Samuel Blackman

Reseach Blurb: Previously disregarded, over the last decade the innate immune system has become increasingly important in our understanding of disease and chronic illness. Macrophages act as sentinels and garbage collectors throughout our exposed tissues, neutrophils act as short-lived yet fast responders to sites of infection, and dendrtic cells are key to roping in the adpative immune system for an effective immungenic response. My research looks to leverage the killing and signalling power of these cells to interface with the adaptive immune system to offer immunoengineered therapeutics to overcome the foreign body response (turn away immune cells) and tumor microenvironment (attract immune cells).

My most recent work studies macrophage polarization as a result of in vivo material-based protein adsorption.

Visit my Linkedin here.

Selected Honors & Awards:

• Graduate Assistantship in Areas of National Need - University of Colorado, Boulder (GAANN 2020)
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship - University of Colorado, Boulder (NSF GRFP 2020)
• Jane P. and Charles W. Suggs Academic Merit Scholarship - North Carolina State University (Fall 2019/Spring 2020)
• Research and Educational Enhancement Projects Fellowship/Grant - North Carolina State University (Fall 2018/Spring 2019)