MAE Seminar – Mechano-Immunoengineering for Cancer Therapy

Details

Dear Undergraduate and Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff,
You are invited! UF Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering’s Seminar Series
This is a perfect opportunity to enjoy some coffee, cookies, and captivating talks! These sessions feature amazing guest speakers, from academic trailblazers and industry movers to our very own faculty candidates showing off their expertise and fresh perspectives.
Come for the treats, stay for the engaging discussions, and connect with fellow MAE enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome!

Mechano-Immunoengineering for Cancer Therapy

November 18, 2025, at 12:50pm
Location: MAE-A 303

Dr. Song Li
Chancellor’s Professor, Department of Bioengineering Associate Dean; Henry Samueli School of Engineering
Applied Science Joint faculty, Department of Medicine; David Geffen School of Medicine

Abstract
Immune cells are highly responsive to mechanical cues within their microenvironment; however, how to harness this mechanosensitivity to improve cell manufacturing and disease therapy remains unresolved. Here, we present a scalable microfluidic platform for fabricating microspheres that act as synthetic viscoelastic activating cells (SynVACs) with programmable mechanical and biochemical properties. We show that the viscoelasticity of SynVACs profoundly influences T cell function. Compared with rigid or purely elastic artificial cells, SynVACs promote superior T cell expansion, characterized by an increased CD8⁺/CD4⁺ T cell ratio, enhanced tumor cytotoxicity, greater efficiency in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) transduction, and a marked enrichment of T memory stem cells. The resulting engineered CAR-T cells exhibit improved tumor clearance not only in a human lymphoma mouse model but also in an ovarian cancer xenograft model, maintaining prolonged in vivo persistence that suppresses tumor growth and recurrence. These findings reveal the critical role of mechanical signaling in T cell engineering and highlight the potential of SynVACs as a powerful tool for CAR-T therapy and immunoengineering. Building on this platform, we further developed a biomimetic “charging station” that integrates chemotactic and activation cues to facilitate the recruitment, activation, and expansion of CAR-iNKT cells. This system significantly enhances tumor infiltration, strengthens long-term immune memory, and achieves superior efficacy compared to conventional CAR-iNKT therapies in solid tumor models.

Biography
Dr. Song Li is a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Associate Dean of the Samueli School of Engineering at UCLA. He chaired the Department of Bioengineering from 2016 to 2024 and directed the Bioengineering Institute for California from 2022 to 2025. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and on the Governing Council of the International Academy for Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE).

Dr. Li’s research centers on cell engineering and mechanobiology, with notable contributions to understanding how biophysical cues influence stem cell differentiation and cell reprogramming. He has pioneered multidisciplinary strategies to engineer biomaterials, stem cells, and immune cells for tissue regeneration and therapeutic applications. Dr. Li is also the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Med-X Journal.

His achievements have earned him numerous awards and honors, including the Global Biomaterials Leadership Award from the Chinese Association of Biomaterials, and election as a Fellow of AIMBE, the Biomedical Engineering Society, and IAMBE.

MAE Faculty Host: Dr. Xin Tang