BioInnovations in Brain Cancer
About the BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Initiative (BIBC)
The BIBC initiative nucleated at a Biointerfaces Institute Challenge workshop in 2013 and received follow-on funding from the Biosciences Initiative in 2019. The BIBC team represents an interdisciplinary group of technologists and brain cancer experts who are actively collaborating to make an impact on brain cancer patients.
Related Press Releases & Articles
- July 13, 2023 / Article
Artificially grown ‘mini-brains’ without animal components bring opportunities for neuroscience
Researchers at University of Michigan developed a method to produce artificially grown miniature brains — called human brain organoids — free of animal cells that could greatly improve the way neurodegenerative conditions are studied and, eventually, treated.
- August 12, 2022 / Press Release
Neuroregeneration and Cognition Challenge Seed Fund Awards
We are pleased to announce the funding selections for the MNI-BI 2022 Neuroregeneration and Cognition Challenge seed fund competition.
- August 4, 2022 / Award
2022 BI Innovator Awards
Congratulations to the 2022 BI Innovator Award Recipients. BI Innovator awards recognize members of the BI research community who are active participants in the research, innovation and translational ecosystem at BI and making a difference in our community.
- August 1, 2022 / Press Release
New members join BI’s External Advisory Board
BI welcomes Carl Gordon and Natasha Shervani of OrbiMed as new members of its External Advisory Board.
- February 18, 2022 @ 4:00 pm
BIBC Seminar – Jason Heth & Ryan Oliver
Join BIBC hear from Dr. Jason Heth and Dr. Ryan Oliver on their work in the clinical treatment of brain metastasis and the engineering of 3D models to better understand and prevent tumor metastasis.
- January 21, 2022 @ 4:00 pm
BIBC Seminar – A. Schwendeman & Greg Thurber
The BIBC seminar will showcase the multidisciplinary research of faculty studying brain cancer biology and novel technologies that can be used for brain cancer diagnosis and treatment.
- November 12, 2021 @ 4:00 pm
BIBC Hybrid Seminar Series: Dr. Wajd Al-Holou & Dr. Todd Hollon
Please join BIBC to hear presentations from Dr. Wajd Al-Holou, MD and Dr. Todd Hollon, MD. They will be discussing their work around brain tumor diagnostics, surgical interventions and treatments.
- July 22, 2021 / Press Release
BioInnovations in Brain Cancer launches faculty search
The BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Initiative (BIBC) at the University of Michigan invites applications for a tenure-track position at any level in brain cancer biology and technology research (including, drug/molecular transport/imaging in the brain tissue; translation-focused glioma, epigenetics and/or scRNA-seq research; and non-viral nucleic acid delivery).
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, but review of applications will begin on October 1, 2021.
- May 21, 2021 / Press Release
Faculty Promotions
Congratulations to James Moon, Sunitha Nagrath, Anna Schwendeman and Anish Tuteja on being promoted to Professor!
- May 17, 2021 / Award
2021 BI Innovator Awardees
Congratulations to the 2021 BI Innovator Award Recipients. BI Innovator awards recognize members of the BI research community who are active participants in the research, innovation and translational ecosystem at BI and making a difference in our community.
- May 11, 2021 / Article
New BI Research Cluster Launches Website
The Biosciences-funded BioInnovations in Brain Cancer, a newly established research cluster at BI, has launched its new website.
Our BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Researchers
Nanotechnology
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James Moon
J. G. Searle Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Professor of Biomedical Engineering Research Focus: Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery, BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Contact Information:moonjj@umich.eduThe Moon Group develops therapeutics and diagnostics at the interface of immunology and engineering. Research addresses drug delivery systems for enhancing delivery of antigen and adjuvant to lymphoid organs and manipulating immune functions in the context of cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmunity.
Toshiro Hara
Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery Research Focus: BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Contact Information:hara@umich.eduThe Hara laboratory is focused on the study of understanding the intratumoral heterogeneity as well as the mechanisms of cellular communication within this intratumoral microenvironment as it relates to glioblastoma. We work at the intersection of human biology, model system, and single-cell genomics to understand how cells interact and communicate with their surrounding environment and how cells process environmental inputs to exert functions relevant to the malignant properties of glioblastoma.
Anna Schwendeman
William I. Higuchi Collegiate Professor of Pharmacy; Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Focus: Nanotechnology, BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Contact Information:annaschw@umich.eduSchwendeman’s principal research interest is to understand how phospholipid composition of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) affects its potency and to design short synthetic peptides that mimic various functions of Apolipoprotein A-I, the main HDL protein. Laboratory work focuses on HDL for treatment of sepsis, Alzheimer’s disease, complications of diabetes, lupus and other autoimmune diseases and using synthetic HDL nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery purposes and designing artificial HDL based on gold nanoparticles.
Guizhi (Julian) Zhu
Ara G. Paul Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Science Research Focus: BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Contact Information:guizhiz@umich.eduThe Zhu lab is focused on the development of nucleic acid therapeutics and vaccines for cancer and immune disorders.
Joerg Lahann
Wolfgang Pauli Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering Research Focus: Single Cell Technologies, BioInnovations in Brain Cancer, Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery Contact Information:lahann@umich.eduResearch in the Lahann Lab focuses on surface engineering, advanced polymers, biomimetic materials, engineered stem cell microenvironments, drug delivery, and nano-scale self-assembly.
Deepak Nagrath
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering Research Focus: BioInnovations in Brain Cancer, Single Cell Technologies, Cell and Tissue Engineering Contact Information:dnagrath@umich.eduThe Nagrath lab focuses on both experimental and theoretical aspects of Cellular and Molecular Tissue Engineering, Metabolic Engineering, and Biomedicine with emphasis on clinical applications. Our research interests lie in the systems biology of metabolic diseases, specifically cancer.
Peter Tessier
Albert M. Mattocks Professor of Pharmacy; Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemical Engineering Research Focus: BioInnovations in Brain Cancer, Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery, Nanotechnology Contact Information:ptessier@umich.eduThe Tessier lab aims to develop next generation technologies for designing, discovering, engineering, characterizing, formulating and delivering biologics ranging from small affinity peptides to large monoclonal antibodies for molecular imaging, diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
Steven Schwendeman
Ara G. Paul Professor and Department Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Professor of Biomedical Engineering Research Focus: Advanced Materials and Drug Delivery, BioInnovations in Brain Cancer Contact Information:schwende@umich.eduThe Schwendeman Group develops advanced polymer-based controlled drug delivery approaches including vaccine delivery from poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA); PLGA nanoparticle formulation; and development of mucoadhesive polymers/formulations for intraoral and intranasal delivery.