# Biomaterials-directed regenerative immunotherapies

> **NIH NIH DP1** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $1,146,250

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Tissue loss due to trauma, disease or congenital abnormalities remains an intractable clinical
challenge. There are profound deficits in how humans heal and recover from tissue damage and few
innovations in regenerative medicine have reached the clinic or improved standard of care. Formation of
dysfunctional scar tissue remains the default pathway for repair in the body. The immune system is the first
responder to trauma yet this response, and its capacity to orchestrate tissue repair, has been largely ignored.
Engineering tissues generally involves combining cells and biomaterial scaffolds with a suite of biological cues
to stimulate new tissue development. Until now, these tissue engineering tools have been designed to target
stem cells, vascular development, or tissue morphogenesis. Here, we are shifting the focus of tissue
engineering design towards direct therapeutic manipulation of the immune system. The remarkable success of
cancer immunotherapies highlights how the adaptive immune system is amenable to exquisitely robust
intervention and the potential for regenerative immunotherapies. We introduce the concept of regenerative
immunotherapies that engage and manipulate the effector class of T cells. Emerging understanding of tissue
specific immunity, the role of senescent cells in tissue trauma and repair responses will be combined with our
new and unexpected findings on pro-regenerative T cells. Single cell genomic analysis of immune subsets,
stromal, and senescent cells combined with novel computational algorithms will be used to develop tissue-
specific senescent and immune networks in homeostasis, aging, trauma, and disease. This foundation will
serve as the basis for cell and molecular therapy design to enhance T cell mediated pro-regenerative immune
responses. While broadly applicable to many tissues, we will first apply regenerative immunotherapies to
musculoskeletal tissues before extending to additional tissues. Collectively, these studies will transform
traditional thinking of the immune system by re-imagining the immune system as the body’s repair system and
use this platform to engineer regeneration.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10023168
- **Project number:** 5DP1AR076959-02
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JENNIFER H ELISSEEFF
- **Activity code:** DP1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,146,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-25 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10023168

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10023168, Biomaterials-directed regenerative immunotherapies (5DP1AR076959-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10023168. Licensed CC0.

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