BATS

Date/Time:

Apr 12, 2019 - 12:00 PM

Location:

Hosts:

Bevin Engelward

Speaker:

Title:

Investigating the Mechanism of Action of Anti-fibrotic Biomaterials

Abstract:

The foreign body response to implantable biomaterials is a significant challenge in the long-term success of medical devices. The host response can be detrimental to device function due to inflammation and fibrotic capsule formation. To address this challenge, our lab screened materials to identify those that mitigate the foreign body response in mice. We are now working to identify the mechanism of action of the lead materials from this screen to improve our understanding of the foreign body response and rationally design new materials.

Speaker:

Title:

Immunotherapy Combinations to Augment STING Agonism in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Abstract:

Invigorating the innate immune system is an attractive strategy for treating cancer and can be accomplished through administration of small molecule agonists of the STimulator of INterferon Genes (STING) pathway. Recent studies suggest the degree of STING activation defines a dichotomy between systemic immune activation, only at low doses, and primary tumor ablation, only at high doses. In this work, we examine combination immunotherapies which boost the immune response initiated by STING agonism while maintaining primary tumor shrinkage.