Dr. Xiaoping Bao, Assistant Professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, has been selected to receive the 2020 Showalter Trust Research Award for his research in human pluripotent stem cells, or hPSCs, for cancer immunotherapy.

Dr. Bao’s research proposal entitled, "Rapid and Efficient Generation of Off-the-Shelf Immune Cells from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells (hPSCs) for Cancer Immunotherapy,” will explore the potential of forward programming in producing functional immune cells via forced expression of transcription factors. If successful, fresh off-the-shelf immune cells could be prepared and infused to cancer patients in a few weeks instead of months, opening up new avenues for immunotherapy.

Dr. Bao will receive $75,000 in award funding for the project period of July 1, 2020 to July 31, 2021. Eligibility for the grant is limited to tenure-track and research faculty on the West Lafayette campus who hold the rank of assistant professor at the time of application, and awards are made through a rigorous proposal review process by internal and external section committees.

The Ralph W. and Grace M. Showalter Trust grants program is part of Purdue’s Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships, and was established in 1975 to support research in the priority areas of: environmental research, including air and water pollution research; research in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology; research in the area of disease prevention, diagnosis, progression, treatment and control; research in the area of new technologies for food production, preservation, distribution and safety; and research in the area of medical and biophysical instrumentation, including the analysis of large data sets.

“The Showalter award will provide important research support for young faculty members, like me, to pursue exploratory, high-risk and high-impact projects, and collect sufficient preliminary data for external funding application,” said Dr. Bao. The award will also provide an opportunity for the Bao research group to pursue translational research projects and develop promising future technologies.

Dr. Bao’s research lab uses innovative technologies to engineer stem cells as models of human development and disease, as well to develop cellular and molecular therapies as next-generation of medicine for degenerative diseases, including cardiac cells for heart diseases, β cells for diabetes, immune cells for cancers, and other human development and heath areas.

Dr. Bao joined Purdue Chemical Engineering in January 2019, following a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California-Berkeley (2016-2018). He earned his BS in Chemical Engineering from Tsinghua University (2011), and PhD (2016) in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Read a Purdue News announcement here: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/purduetoday/releases/2020/Q4/showalter-trust-selects-new-scholars,-funds-11-early-career-faculty.html

Learn more about Dr. Xiaoping Bao at: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/people/ptProfile?resource_id=210038

Source: Dr. Xiaoping Bao, bao61@purdue.edu, (765) 496-3094