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News

August 2022-August 2023

  • The IMBL transitions to the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida.

  • The IMBL welcomes Krishna Gaddam, Clinton Smith, Kevin Smith, and Zhenyu Wang to the UF team!

  • Congrats to Rian Harriman on passing his Ph.D. defense!

  • Congrats to Clinton Smith on receiving the prestigious NSF GRFP!

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November 2020-August 2021

  • Congratulations to Allen for passing his Qualifying Exam and advancing to Ph.D. Candidacy!

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  • Publication Alert: Congratulations to Allen et al. for publishing his paper in Drug Deliv Transl Res titled "Biomaterial-based immunotherapeutic strategies for rheumatoid arthritis."

  • Congratulations to Prof. Lewis for being promoted to Associate professor!

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  • Congratulations Prof. Lewis to be named in 1000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America by Cell Press!!

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  • Congratulations to Karen Parra for finishing her Master's Degree in Immunology! Best of luck in your future endeavors :)

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  • Welcome Nicolas and Vartika to IMBL!! We are looking forward to working with you!

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  • Publication Alert: Congratulations to Rian et al. for published a paper in Acta Biomaterialia titled "Bioderived materials that disarm the gut mucosal immune system: Potential lessons from commensal microbiota"

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  • Publication Alert: Congratulations to Dr. Kakwere et al. for published a paper in Advanced Healthcare Materials titled "Systemic Immunotherapy with Micellar Resiquimod–Polymer Conjugates Triggers a Robust Antitumor Response in a Breast Cancer Model"

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  • Publication Alert: Prof. Lewis and colleagues published a paper in the Royal Society of Chemistry titled "GRAS-microparticle microarrays identify dendritic cell tolerogenic marker-inducing formulations".
     

May 2020 - October 2020

  • Congratulations to Prof. Lewis for being named a 2020 CMBE Journal Young Innovator.

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  • Congratulations to Dr. Riley Allen for defending his dissertation on A particle-based “regulatory-vaccine” for rheumatoid arthritis therapy  

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  • Congratulations to Dr. Amir Bolandparvaz for defending his dissertation on Towards a Nanoparticle-based Prophylactic for Maternal Autoantibody-related Autism

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  • Welcome Deanna Diaz- new Ph.D. student in the IMBL! We look forward to working with you!

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  • Congratulations to Allen for receiving the T32 Pharmacology training grant!
     

  • Congratulations to Melissa for receiving the Hartwell Foundation Fellowship!​

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  • Publication Alert: Prof. Lewis and colleagues published an important chapter in the Biomaterials Science textbook titled "Innate and Adaptive Immunity: The Immune Response to Foreign Materials". This textbook is used widely to educate undergraduate students in Biomaterials.

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December 2019 - April 2020

  • Welcome to Allen Tu – new Ph.D. student in the IMBL! We look forward to working with you!
     

  • Welcome to Karen Parra – new Ph.D. student in the IMBL! We look forward to working with you! 
     

  • Welcome Emilie Ivtchenko to IMBL!
     

  • Welcome Neeraj Senthil to IMBL!
     

  • Congratulations to Noah for passing his Qualifying Exam and advancing to Ph.D. Candidacy!
     

  • Dr. Lewis gave an exciting presentation "Small Particles to Treat Big Diseases" to the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Center
     

  • Paper Alert: Congratulations to Melissa et al. for acceptance of her paper in mBio titled ""Vomocytosis: Too Much Booze, Base, or Calcium?"
     

  • Paper Alert: Congratulations to Amir et al. for acceptance of his paper in Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A titled Biodistribution and toxicity of epitope‐functionalized dextran iron oxide nanoparticles in a pregnant murine model.
     

December 2019 - April 2020

  • Welcome to Allen Tu – new Ph.D. student in the IMBL! We look forward to working with you!
     

  • Welcome to Karen Parra – new Ph.D. student in the IMBL! We look forward to working with you!
     

  • Welcome Emilie Ivtchenko to IMBL!
     

