Aniruddha Pinjari – UMass Fellow 2024-2026
Research Progress: I am a Chemical Engineering Ph.D. student in the Kulkarni Lab, where I am developing nanoparticle-based therapeutic mRNA vaccines for cancer treatment. My research addresses two key challenges associated with the nanoparticles used in these vaccines: Immunogenicity and mRNA transfection efficiency. To tackle this issue, I am trying to develop nanoparticles that can target intrinsically activated innate immune pathways and
improve mRNA translation while being less cytotoxic. So far in my research, I have optimized a nanoparticle formulation that effectively modulates these pathways, enhancing mRNA expression in hard-to-transfect macrophages. My next aim is to test these nanoparticles in dendritic cells, which are the most potent antigen presenting cells. Apart from my project, I have been involved in multiple collaborative projects.
Publications:
Surve, D., Fish, A., Debnath, M., Pinjari, A., Lorenzana, A., Piya, S., Peyton, S., & Kulkarni, A. (2024). Sprayable inflammasome-inhibiting lipid nanorods in a polymeric scaffold for psoriasis therapy. Nature Communications, 15(1), 9035. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53396-x