Molecular Engineering for Tipping Immunity between Aggression and Tolerance
Speaker:
Jeffrey Hubbell, Ph.D.
Vice President of Strategy for Bioengineering
Professor, Depts. of Biology, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
NYU Tandon School of Engineering, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Abstract:
The immune system operates as a finely tuned balance—capable of mounting aggressive responses to eliminate pathogens and tumors, yet vulnerable to misdirection that can lead to autoimmune disease and allergy. In this lecture, Professor Hubbell presents recent advances in molecular engineering strategies that deliberately tip this immunological balance—toward either activation or suppression—through the rational design of biomaterials and protein therapeutics.
On the side of immune activation, he discusses the development of engineered cytokines, nanomaterials, and supramolecular platforms designed to amplify antigen-specific immune responses. These technologies enhance immune signaling with precise spatial and temporal control and are being applied in cancer immunotherapy and infectious disease vaccination to bolster T cell-mediated immunity and long-lasting immune memory. To promote immune tolerance, his laboratory has developed protein–material conjugates, including synthetically glycosylated antigens and engineered cytokine-Fc fusion proteins. These molecular constructs are designed to reprogram immune responses to specific antigens by engaging tolerogenic pathways such as PD-1/PD-L1 and by altering antigen presentation in dendritic cells. Such approaches are being explored as “inverse vaccines” for the treatment of autoimmune disorders, including type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, and for the suppression of allergic responses.
How these molecular platforms are being translated into the clinic - with several technologies licensed or under development through biotechnology ventures - will also be highlighted. Professor Hubbell’s work exemplifies how molecular engineering can be harnessed to control complex immunological outcomes in a targeted and disease-specific manner.
Since the fall of 2024, Professor Hubbell has led an initiative on translational biosciences and bio-engineering. Before that, he was at the Univ. of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, where he helped build its strength in immune engineering. He has also served on the faculties of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL, where he was the founding Director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Dean of the School of Life Sciences), ETH Zurich, and the Univ. of Zurich, the California Institute of Technology, and the Univ. of Texas at Austin. He was elected to the U.S. NAE in 2010, the NAM in 2019, the AAAS in 2021, and the National Academy of Science in 2023.
