Speaker: Emrullah Korkmaz

Title: Engineering Immunity

Date/Time: 21 April 2021 / 17:40 - 18:30

Zoom: Meeting ID: https://sabanciuniv.zoom.us/j/93568695934?pwd=b1BFUk96dTJrS2FaajlGL0wrMVNaQT09

Passcode:-  gradsem 

Abstract: Human skin offers attractive opportunities for immunoengineering approaches due to its easy accessibility and unique immunological properties. Human skin serves as both a pyhsical barrier and an active immune organ against environmental pathogens. The well-regulated immune network of the skin harbors a rich population of antigen-presenting cells with remarkable plasticity and a high density of immune accessory cells to drive the induction of protective immune responses against pathogens. For the exact same reasons, the cutaneous microenvironment represents an ideal target that can be harnessed to engineer antigen-specific systemic immune responses. Our group develops patient-friendly tools and strategies for in situ engineering of the skin immune system to manipulate systemic immune responses in a safe and antigen-specific manner for next-generation vaccination and immunotherapy approaches.

Bio: Emrullah Korkmaz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and holds a secondary appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Bioengineering Department of the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. Emrullah received his PhD degree from Carnegie Mellon University and works at the interface of bioengineering, skin science, and immunology to 'engineer' systemic immune responses based on cutaneous immunomodulation using clinically translatable microtechnologies with the goal of developing safer and more effective immunotherapies for cancer, allergy, and infectious disease. His research is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Institute for Infection, Inflammation, and Immunity in Children (i4Kids), and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). His research has been extensively covered in major media in several countries and he was selected as one of the Pittsburgh Magazine & PUMP’s 2020 40 Under 40 honorees.