Rizia Bardhan, Associate Professor, Iowa State University

"Immunoimaging, Immunotherapies, and Metabolism"

Abstract:

Immunotherapies have recently driven a paradigm shift in patient survival. Further, dynamic molecular imaging of immune cells has transformed our ability to understand innate and adaptive immune responses in many diseases including cancer. In this talk, I will demonstrate the breath of research my lab has pursued in combinatorial immunotherapies with engineered nanomaterials which we have primarily applied to cancer and expanded to inflammatory bowel diseases as well. I will also show our work in rapid and noninvasive detection of multiple immunomarkers of cancer to enable patient selection for immunotherapies, as well as response to treatment after immunotherapy. We have combined a clinical and pre-clinical imaging technique, positron emission tomography with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (ImmunoPET-SERS) for multiplexed dynamic immunomarker profiling in vivo.  Further, I will also demonstrate our groups work on the use of Raman spectroscopy for probing metabolic reprogramming in various disorders including cancer, pregnancy, and vaccine response, and the combination of Raman with omics approaches for a comprehensive diagnostics in patient samples.

Bio:

Prof. Bardhan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering at Iowa State University. She also serves as the Associate Editor of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. She has also served a leadership role in AIChE's Nanoscale Science & Engineering Forum Executive Board as the Secretary/Treasurer. Prof. Bardhan started her independent career at Vanderbilt University, where she was an Assistant Professor. Prof. Bardhan received her B.A. in Chemistry and Mathematics from Westminster College, Fulton, MO, and her Ph.D. at Rice University under the supervision of Prof. Naomi Halas.

She completed her postdoctoral work in the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Prof. Bardhan has pioneered many discoveries in nanomedicine and biosensing, and her research has been funded through the NIH, CDMRP, DOE, and NSF.  She has also received  awards for her work including the CDMRP Career Development Award, NSF BRIGE award, ORAU’s Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, and was named by Forbes Magazine as “Top 30 Under 30: Rising Stars of Science and Innovation”. She was also recognized as one of “40 Women Honorees in 40 Years” by her alma mater, Westminster College. Rizia has published >70 peer-reviewed papers in high impact journals which has received ~11,070 citations and an h-index of 41.