{"id":10055,"date":"2026-01-12T10:40:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/?p=10055"},"modified":"2026-02-20T14:48:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T19:48:50","slug":"mteplensky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/2026\/01\/12\/mteplensky\/","title":{"rendered":"Modifying Nanocarriers to Modulate Release From Hydrogel"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Mentors<\/h3>\n\n\t<ul class=\"profile-listing profile-format-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-8249 profile type-profile status-publish hentry departments-bme departments-mse-dept affiliation-faculty program-year-186 profile-field-faculty profile-field-pi\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/michelle-teplensky\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/09\/teplensky_HS-__-sq2-600x600-1-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Michelle Teplensky<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">Assistant Professor (BME, MSE)<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced post-8255 profile type-profile status-publish hentry departments-bme affiliation-research-assistant program-year-186 profile-field-mentor\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/mayayi-izzo\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/09\/Izo_Mayayi-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Mayayi Izzo<\/h6>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Project Description<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span>A major shortcoming of current vaccines is the lack of potency that results in waning protection and the need for additional boosters. One strategy to increase the potency of vaccines is using a hydrogel depot to prolong the release of vaccine components and encourage immune cell recruitment. While nanoparticles can be employed within the hydrogel to alter the release rate of the encapsulated vaccine components, the diffusion of the nanoparticles themselves can be a determining factor in the resulting immune response. Therefore, the design of novel nanoparticle-hydrogel constructs with different diffusion kinetics is of interest in the field. Through this project, the student will manipulate the structure of nanoparticles and study both the resulting release profile from a hydrogel and the subsequent immunological effect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Research Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Engage with important literature related to hydrogel-based vaccine platforms and relevant immunological processes <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Develop a protocol for modifying nanoparticles currently used in the lab and incorporating them into a hydrogel<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Characterize the novel nanoparticle and its release profile from the hydrogel platform<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Elucidate the effect of nanoparticle diffusion out of a hydrogel on immune cell interactions<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Learning Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Learn how to critically filter and examine scientific literature in order to inform experiments<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Learn how to draft and carry out protocols for hydrogel synthesis and nanoparticle encapsulation <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Learn how to modulate nanoparticle chemistry using post synthetic modification techniques <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Learn how to quantify release with absorbance assays <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Learn how to image cells and hydrogels with confocal microscopy <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Learn mammalian cell culture techniques<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Timeline<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Week 1:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Familiarization with relevant literature and training in basic lab techniques (e.g. cell culture).<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 2-3:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Modification\/functionalization of nanoparticles and characterization of the novel structure.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Week 4:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Fabrication of hydrogel depot and characterization of mechanical properties.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 5-7:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Characterization of the release of the nanoparticles from the hydrogel depot.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 8-10:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Study the interactions between immune cells and the nanoparticle-hydrogel construct (e.g. Immune cell recruitment, viability, and uptake of encapsulated cargo within the hydrogel).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mentors Project Description A major shortcoming of current vaccines is the lack of potency that results in waning protection and the need for additional boosters. One strategy to increase the potency of vaccines is using a hydrogel depot to prolong the release of vaccine components and encourage immune cell recruitment. While nanoparticles can be employed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19768,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[118],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19768"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10055"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10728,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10055\/revisions\/10728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}