Scholarship: Fully funded
Degree: bachelor/master
Nationality: International Students
Location: USA
Application deadlines: Open
Scholarship Description:
Dr. Xiao Huang received his B.S. degree from Nanjing Agricultural University, China, his M.S. degree in biochemistry from East China University of Science and Technology, and his Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA; he then did postdoctoral research in the labs of Tejal Desai and Wendell Lim at the University of California, San Francisco. He was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University, USA in 2022. He has published several papers as first author in Nature Nanotechnology, ACS Nano, Advanced Materials, Nano Letters, Biomaterials and other top journals in the field of materials and biomedical engineering, and has filed one international patent and one US patent application. He was named a BWF Rising Star in the field of Biointerfaces in 2022. The lab will be officially launched in June 2023. Mentor’s website: https://drexel.edu/biomed/faculty/core/HuangXiao/
Immunotherapy has evolved within the last decade as an effective treatment option for cancer and autoimmune diseases, but its widespread use still presents important challenges in terms of efficacy, safety and cost. Our group aims to trace the natural mechanism of immune cells in vivo in order to design effective and feasible engineered therapeutic regimens. Biomolecular functionalization of medical macromolecular materials can mimic the natural mechanism and effectively modulate immune cell activity in vivo, thereby advancing the efficacy, safety, and feasibility of immunotherapy. The group is uniquely positioned at the intersection of materials, chemistry, and biology to carry out this work, and will have long-term collaborations with leading-edge groups in immunotherapy at UCSF, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Available Subjects:
- precise control of chimeric receptor T (CAR-T) cell differentiation to find the optimal phenotype for specific pathological settings.
- to study the modulation of immunotherapy by functional modules of biomaterials, agents and routes of administration in animal models.
- to establish in vitro tissue culture models with precise immune signaling divisions in order to study the mechanism of immune cell infiltration.
Eligibility criteria:
- a bachelor’s or master’s degree in chemistry, biology, or biomedical engineering related to chemistry, biology, or biomedical engineering obtained or to be obtained.
- have a strong interest in immune mechanisms and immune applications and biomaterials; preference will be given to those with one of the technical backgrounds in biochemistry and molecular biology, immunology, mouse models, fluorescence imaging and data analysis.
- a passion for research, optimism and cheerfulness, careful and rigorous work, and teamwork spirit.
- TOEFL test scores are up to standard (GRE scores are not required).
Application Procedure:
- Please send a scanned resume and undergraduate transcripts to [email protected]
