We at the Esser-Kahn lab believe in interdisciplinarity: our team of biologists, chemists, and biophyicists consider how putting our minds together can improve thinking across many areas of engineering and science.
In immuno-engineering, we are answering the question, "What makes a good vaccine elicit strong protection?" To investigate this, we use engineered manipulation to understand how innate immune cells process information to improve the protective response. These biological insights allow our chemists to design new vaccine components and delivery systems to make vaccines safer, cheaper, and more effective.
At the same time, our materials scientists are building new materials that are modeled after materials in the biological world. Many man-made materials are disposable and single-purpose--leading to failure and waste--while materials in nature are robust, long-lived, and customized. We are creating materials that can adapt to their environments and train themselves dynamically by incorporating principles from our natural world.
Finally, we are interested in where we will put all the CO2 in the world and are working on developing materials and tools to improve CO2 capture and sequestration.
Please come in and click around to understand who we are, what we are interested in, and how we operate. We are always interested in a good question or a new concept. If you need a chemistry collaborator, or have a chemical question, contact us. Thanks for stopping by!
Principal Investigator
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Jorge Ayarza
Graduate Student -
Britteny Cassaidy
Graduate Student -
Qing Chen
Research Analyst -
Delaney Davis
Graduate Student -
Peter Deak
Postdoctoral Researcher -
Mason Dearborn
Graduate Student -
Zander Galluppi
Graduate Student -
Sophia Chao-Wei Huang
Graduate Student -
Jeremiah Kim
Graduate Student -
Katie Kloska
Graduate Student -
Riley Knight
Graduate Student
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Liza Mulder
Graduate Student -
Naorem Nihesh
Graduate Student -
Matt Rosenberger
Graduate Student -
Jingjing Shen
Staff Researcher -
Bradley Studnitzer
Graduate Student -
Oliver Tang
Graduate Student -
Trevor Ung
Graduate Student -
Jun Wang
Postdoctoral Researcher -
Adam Weiss
Graduate Student -
Uri Zvi
Graduate Student
Site-specific antigen-adjuvant conjugation using cell-free protein synthesis enhances antigen presentation and CD8+ T-cell response
Weiss, A. M., Ajit, J., Albin, T. J., Kapoor, N., Maroju, S., Berges, A., … Esser-Kahn, A. P. Scientific Reports, 11(6267).
In Vitro and In Vivo Analyses of the Effects of Source, Length, and Charge on the Cytotoxicity and Immunocompatibility of Cellulose Nanocrystals
Weiss, A et al. ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng. 2021. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c01618
Demonstration of the Photothermal Catalysis of the Sabatier Reaction Using Nickel Nanoparticles and Solar Spectrum Light
Steeves, T. and Esser-Kahn AP. RSC Adv., 2021,11, 8394-8397. doi: 10.1039/D0RA09939B
Bio-Inspired Mechanically Adaptive Materials Through Vibration-Induced Crosslinking
Wang, Z., Wang, J., Ayarza, J. et al. Bio-inspired mechanically adaptive materials through vibration-induced crosslinking. Nat. Mater. (2021). doi: 10.1038/s41563-021-00932-5
Receptor–Ligand Kinetics Influence the Mechanism of Action of Covalently Linked TLR Ligands
Kimani FW, Ajit J, Galluppi A, Manna S, Howitz WJ, Tang S, Esser-Kahn AP. ACS Chem. Biol. 2021, 16, 2, 380–388. Feb 1, 2021. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00924
Pathogen-like Nano-assemblies of Covalently Linked TLR Agonists Enhance CD8 and NK Cell Mediated Anti-Tumor Immunity.
Saikat Manna, Sampa Maiti, Jingjing Shen, Wenjun Du, Aaron P. Esser-Kahn. ACS Cent. Sci. 2020, 6, 11, 2071–2078. Oct 27, 2020. doi: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c01001
From Glucose to Polymers: A Continuous Chemoenzymatic Process
Maiti, S., Manna, S., Banahene, N., Pham, L., Liang, Z., Wang, J., Xu, Y., Bettinger, R., Zientko, J., Esser‐Kahn, A.P. and Du, W. Angewandte Chemie Int Ed. Volume 59, Issue43 Pages 18943-18947. Oct 19, 2020. doi: 10.1002/anie.202006468
Small Molecule NF-κB Inhibitors as Immune Potentiators for Enhancement of Vaccine Adjuvants
Brittany A. Moser, Yoseline Escalante-Buendia, Rachel C. Steinhardt, Matthew G. Rosenberger, Britteny J. Cassaidy, Nihesh Naorem, Alfred C. Chon, Minh H. Nguyen, Ngoctran T. Tran, and Aaron P. Esser-Kahn. Front Immunol. 2020; 11: 511513. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.511513
Increased Vaccine Tolerability and Protection via NF-κB Modulation
B. A. Moser, R. C. Steinhardt, Y. Escalante-Buendia, D. A. Boltz, K. M. Barker, B. J. Cassaidy, M.G. Rosenberger, S. Yoo, B. G. McGonnigal, and A. P. Esser-Kahn. Science Advances 09 Sep 2020: Vol. 6, no. 37, eaaz8700. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz8700
100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Piezoelectrically Mediated Mechanochemical Reactions for Adaptive Materials
Jorge Ayarza, Zhao Wang, Jun Wang, Chao-Wei Huang, and Aaron P. Esser-Kahn. ACS Macro Lett. 2020, 9, 9, 1237–1248 Aug. 17, 2020. doi: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00477
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Jainu Ajit
Graduate Student -
Tyler Albin
Graduate Student -
Kyle Brubaker
Postdoctoral Researcher -
Alfred Chon
Graduate Student -
Xuewen Gou
Research Manager -
Seong-Min Kim
Graduate Student -
Flora Kimani
Postdoctoral Researcher
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Saikat Manna
Postdoctoral Researcher -
Hemakesh Mohapatra
Postdoctoral Researcher -
Brittany Moser
Graduate Student -
Tim Steeves
Graduate Researcher -
Rachel Steinhardt
Postdoctoral Researcher -
Zhao Wang
Postdoctoral Researcher -
Ethan White
Postdoctoral Researcher