Speaker - Jessica Weaver, PhD - Arizona State University

The ultimate goal in clinical transplantation is robust and specific host immunological tolerance toward
transplanted allogeneic tissue and cells. While systemic immunosuppression regimens have saved lives by
enabling long-term allogeneic graft survival, they come with a host of potentially severe side effects, including
infections and malignancies. In the Weaver lab, we use biomaterials- and cell therapy-based approaches to
eliminate the immune response against allogeneic grafts in a cell transplantation model. This talk will discuss
our work developing a hydrogel injection molding encapsulation technique, and our preliminary efforts to
develop a professional tolerogenic cell-based therapy.