  • Welcome Neeraj Senthil to IMBL!
     

  • Congratulations to Noah for passing his Qualifying Exam and advancing to Ph.D. Candidacy!
     

  • Dr. Lewis gave an exciting presentation "Small Particles to Treat Big Diseases" to the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Center
     

  • Paper Alert: Congratulations to Melissa et al. for acceptance of her paper in mBio titled ""Vomocytosis: Too Much Booze, Base, or Calcium?"
     

  • Paper Alert: Congratulations to Amir et al. for acceptance of his paper in Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A titled Biodistribution and toxicity of epitope‐functionalized dextran iron oxide nanoparticles in a pregnant murine model.
     

July 2019 - November 2019

  • Congratulations to Rian for passing his Qualifying Exam and advancing to Ph.D. Candidacy!

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  • Welcome Dr. Hamilton Kakwere to IMBL! 

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  • Funding Alert:  Professor Jamal Lewis has received the NIH R01 grant to support a particulate-based in vivo modulation for immunotherapy of Rheumatoid Arthritis

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  • Congratulations to Prof. Lewis for recognition of his contributions and impact on the Biomedical Engineering Field on BMES Member Spotlight 

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  • Congratulations to Noah for the renewal of his T32 fellowship!
     

July 2018- November 2019

  • Congratulations to Amir for the receiving the Schwall Dissertation Fellowship!

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  • Congratulations to Riley for receiving the STAR award from Society for Biomaterials for his exciting work on an anti-vaccine for murine collagen-induced arthritis

 

  • Congratulations to Prof. Lewis for receiving the 2019 Regenerative Medicine Workshop Young Investigator Faculty Award

 

  • Funding Alert:  Professor Jamal Lewis has received the NIH R03 grant to support Sugar-Coated Hypoallergen - a Novel Approach for Shellfish Allergy Immunotherapy 

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May 2018-October 2018

  • Congratulations to Noah for receiving the Pharmacology T32 Training Grant!

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  • Congratulations to Amir for receiving the year-long Business Development Fellowship 

 

  • Congratulations to Riley for receiving the Animal Models of Infectious Diseases T32 Training Grant

 

  • Welcome Jasmeen Saini to IMBL! 

 

  • Welcome Luke Mckibbin to IMBL! 

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  • Welcome Zexi Zang to IMBL! 

 

  • Welcome Bahi Noorafkan to IMBL!  ​

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  • Welcome Dr. Rapeepat (Amy) Sangsuwan to IMBL!  

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  • Welcome Dr. Melissa Cruz-Acuna to IMBL! 
     

January 2018-April 2018

  • Riley presented his remarkable in vivo data with a podium presentation at the 2018 Society for Biomaterials (SFB) Conference in Atlanta titled 'A novel anti-vaccine for the treatment of murine collagen-induced arthritis'

 

  • Amir attended the SFB conference and presented his exciting in vitro data through a rapid-fire talk and a poster presentation titled 'An eptiope-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticle system for entrapment of autism autoantibodies'

 

  • Noah presented his exhilarating work at SFB with a poster presentation titled 'Smart Reporter System for the Study of Particulate Vomocytosis' 

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  • Huge congrats to Noah for receiving the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship 

 

  • Welcome Rian Harriman - new PhD student to IMBL! Look forward to working with you 

 

 

  • Prof. Lewis completes Alan Alda Scientific Communications workshop 

 

  • Riley presents his exciting poster on a "Gut Microbe-derived Microparticles for Immunotherapy of Shellfish Allergy" at Clinical and Translation Science Center advisory board meeting 

 

  • Congratulations to Amir for passing his Qualifying Exam and advancing to Ph.D. Candidacy! 
     

September 2017-December 2017

  • Welcome to Noah Pacifici – new Ph.D. student in the IMBL! We look forward to working with you!

