About Our Lab
We design immunologically active biomaterials to treat a wide range of diseases and conditions — including inflammatory diseases (such as inflammatory bowel disease, chronic tissue healing and lung fibrosis), infectious diseases(including influenza and HIV), and other conditions like cancer, food allergy, and urinary tract infections.
Our team is a diverse and multidisciplinary group of researchers — from undergraduates and master’s students to PhD students, postdocs, and faculty — working together to tackle some of the most challenging problems in healthcare.
Our Research
The immune system is extraordinarily complex, and any effective immunotherapy must trigger a precisely tuned combination of immune responses. To achieve this, we design biomaterials using molecular self-assembly.
We engineer proteins, peptides, and their derivatives that self-organize into particles, fibers, and hydrogels, forming modular platforms where different molecules can be arranged in a mix-and-match fashion. These platforms allow us to systematically engage multiple immunological mechanisms in parallel — a key to designing effective immunotherapies.
We also address challenges in immunotherapy delivery, from creating mucosally active therapies to developing shelf-stable, easily administered formulations suitable for low-resource settings.
Fundamental Immunology
Alongside our design-driven work, we dedicate substantial effort to understanding the basic mechanisms by which materials interact with the innate and adaptive immune system. By uncovering how biomaterials engage immune pathways, we continually improve the next generation of immunotherapies.
Collaboration and Community
Biomaterials immunology is inherently multidisciplinary, and our success depends on deep collaboration — both within Duke and across the broader scientific community.
Thank you for visiting our group’s webpage. We invite you to explore our work and connect with us.