Temporal Control of Trained Immunity

Selected slides from my PhD thesis presentation in the Esser-Kahn lab at the University of Chicago.

The work asks a simple question: can we make trained immunity, the innate immune system’s short-lived memory, last longer and do more? A single dose of β-glucan trains innate immune cells, but the protection fades within about a week. By encapsulating β-glucan in slow-releasing PLGA nanoparticles, we extended that window to roughly a month, using only a fraction of the usual dose. The nanoparticle-trained response also translated into stronger resistance to B16-F10 melanoma in mice.

Published in Advanced Healthcare Materials (2022). Read the paper, or see it on Google Scholar.