 

  • Dr. Lewis attended the ABRCMS 2017 meeting in Phoenix AZ where he served as a judge for undergraduate oral and poster presentations

 

  • Dr. Lewis co-chaired two science sessions at the BMES 2017 meeting: (1) Delivery systems for proteins and vaccines and (2) Integration of Biomaterials with Chips and Devices

 

  • Congrats to Svetlana and Kenneth for each winning UC Davis Undergraduate Travel awards

 

  • Svetlana and Kenneth presented their findings on the isolation and immuno-characterization of PSA from Bacteroides Fragilis at the BMES 2017 meeting in Phoenix AZ

 

 

  • Congratulations to Riley for passing his Qualifying Exam and advancing to Ph.D. candidacy! 

 

  • Riley presented his stimulating in vivo data with a podium presentation at the 2017 Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) conference on 'A novel anti-vaccine for the treatment of murine collagen-induced arthritis'.

 

  • Amir attended the 2017 Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) conference and presented his exciting poster on 'An eptiope-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticle system for entrapment of autism autoantibodies'.

 

  • Welcome Rashid Sule from the Molecular and Cellular Biology grad group to IMBL for a Fall Quarter rotation

 

  • Welcome Rian Harriman from the Immunology grad group to IMBL for a Fall Quarter rotation 
     

July 2017-August 2017

  • Funding Alert:  Professor Jamal Lewis has received the prestigious Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award (R35). The award will support the IMBL’s work to understand and exploit the phenomenon of vomocytosis

 

  • Amir attended  the 2017 Gordon Research Conference in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering and presented his exciting poster on 'An eptiope-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticle system for entrapment of autism autoantibodies'

 

  • Amir attended the 3 day intensive Biomedical Engineering Entrepreneurship academy at UC Davis for commercializing science and engineering innovations
     

June 2017

  • Congratulations to Amir for winning Rapid Fire talk award at the 2017 BIC Conference!

 

  • Prof. Jamal Lewis gave an invited talk on “Engineering Biomaterials-based Systems for Controlling Autoimmunity” at the 2017 UC systemwide Bioengineering Institute of California (BIC) Symposium at UCLA

 

  • Professor Lewis was session chair for the 'Drug Delivery and Immunoengineering track' at the 2017 UC systemwide Bioengineering Institute of California (BIC) Symposium at UCLA

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  • Riley delighted a roomful of academics and BME students at the 2017 UC systemwide Bioengineering Institute of California (BIC) Symposium at UCLA with his podium presentation on 'A novel anti-vaccine for the treatment of murine collagen-induced arthritis'.

 

  • Amir presented his work on 'An eptiope-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticle system for entrapment of autism autoantibodies' in the Rapid Fire Talks at the 2017 BIC conference

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  • Welcome Svetlana Miakicheva to IMBL!

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  • Welcome Nnamezie, our first UCD-FAMU MCBGAP student, for an exciting summer internship!

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  • Funding Alert: The IMBL has been selected to receive the CTSC highly innovative award to develop ‘microbe-mimicking microparticles for shellfish allergy immunotherapy’.

 

  • Farewell to the very first group of IMBL undergraduates – Jeff, Meghan, Annie and Crystal. Thank you for your industry over the past two years.
     

May 2017

  • Riley gave a podium presentation on 'A novel anti-vaccine for the treatment of murine collagen-induced arthritis' at BMEGG Student Research Conference

 

  • Amir presented his poster on 'An eptiope-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticle system for entrapment of autism autoantibodies' at BMEGG Student Research Conference

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  • Congratulations to Amir for winning GSA travel award!
     

April 2017

  • Congratulations to Amir for winning the Immunoengineering SIG travel award to SFB

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  • Amir presented his poster on a 'pH Dependent Vomocytosis of PLGA Microparticles from Dendritic Cells' at the Society for Biomaterials Conference (SFB) 

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  • Riley presented his poster on 'Revisiting the Immunogenicity (or Tolerogenicity) of Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)' at the Society for Biomaterials Conference (SFB) 

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  • Professor Lewis co-chaired the Immunomodulation platform session at SFB. 

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  • Welcome Shahab Chizari to the Lewis Lab!
     

