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Bioengineering

Breaching the blood-brain barrier
Researchers Mike Mitchell and Emily Han examining a microfluidic device used to make LNPs by mixing lipids and mRNA.

Michael Mitchell (left) and Emily Han (right) examine a microfluidic device used to make LNPs by mixing lipids and mRNA. 

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Breaching the blood-brain barrier

A team of researchers in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has devised a method to deliver mRNA into the brain using lipid nanoparticles, potentially advancing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and seizures.
Herniated discs could be repaired with biologic patch one day, researchers say

Herniated discs could be repaired with biologic patch one day, researchers say

Preclinical research by Robert Mauck of the Perelman School of Medicine, Thomas Schaer of the School of Veterinary Medicine, and Ana Peredo, a Ph.D. graduate of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, reveals how a biologic patch activated by natural motion could become a key tool for repairing herniated discs in the back and relieving pain.

Lipid nanoparticles that deliver mRNA to T cells hold promise for autoimmune diseases
From left to right: Ajay Thatte, Benjamin Nachod, Rohan Palanki, Kelsey Swingle, Alex Hamilton, and Michael Mitchell in the Mitchell lab.

From left to right: Ajay Thatte, Benjamin Nachod, Rohan Palanki, Kelsey Swingle, Alex Hamilton, and Michael Mitchell.

(Image: Courtesy of the Mitchell Lab)

Lipid nanoparticles that deliver mRNA to T cells hold promise for autoimmune diseases

A new platform to engineer adoptive cell therapies for specific autoimmune diseases has the potential to create therapies for allergies, organ transplants, and more.

From Penn Engineering Today

Leveraging the body’s postal system to understand and treat disease
Isolated microfluidic chip with blood sample inside of micropipette 3d rendered in the black background

A research team led by Jina Ko of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Perelman School of Medicine has developed a new way to characterize the contents of a cargo-carrying particle excreted by many cells, extracellular vesicles.

(image: iStock / Love Employee)

Leveraging the body’s postal system to understand and treat disease

An interdisciplinary team of researchers in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Perelman School of Medicine, and School of Arts & Sciences has developed a technique that allows for characterization of both individual carrier and cargo for clinically important molecules.
Combined treatment takes a bite out of tooth decay
Visual illstration of a tooth being shielded from bateria.

Michel Koo of the School of Dental Medicine and David Cormode of the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Engineering and Applied Science led a team of researchers that uncovered a way to combine two FDA-approved treatments to treat tooth decay that taps into the blend’s bacteria-killing capabilities without disrupting the mouth’s microbiome.

(Image: iStock / Alex Sholom)

Combined treatment takes a bite out of tooth decay

A collaborative interdisciplinary team of researchers from Penn Dental, Medicine and Penn Engineering have discovered a game-changing synergy between ferumoxytol and stannous fluoride in treating dental caries.
Three from Penn receive NIH Director Award
Headshots of Jina Ko, Kevin Johnson, and Sheila Shanmugan

Jina Ko (left) and Kevin Johnson (middle), from both the School of Engineering and the Perelman School of Medicine, along with Sheila Shanmugan (right) from the latter, have received the National Institute of Health Director’s Award to support their “highly innovative and broadly impactful” research projects through the High-Risk, High-Reward program.

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Three from Penn receive NIH Director Award

Kevin B. Johnson, Jina Ko, and Sheila Shanmugan awarded NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.
Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry positions Penn as a leader in engineering health
A dental model of teeth.

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Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry positions Penn as a leader in engineering health

In the two years since the cross-disciplinary research partnership was founded, CiPD has introduced microrobots that clean teeth, a new understanding of bacterial physics in tooth decay, and promising futures for lipid nanoparticles in oral cancer treatment.

Devorah Fischler