University), and Dr. Alexandre Marques (University of Texas El Paso) entitled “Engineering Virus-like Particle Conjugate Vaccines to Protect Against Infectious Diseases”.
Sam Mc Cachren (2020) W.H.C. Dept. of Biomedical Engineering MD/Ph.D. worked with Dr. Melissa Kemp on a collaborative project with Dr. Madhav Dhodapkar at Emory University entitled “Characterization of a novel variable lymphocyte receptor-based chimeric antigen receptor for targeting plasma cell malignancies”
Lacey Perdue Birnbaum (2020) W.H.C. Dept. of Biomedical Engineering worked with Dr. Erik Dreaden on a collaborative project with Dr. Gregory Lesinski at Emory University entitled “Achieving optical control of immune signal effectors through bioinspired polymer photo-caging”.
Liane Kramer (2020) W.H.C. Dept. of Biomedical Engineering worked with Dr. Krish Roy on a collaborative project with Dr. Dr. Frances Eun-Hyung Lee at Emory University entitled “A synthetic germinal center for biomanufacturing antigen-specific B cells”.
Miquel Armenta Ochoa (2020) W.H.C. Dept. of Biomedical Engineering worked with Dr. Krish Roy on a collaborative project with Dr. Madhav Dhodapkar at Emory University entitled “Biomaterial-based Robust Expansion of Therapeutic T Cells”.
Alexander Heiler (2022) W.H.C. Dept. of Biomedical Engineering worked with Dr. Susan Thomas on a collaborative project with Dr. Chrystal Paulos at Emory University entitled “Click chemistry-enabled antibody nanoparticle conjugate for lymph node-resident B cell depletion”
Erin Connolly (2022) School of Biological Sciences, Bioinformatics, worked with Greg Gibson PhD, on a collaborative project with Frances Eun-Hyung Lee MD, Ignacio Sanz MD at Emory University and other Winship Cancer Institute Emory collaborators Zachary Buchwald MD PhD,Vishal Dhere MD entitled “A Cross-tissue Atlas of Human B cells in Health and Disease as Assessed by Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis”.
Augustine Duffy (2024) Chemical and Biomolecular Eng/BioE, works with Dr. Ravi Kane on a collaborative project with Dr. Moreno at Emory University entitled “Computationally-Aided Design of Broadly Protective Vaccines for Coronavirus and Influenza”.
Anna Davis (2024) W.H.C. Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, works with Dr. Leslie Chan on a collaborative project with Dr. Rheinallt Jones at Emory University entitled “Localized Intestinal Immunosuppression for Treatment of Crohn’s Disease”
Deepali Balasubramani (2024) W.H.C. Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, works with Dr. Ankur Singh on a collaborative project with Dr. Jeremy Boss at Emory University entitled “Engineered organoids to investigate differences in activated B cell (ABC) diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in African Americans”.
Alisyn Bourque (2024) Mechanical Engineering/BioE, works with Dr. M.G. Finn on a collaborative project with Dr. Sudhir Kasturi at Emory University entitled “Engineering Virus-Like-Particles (VLPs) and Polypropylene Sulfide Nanoparticles (PPS NPs) to Carry and Release Cytotoxic Drugs and Immunostimulatory Cargo at Lymph Nodes to Treat Lymphoma”.
Carolina Colon (2025) Mechanical Engineering/BioE, works with Dr. Todd Sulchek with Dr. Saba Ghassemi from University of Pennsylvania entitled “Cell Therapies for Astronauts: How Advancing the Field of CAR-T Cell Therapy using a Microfluidic-based Delivery can provide the tools for Long-Term Space Exploration.”
Steering Committee Members:
Program director, Julia E. Babensee (Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, GT);
Co-directors, Rafi Ahmed (Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, Emory) and
Susan Thomas (Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, GT);
Mandy Ford (Associate Professor, Surgery, Emory University);
Melissa Kemp (Professor, Biomedical Engineering, GT);
Gabe Kwong (Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, GT);
Ignacio Sanz (Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, Emory);
Cheng Zhu (Regents’ Professor, Biomedical Engineering, GT).
External Advisory Board Members:
Dr. Melody A. Swartz, Ph.D.
William B. Ogden Professor in Molecular Engineering,
Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering,
The University of Chicago
Michelle Krogsgaard Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Pathology and Perlmutter Comprehensive Cancer Center New York University Grossman School of Medicine
Dr. David S. Pisetsky, MD, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine and Immunology
Duke University