March 2017

  • Funding Alert: CMGI Pilot Grant awarded for Riley's project on designing a particulate inverse-vaccine for the treatment of murine Collagen-induced arthritis.
     

January 2017

  • Professor Lewis gave an invited talk at the University of California, Davis Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine titled 'Particulate systems for autoimmune disease immunotherapy'

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  • Welcome Kenneth Alvarez to the Lewis Lab!
     

December 2016

  • Professor Lewis gave an invited talk at the University of California, Davis Orthopedics Research Lab Seminar titled 'Engineering particulate-based immunotherapies for autoimmune disease'

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  • Riley Allen presented his 'Work in Progress' entitled 'A novel anti-vaccine for the treatment of murine collagen-induced arthritis' at the Veterinary Medicine Regenerative Medicine Seminar Series. 
     

October 2016

  • Riley gave outstanding oral presentation titled 'Revisiting the Immunogenicity (or Tolerogenicity) of Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)' at the Immunoengineering session at 2016 Annual Biomedical Engineering Society National Conference 

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  • Amir gave an exciting podium presentations titled 'pH Dependent Vomocytosis of PLGA Microparticles from Dendritic Cells' at the Immunoengineering session at 2016 Annual Biomedical Engineering Society National Conference

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  • Prof. Lewis invited to chair Hydrogel Biomaterials session at the 2016 Annual Biomedical Engineering Society National Conference
     

September 2016

  • Welcome Vishal to the IMBL!

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  • Prof. Lewis gives an invited talk at UC Berkeley Bioengineering Seminar Series titled "Particulate-Based Immunotherapy of Type I Diabetes" 
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June 2016

  • Congratulations to Riley for receiving the BMEGG Travel Award! 

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  • Welcome Nicholas to IMBL for an exciting summer internship! 

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  • Prof. Lewis gave an invited talk "Particulate Based Immunotherapy" at the 2016 BIC Bioengineering Symposium at UCSF

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  • Riley presented his poster on 'Revisiting the Immunogenicity (or Tolerogenicity) of Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)' at the BIC Conference

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  • Amir presented his poster on 'pH Dependent Vomocytosis of PLGA Microparticles from Dendritic Cells' and gives a rapid fire talk at the BIC Conference
     

May 2016

  • Welcome Crystal Avila to the IMBL!

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  • Amir presented his poster on 'pH Dependent Vomocytosis of PLGA Microparticles from Dendritic Cells' at the BMEGG Student Research Conference

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  • Riley presented his poster on 'Revisiting the Immunogenicity (or Tolerogenicity) of Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)' at the BMEGG Student Research Conference
     

April 2016

  • Professor Lewis gave an invited seminar talk at the University of California, Riverside on biomaterial-based immunotherapeutic strategies currently under investigation in the IMBL.
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  • Paper Alert: The IMBL has first paper accepted for publication. This review article co-authored by Riley Allen and Prof. Lewis is titled “An introduction to biomaterial-based strategies for curbing autoimmunity” is set to be published in a special issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine Journal.  
     

December 2015

  • Welcome Annie Zhou to IMBL!

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  • Welcome Anna Jang!

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  • Welcome Amir Bolandparvaz to the Lewis Lab! We look forward to working with you!
     

November 2015

  • Welcome Riley Allen to the Lewis Lab! Excited to work with you!

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  • Welcome Paldin Bet Eivaz to the Lewis Lab!

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  • Welcome Megan Doherty to Lewis Lab!

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  • Welcome Mauricio Pirir to the Lewis Lab! Look forward to working with you!

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  • Jeffrey Ma joins IMBL. Welcome!
     

October 2015

  • Professor Lewis co-chaired  the “Tissue Engineered Models for Study of Disease and Drug Discovery III” platform session at BMES 2015.

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  • Professor Lewis is awarded the BME Innovation and Career Development award at BMES 2015 in Tampa.

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  • Hello! The Immuno-modulatory Biomaterials Lab (IMBL) starts in the Fall of 2015 under the direction of Prof. Jamal S. Lewis

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@2024 by IMBL

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