Shea Lab
Principal Investigator: Lonnie D Shea
Institution: University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
Primary Subfield: Synthetic Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Undesired immune responses are central to many chronic diseases, with these immune responses either responsible for disease and its progression (e.g., cancer) or limiting therapies (e.g., transplant rejection). However, a significant challenge with these chronic diseases is that they develop over time and often go undetected until the disease has reached a substantial burden such as tissue or organ failure, after which therapeutic efficacy is limited. We propose a living sentinel based on an injectable material for i) monitoring of the immune system to identify disease at the earliest stages and ii) monitoring of the response to immunotherapy. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) will be used as a model system, as patients, typically children and young adults, present acutely ill due to symptoms of hyperglycemia (polydipsia, polyuria, nocturia, and weight loss) or diabetic ketoacidosis, which occurs because of destruction of the insulin-producing -cells of the pancreatic islets. The system is based on employing an injectable scaffold that functions as an “immunological niche" (IN) to which immune cells home and contains many of the cell types found in the diseased tissue during progress…
Active NIH Awards
- 5U01EB036955-02: Injectable scaffolds for early detection of immune dysregulation and monitoring response to immunotherapies (2026)
- 5R01EB036030-03: Nanoparticles to reprogram innate immune cells and disrupt the metastatic niche (2026)
- 5R01DK142799-02: Promoting metabolic maturity of islet organoids pre- and post-transplantation (2026)
- 5R01CA272940-04: Tissue engineering tools for monitoring the cellular and molecular response to therapy (2026)
- 2R01AI155678-06: NPs disguised as apoptotic debris for immune tolerance (2026)
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