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News

December 27, 2024

Shortly after Adrian Johnston, Phd ’24, finished his freshman year of high school, his father lost his battle with cancer.... Read More

Events

Feb
26
Wed
A Micro-Dissection Platform for Generating Organoids to Model the Tumor Immune Microenvironment @ Shriver Board Room
Feb 26 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
A Micro-Dissection Platform for Generating Organoids to Model the Tumor Immune Microenvironment @ Shriver Board Room

Speaker
Sindy Tang, PhD, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford

Talk Information
Patient-derived tumor organoids have emerged as promising models for predicting personalized drug responses in cancer therapy, but they typically lack immune components. Preserving the in vivo association between tumor cells and endogenous immune cells is critical for accurate testing of cancer immunotherapies. Mechanical dissection of tumor specimens into tumor fragments, as opposed to enzymatic digestion into single cells, is essential for maintaining these native tumor-immune cell spatial relationships. However, conventional mechanical dissection relying on manual mincing is time-consuming and irreproducible. This study describes two microdissection devices, the µDicer and µGrater, to facilitate the generation of intact tumor fragments from mouse B16 melanoma, a common model of human melanoma. The µDicer- and µGrater-cut tumor fragments were used to generate air‒liquid interface (ALI) organoids that co=preserve tumor cells with infiltrating immune subsets without artificial reconstitution. The µDicer, consisting of a hexagonal array of silicon microblades, was employed to investigate the effect of organoid size. The viability of ALI organoid immune cells appeared insensitive to organoid sizes exceeding ~400 µm but diminished in organoids ~200 µm in size. The µGrater, consisting of an array of submillimeter holes in stainless steel, was employed to accelerate dissection. For the samples studied, the µGrater was 4.5 times faster than manual mincing. Compared with those generated by manual mincing, ALI organoids generated by the µGrater demonstrated similar viability, immune cell composition, and responses to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. With further optimization, we believe these devices hold potential for integration into clinical workflows to support the advancement of personalized cancer immunotherapy.

Mar
4
Tue
Johns Hopkins Translational Immunoengineering Inaugural Symposium 2025 @ Chevy Chase Auditorium, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Mar 4 @ 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
Johns Hopkins Translational Immunoengineering Inaugural Symposium 2025 @ Chevy Chase Auditorium, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

The immunoengineering field is transforming cancer, autoimmunity, regeneration, and transplantation treatments by combining the diverse and complex fields of engineering and immunology. This symposium will highlight some of the latest advances in immunoengineering with a focus on translational aspects of the field. It is also a celebration of Johns Hopkins Translational ImmunoEngineering Center renewal and its accomplishments.

Keynote Speakers
Michel Sadelain, MD
Inaugural Director of the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy

Robert Seder, MD
Chief, Cellular Immunology Section, Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

May
5
Mon
18th Nano-Bio Symposium: Transforming Bioengineering Research with AI and Machine Learning @ Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus
May 5 @ 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
18th Nano-Bio Symposium: Transforming Bioengineering Research with AI and Machine Learning @ Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus

All are welcome to attend our 18th Nano-Bio Symposium on Transforming Bioengineering Research with AI and Machine Learning. This is event will include lectures, a poster competition, and reception.

More information to come.