Carcia Carson

Hometown: Terry, MS

Undergraduate Institution: Jackson State University

Current Stage and Institution: PhD Student at Vanderbilt University

Discipline/Track: Biomedical Engineering 

Research: The primary focus of my current research is engineering cancer cell surfaces with surface-conjugated nanomaterial drug carriers to enhance immunogenicity of whole cell-based cancer vaccines. Cell-surface conjugation allows for co-localized delivery of both tumor antigens and immuno-stimulatory adjuvants. The co-localization of tumor antigen-adjuvant conjugates can increase adjuvant residence time at the site of injection compared to co-administration formulations and unconjugated material.  We aim to develop a whole cell-based cancer vaccine by conjugating cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) loaded nanoparticles (NPs) to B16 melanoma cell surfaces using streptavidin-biotin interactions. CDNs bind and activate stimulator of interferon genes (STING) which is a cytosolic adaptor protein that can induce an innate immune response upon activation. NPs can facilitate the trafficking of CDNs into the cytosol of cells to be recognized and processed by STING. Ultimately, our goal is to elicit a robust immune response through co-localizing STING agonist and dying cancer cells to enhance anti-tumor immunity.