Simon Liang is a rising third-year student at the University of Chicago working towards a BA in biology, with a specialization in immunology and cancer biology. As a research assistant under Dr. Bret Ulery, he verifies and collects data on material immunology.
Simon's research focuses on designing and improving the immunogenicity of an antigen by changing how the antigen is presented. He is testing to see whether or not increasing a localized peptide vaccine antigen concentration using peptide amphiphile micelles will enhance immunogenicity of an antigen by testing them in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). This can greatly change how vaccines communicate within the body, inducing a faster immune response by possibly turning weak immunogens into a strong immunogen.
Modular Peptide Amphiphile Micelles Improving an Antibody-Mediated Immune Response to Group A
J. C. Barrett, B. D. Ulery, A. Trent, S. Liang, N. A. David, and M. Tirrell. Modular Peptide Amphiphile Micelles Improving an Antibody-Mediated Immune Response to Group A. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering. 2016.
Peptide Amphiphile Micelles Self-Adjuvant Group A Streptococcal Vaccination
A. Trent, B. Ulery, M. Black, J. Barrett, S. Liang, Y. Kostenko, N. David, and M. Tirrell. Peptide Amphiphile Micelles Self-Adjuvant Group A Streptococcal Vaccination. AAPS Journal. 2015. Vol. 17, Pg. 380-388.