Professor Nicole F. Steinmetz
Department of NanoEngineering and Center for Nano-ImmunoEngineering (nanoIE),
University of California-San Diego
Title lecture:
NanoEngineering gone viral: plant virus-based therapeutics
Abstract:
Nanoscale engineering is revolutionizing the way we detect, prevent and treat diseases. Viruses are playing a special role in these developments because they can function as prefabricated nanoparticles. We utilize and build-upon the high-precision assemblies of the viral capsids and utilize them as platform technologies, engineered and repurposed for a desired function. More specifically, we turned toward plant viruses as a platform nanotechnology. We have developed a library of plant virus-based nanoparticles and through structure-function studies we are beginning to understand how to tailor these materials appropriately for applications targeting human, veterinary and plant health. Through chemical biology, we have developed virus-based delivery systems carrying medically-relevant cargo enabling tissue-specific imaging and treatment. A particular exciting avenue is the development of plant virus-like particle platforms for cancer immunotherapy. We demonstrated potent and durable anti-tumor efficacy of plant virus-based in situ vaccines in tumor mouse models and canine patients. Given the immunostimulatory nature of plant viruses, we also pursue their development as vaccines targeting cancer, cardiovascular disease and infectious diseases. In this presentation, I will highlight engineering design principles employed to synthesize the next-generation cancer nanotherapeutics using plant virus-based platform technologies, and I will discuss the evaluation of such in preclinical mouse models and canine patients.
MolMat colloquium:
Lecturer: Professor Nicole Steinmetz
Date: Tuesday, July 4th, 2023
Time: 09:00 – 10:30 hours
Location: Carre 2M
Nicole F. Steinmetz Ph.D. | Professor, Department of NanoEngineering | Vice Chair for Research and Faculty Development, Department of NanoEngineering | Director, Center for Nano-ImmunoEngineering (nanoIE) | Co-Director, Center for Engineering in Cancer (CEC), Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM)
Dr. Steinmetz is a Professor and Vice Chair of NanoEngineering at the University of California, San Diego (2018-present). She is the founding Director of the Center for Nano-ImmunoEngineering (nanoIE), the Co-Director for the Center for Engineering in Cancer within the Institute for Engineering in Medicine, and she serves on the Leadership Team for a UC San Diego Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), an $18M NSF-funded research center. She started her independent career at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (in 2010-2018), where she was promoted through the ranks of Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor. Dr. Steinmetz trained at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA where she was a NIH K99/R00 awardee and AHA post-doctoral fellow (2007-2010); she obtained her PhD in Bionanotechnology from the University of East Anglia where she prepared her dissertation as a Marie Curie Early Stage Training Fellow at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK (2004-2007). Her early training was at the RWTH-Aachen University in Germany.
Dr. Steinmetz’s research program focuses on the engineering of plant virus-based nanomaterials targeting human and plant health applications, such as drug and pesticide delivery, vaccines and immunotherapies. Dr. Steinmetz has authored more than 250 journal articles (H index >65). Dr. Steinmetz has served as standing member on the NIH NANO study section (2016-2021) and she serves on the Advisory Editorial Board for ACS Nano, Molecular Pharmaceutics, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Materials Advances, Advanced Therapeutics. Dr. Steinmetz is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the International Association of Advanced Materials, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Steinmetz’s research program is supported through grants from NIH, NSF, NIFA, CDMRP as well as ACS, Susan G. Komen, AHA, amongst other agencies. Over the past 10+ years, Dr. Steinmetz has been awarded grants as PI and Co-PI totaling $45+ million in total costs.